fish for my 55 gal.

[Blazeherd2306]

I have a 55 gal. that is going to be upgraded to a 75 gal. in about a year.
Right now I have (1) aggressive parrot cichlid (hybrid), (1) 5 in. bala shark, (1) full grown angelfish, (2) 5 in. clown loaches, (1) full grown 3 spot gourami, and (1) black widow tetra. I have 2 questions.

1. Do I have enough room to support any more fish?
2. If so, is there any way I can introduce a new fish without my blood parrot being too aggressive towards it?

I've already had 2 zebra danios, 1 plecostamus, and 2 tetras suffice to him.

 

[ace1uno_00]

well i dont know if this will help you but everytime i introduce new fish to my puffers i first put them in the net breeder. and what the puffers will do is come up to the net and look then swim away. then when i release the new fish they do fine.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

what about a divider?

 

[ace1uno_00]

I havent tried one of those. im pretty sure it would work just as well maybe better.
whatever you try let me know how it works out because i want to get a parot cichlid.

 

[DARK Jak]

do you meen a dwarf cockatoo cichlid (it has a big crest on its back)

 

[Blazeherd2306]

No, the orange fish in my avatar.

 

[DARK Jak]

first do you have another tank? if so put the blood parot in it then put the fish you wish to put in then you need to change the seanery then a week later put the blood parot back in that should make it be a bit less agressive because the blood parot will feel like the intruder insted of the other way around.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

I can do that once I get my 75 gal.

 

[ace1uno_00]

thats a good idea DARK jak.

 

[DARK Jak]

Thanks but i cant take all the credit i acualy read that in a book but it seems to work for me!

 

[severum mama]

I don't know this for sure, but I think you might have problems down the road with your parrot picking on your angel. JMO, I also have a parrot that is pretty aggressive. You may want to keep your angel in your 55 gallon when you move your other fish to the 75 gallon.

If you want to add more tetras I think your remaining one would be much happier. You could try adding them with the lights off while the tank is dark and the fish are asleep, I have heard that works but never tried it myself. Another option for you would be to take your tetra to your LFS and try some barbs as schooling fish instead of tetras. I have kept my aggressive parrot with tiger barbs, green tiger barbs, black ruby barbs, and "red glass" barbs (don't know what kind they are really) with no problems at all. The barbs I've kept have been super fast and hardy. If you want to do this make sure you add barbs that are big enough to not fit in your parrot's mouth and you should be ok. I think you have enough room to add a school of barbs or something with no problem, provided you upgrade to the 75 gallon in a year like you said. Good luck!!!

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Yeah, mine picks on my angel and my gourami. I planned to turn the 55 gal. into a planted tank anyway, so I guess I'll put the angel and gourami in there.

Thanks for the advice.