How many fish?? 60 gal

[Monsweet]

Just wondering how many fish approx we can have in our 240litre tank. At the moment we have

2 firemouth cichlids 2'' and another 2 at 1''
1 zebra convict 3''
1 rainbow cichlid 4''
1 silver shark
1 black shark
2 bosmarni
4 red rainbows
3 barbs
1 kissing fish
1 plec

Bit of a mixture but they all get on great!!
Would you say our tank is stocked now or could we squeeze a couple more in? Don't want to over stock it you see.

 

[librarygirl]

I could be wrong but I think you're overstocked now.

I think the Boesmani's Rainbows should be in a group of 5. Rainbow Cichlids should be in a group of 8. Is the Silver shark a Bala Shark? If so it likes a group too and it's going to get too large for your tank. Is the black one a Red Tailed shark? Is the Kissing fish a Kissing Gourami? They can get very large too. What kind of Pleco? Are the Barbs Tiger Barbs? How long has the tank been set up?

 

[Monsweet]

Ah so many questions I'll try answer them all. We have had the bismarni's nearly 7 months, they seem to be thriving and stick with the rainbow fish and barbs, I'm not sure what barb they are but are silver with a red dash down the side. The rainbow cichlid was a fish that had been given back our local FS from it's owners and was in a tank with mollies on it's own, had been there a while as it wasn't for sale until we begged, they dont sell any others there and we were told it would be fine on it's own. The yank has been set up maybe about 7 weeks, we moved from a 125litre and moved fish over and added new. Yes it's a kissing gourami, had it about a year and hasn't grown at all

 

[Monsweet]

Yes it is a Bala shark, well I think, we did have others in our old tank with it but they all died eventually, after going a bit loopy, jumping etc and knocking themselves out and yes we have the red tailed black shark, that's about a year old, about 3 inch long but still skinny ish

 

[Monsweet]

The plec is an albino plec, just looks lime a normal sucker fish, I haven't a clue what sort.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yes it is a Bala shark, well I think, we did have others in our old tank with it but they all died eventually, after going a bit loopy, jumping etc and knocking themselves out and yes we have the red tailed black shark, that's about a year old, about 3 inch long but still skinny ish

The balas going loopy, jumping and knocking themselves out is an indication the tank is too small. They are very skittish if kept in small groups and will (as you've witnessed) hit the sides of the tank injuring or even killing themselves. They require a 125g tank for swimming space and a proper school.

 

[Monsweet]

They died in our smaller tank, we have now upgraded, they were only 3''. The one we have left is still as small as when we got it about 8 months ago, it never grew like the others.

 

[Monsweet]

We won't be buying any more of these so I'm afraid he will have to be ok in his own. It does seem fine and settled in our large tank so he must be ok

 

[BillD]

I would disagree that Rainbow cichlids need to be kept in a group of 8, librarygirl. Depending on the length of this tank, problems will occur sooner rather than later as the fish grow. It is an odd mix and where the problems first show remains to be seen. Regardless, the tank will become too small.

 

[Monsweet]

I would disagree that Rainbow cichlids need to be kept in a group of 8, librarygirl. Depending on the length of this tank, problems will occur sooner rather than later as the fish grow. It is an odd mix and where the problems first show remains to be seen. Regardless, the tank will become too small.

Ah ok, the tank must be about 4ft at least. Every Fish shop we have bough fish from have said they will all be fine in our tank. I don't like the thought of it being over crowded. Would never of bought the fish in the first place if we thought the tank would be too small. Let's hope no problems arise and they all carry on living happily as they are now!