Wanting a bala shark

[absolutangel04]

Any fish you guys can recommend appropriately sized for a 20 gal in that case... Sounds like these types of sharks/fish we're discussing are out of my size range..
Something colorful "cool" looking...

Kuhli loaches, pearl gourami, corys, otos, platys, dwarf gourami, any number of smallish tetras ( around 2 inches), betta, guppies, ram cichlids, apistsos. There are a lot.

 

[absolutangel04]

+1 with eco23. Bala sharks should be in a 125gal minimum ... they grow to a foot and are VERY energetic sharks that need room to swim.

An RTS matures into a VERY territorially aggressive "shark" IMO a 75gal (I used to say 55gal) should be the minimum AND then there needs to be territories set up for it to claim ... i.e. plants, caves, decor etc. Even then ... there's no guarantee they wont terrorize their tank-mates.

My RTS (a gift for my son from his G-father) is in a planted 75gal with plenty of "territories" and it still pretty much claims the whole tank as it's territory. I'm convinced that for now it's willing to tolerate it tankmates, but at 3 inches, it still has another 3 inches to go ... and it if it gets too aggressive, I'll have to rehome it.

Rainbow Sharks are not as territorially aggressive ... but it's basically like a slightly smaller, more docile RTS ... needs a 55gal at minimum.

I agree with you and eco. I understand balas have been put out of the equation, and the OP is going to stay away from sharks. Thats good.
Another note, those "sharks" are minnows, not loaches.

 

[ocminpin]

Yes... This seems to be the best decision for now... If I can get him to choose peaceful community fish then perhaps he can hold on to my male Dalmatian Molly who rarely lets up on my 4 female mollies... Lol. And now I think of it, he loves my Gold twin bar platy... So we have 2 fish mentally stocked in a 20 gal... LOL

 

[absolutangel04]

Yes... This seems to be the best decision for now... If I can get him to choose peaceful community fish then perhaps he can hold on to my male Dalmatian Molly who rarely lets up on my 4 female mollies... Lol. And now I think of it, he loves my Gold twin bar platy... So we have 2 fish mentally stocked in a 20 gal... LOL

I love mollies and platys. Maybe he will like the mollies even more if ou let him hand feed them. All my mollies get tame enough to eat out of my hands. Then they start to think my hand always has food, so they will try to "groom" me every time I put my hand in there for cleaning. Its endearing. There are lots of really cool platy varieties too.

 

[ocminpin]

I have the 4 females and 1 male... And about 65 fry 1 wk, 2 wks and 3 wks old

 

[absolutangel04]

Thats cool. You could always let him pick a couple of your fry and raise them in his own tank. Then you could add a few tankmates once the fry are big enough to not get eaten.

 

[KatieJ]

I say mollies and other hardy fish like guppies would make great ones for your son to get a kick out of. In my opinion, Black Lyretail Mollies are some of my favorite mollies - they're so dang pretty! http://bluegrassaquatics.com/media/...d27136e95/M/O/MOLLY_LYRETAIL_BLACK_MEDIUM.jpg

And Sunburst Platys are another fav. Insanely pretty colors. They're like the Sun Conures of freshwater fish! http://pet.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pPETS-6963307t400.jpg http://bluegrassaquatics.com/media/...e5fb8d27136e95/P/L/PLATY_SUNBURST_REGULAR.jpg

 

[ocminpin]

Lil man has to do well enough in 1st grade to earn the tank to put the fish in!!

 

[absolutangel04]

Lil man has to do well enough in 1st grade to earn the tank to put the fish in!!

Thats fair.

 

[KatieJ]

A very fair deal. XD Make him work for it!

 

[Jeffekins]

Guess Petsmart doesn't know what they're talking about... They say 30 gallon is good enough and generally go by 1" fish/ gallon...
Upon looking further 55 gallon seems gigantic for a 6 yr old and unreasonable... What about a rainbow shark or silver tipped shark? Much more pleasing to the eye than the red finned shark..

Never trust Petsmart advice without doing a little research first. I always ask employees at several LFS now. I agree, definitely make sure you have a lot of space for balas. I had my two balas in a 20 gallon when they were babies but I put them in my 60 right away when I got that. They're quite peaceful and easy to care for.

 

[New]

Never trust Petsmart advice without doing a little research first.

i was at petsmart the other day and the lady was trying to sell me mondo grass, which i knew wasn't aquatic. so i asked "isn't mondo grass not aquatic?" and the lady said it definitely was

 

[NoFishingAllowed]

I think it is a great idea to let him raise 3 molly fry Then maybe add a school of neons in the future.

 

[Jeffekins]

i was at petsmart the other day and the lady was trying to sell me mondo grass, which i knew wasn't aquatic. so i asked "isn't mondo grass not aquatic?" and the lady said it definitely was

haha that figures; mondo grass is not gonna prosper under water. Thing is, i've heard from LFS's that people who work in aquatics at petsmart/petco come and go. I'll admit, petsmart has some good deals with supplies/tanks, but don't always trust their advice.

 

[ocminpin]

All same sex.. Either females never in contact with a male or males..
Would males fight?
I had two platys and had to rehome one cause he was always bullied and "made" to stay behind a corner plant by the dominant one...

 

[User]

Lol I hope your son finds this thread one day..

Anyway, Dwarf Butterfly Cichlids are cool, if you can find them. Why not a .13 goldfish? I still like mine lol. I really like my Bloodfin tetras. They always school together!

 

[absolutangel04]

All same sex.. Either females never in contact with a male or males..
Would males fight?
I had two platys and had to rehome one cause he was always bullied and "made" to stay behind a corner plant by the dominant one...

Did you mean with mollies? Usually, there isn't an issue with all male liverbearers, but sometimes you do get a bossy one. IMO, you would be safer to just stick with all females.

 

[jwh0818]

Did you mean with mollies? Usually, there isn't an issue with all male liverbearers, but sometimes you do get a bossy one. IMO, you would be safer to just stick with all females.

I say with Molly's, you need at least 3 females to 1 male ratio to keep the males from trying to domminate all and kill other males and from harrasing other females

 

[absolutangel04]

I say with Molly's, you need at least 3 females to 1 male ratio to keep the males from trying to domminate all and kill other males and from harrasing other females

She was asking about having all of one of the other gender. She doesn't want a mix. I have kept all male mollies, and all female mollies and not had an issue, but I know mollies can be bossy and some people have problems.
I still think all girls would be safer than all males however.

 

[ocminpin]

Thank you absolutangel... Yes I'm breeding my own mollies, don't need a separate set going in a 6 yr olds tank
We'll see.. He said he wants all girls... Will work out though because I'm separating sexes in a few weeks...