stocking question......

[GirlieGirl8521]

Red finned sharks also known as Rainbow sharks are territorial. For your tank size, I'd only suggest 1. With enough caves, you could possibly try 2, but I wouldn't.

Denisonii barbs can reach 6 inches and they are schooling...they need a bigger tank than you have. I'd suggest a 6ft tank for full grown ones.

You should up the numbers in the schools you already have before adding another. Each schooling fish you have should be in a group of atleast 6 each. Once you up them to 6 each and add 3-4 more Otocinclus, plus a Red finned shark, you will be stocked IMO.

 

[homerHart]

I currently have a small tank with the following:

Rummy Noses, Neons, Odessa Barbs, Pentazona Barbs, Harlequins and an Otto.

I am upgrading to a 190 litre (42gallons (UK) I think?) tank and want to stock it with the above fish and would also like to get some of the following:

Silver Shark (should there be one of these on their own in a tank? or more than one - I've read that there should be one in a tank of this size as they are very territorial with their own species or similar looking fish)
Tiger Barbs (Standard & Green)
Clown Loaches
Black Ruby Barbs
Denisonii Barbs
Red Finned Sharks

Any advice would be gratefully recieved. Ideally I want all my current fish to move into the new tank and then gradually add some of the above fish and then get rid of the small tank - the other half tolerates one tank - but not two!

I know that Tiger Barbs and the Sharks are known to be aggressive, but I have also read that when there is a shoal of the Tiger Barbs they tend to just squabble amongst themselves and leave others like the Rummy Noses and the Neons alone - is this true or will the smaller fish get chased all day long or get eaten by the sharks??????

Any advice would be good but I'd rather actual first hand experience rather than speculation and opinion as I have already read loads of opinion.

Many thanks, Martin. :help:

Thanks for all the advice so far....I have so far ruled out the Silver Shark and the Clown Loaches and might get at most one Red Finned Shark - going back to my original question above - if I did go for Denisonii, Tiger Barbs and Red Finned Shark would the fish that I already have survive or get terrorised/eaten????

Also another question - I will have the tank set up with an Aqua One CF1200 external filter which has a spray bar inlet - will the surface agitation from this alone provide enough oxygen or will I need to do anything else?

 

[homerHart]

The internet is a great source of information and before it's time we'd all have to rely on friends and books - the downside is that there is a lot of contradicting information out there.

I have been reading up about Red Finned Shark and Red Tailed Shark to see what the differences are and what would be better. I was under the impression that the RFS was less agressive and probably more suitable but have just read other websites that suggest that they are very similar and in actual fact the RTS is actually smaller and therefore possibly more suitable?

If I had my choice I would go for the Red Tailed Shark as I prefer the look fo them - what do you think, knowing what other fish I have / plan to have and the tank size etc??????

 

[homerHart]

Any advice pleeeeeease :help:

 

[TropicalNorth]

Without owning both, only the Red Finned Shark, I would say just go with the one your prefer the look of.
Both are known to be aggressive, both grow to a similar size etc etc and there will always be conflicting advice when comparing 2 fish to eachother.

 

[homerHart]

Thanks Tropical North - I have sent you a personal message asking for your experience of this fish.