Pictus and Tigers tossed!

[subset99]

I think I found a good solution to my compatibility problem in the 55 gallon tank. I previously had 8 tiger barbs, 3 pictus cats, 1 red tail shark, 1 bala shark, 3 rainbows and a mystery snail. I kept noticing that smaller fish like danios ended up missing before, so the only offendor could have been the pictus. So I loaded up the 3 pictus and 8 tiger barbs and took them to a really friendly fish store that gave me half credit for them.
My daughters have been wanting an angel fish for quite some time, so that is why I sacrificed the tigers. In the place of the pictus and tigers I got 4 cardinal tetras, 8 cherry barbs, 4 pygmi cory cats, 1 angel fish, 1 honey gourami and a powder blue gourami (trying our luck once more). What I am lacking however, is a true surface dweller schooling fish. Does this exchange sound like a good one? Can anyone spot any problems w/ the arrangement?

 

[mgamer20o0]

the sharks.... bala sharks get to be 1 foot and are schooling fish. red tail shark while small isnt aggressive but as 6 inch adults can be very aggressive. looks like you want to go to a peaceful tank so you might look into getting rid of the two sharks. i would add another angel they are neat fish but might eat the cardinals.

 

[subset99]

Angels vs. cardinals

Good advice. Thanks! I never considered the angels eating small fish. That's funny considering that I was clearing out the nipping barbs on their behalf. The pictus were pretty rowdy in their own right. Any ideas of a shoaling fish for the mid-level to surface range?

Edit: Also, any chance of the red tail being okay in the long run? I can live w/ unloading the bala because I knew it was pushing it, but giving up "Smitty" would be tough. He's my favorite one in the tank!

 

[mgamer20o0]

not really you will get plenty of people saying well he is ok.... heck i said that my self.... well it cant be true mine is fine.... next thing it snaps. a couple options is have a back up tank for it when it snaps or be ready to take it back when it does snap also can just take it back now. its really up to you. hatches are common top layer fish. tough there plenty of other cool schooling fish. how about lemon tetras?

 

[subset99]

Do red tails eat other fish or do they just chase them so badly that they stress them to death? Also, are you suggesting to add an extra angel in order to avoid the original angel going after smaller fish? The lemon tetras are a cool idea. Those are really beautiful fish.

 

[mgamer20o0]

mostly just chase other fish around mostly. you have the room for another one and i am a big fan of them.

 

[ScottS]

Instead of new species, I think you really need to bulk up the quantities of current fish in the tank. 4 Cardinals is way too few. Same with only having three rainbow fish. If you buy a schooling fish, you generally need at a bare minimum, 6.

I agree with taking back the Bala shark. I wish pet shops would stop selling those. I bet 99%+ of buyers put them in the wrong setup.

 

[subset99]

How many cardinals do you think? You're right. It's been a few days and they are venturing off from the security of their school. The cherry barbs, surprisingly, have started schooling more than I thought they would. The pygmy cory cats are a trip. They just bustle about the bottom, contendedly forging for scraps. I'm thinking maybe 6 more cardinals and three more rainbows.

 

[ScottS]

I think Cardinals look best when you have at least a dozen. I can't speak for the Rainbows as I have no experience with them. Once my new tank matures, I'm going to try 25-30 Cardinals and 6-8 Dwarf Rainbows in my 46 with Cories at the bottom.

 

[GhostKnife]

I have 1 angel and 5 cherry barbs and they get along great. The angel does not bother anyone in my community tank.

 

[subset99]

When I was at the LFS, I saw a tank w/ probably 100-150 cardinals and it was a spectacular display. It really showed me how nice they can look in huge groups. I'm glad I turned in the pictus now. Between the waste they created and lack of small fish options, they really limited the tank.

A guy at the store told me that cardinals don't produce much waste because it is liquid waste. Is that true or just made up? Interesting factoid, if so.

The tiger barbs were pretty, especially how they would swim in such tight schools w/ their colors. I think I will find another kind of fish to school along w/ the tetras; something about the sie of the tiger barbs. I'll also add more cories at the bottom. You can mix different kinds of cory's, right?