I am trying to get my fish sorted out... Right now I have an African Butterfly who I want to keep. a small I think electric blue african cichlid its kinda light blue... a small bala shark, 1 tiger barb, 2 cory cats, a red belly pacu, pleco, clown loach, and a couple snails, Right now everyone is getting along.. But I dont know how they will act in the future... Will a gold servum get along?? or some more cichlids.. Id like to get fish to stay 6" or under
Friends for African Butterfly
- Thread starter azboostin
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Okay, so there's no way that pacu is going to survive. It has the potential to get well over 6 inches--like around 3 feet. So you will want to find it a new home soon. The bala shark as well--18 inches, and they need a group.
Before making any suggestions for other cichlids, you need to determine what you have NOW, since some kinds have special needs, some are incompatible with most other fish as adults, and some can be mannerly members of community forums.
For the rest. The tiger barb is likely going to be a pill to everyone in the tank. They can be managed in large enough groups, but I don't think that's any option for you. That means keeping a bunch of tough fish.
Cories: happiest in groups, will likely be okay with most other fish, since they stay near the bottom and aren't obnoxious, but are armoured against mild aggressions.
Pleco--depending on the species, this fish may eventually outgrow your tank. The common pleco can hit 18 inches pretty quickly.
Clown loach--needs a group. Won't thrive by itself. Again, has the potential to outgrow the tank.
The African butterfly won't outgrow the tank, but will eat small fish, so limits what you can add. What I would do is get rid of the pacu, bala shark, the cichlid and the pleco. I'd get 7 more tiger barbs, 4-5 more cories. Add lots of floating plants for the butterfly. The barbs will add the action missing with the butterfly, the cories will help keep the tank clean, and the butterfly will be a quiet centerpiece.
Sorry, overall, I know this is what you want to hear. What is comes down to is that you need to choose--plan the tank and it's occupants, return what you have and start fresh with a tank that will work, or try to keep the mish-mash you have now, and watch them slowly die due to the poor conditions.
Before making any suggestions for other cichlids, you need to determine what you have NOW, since some kinds have special needs, some are incompatible with most other fish as adults, and some can be mannerly members of community forums.
For the rest. The tiger barb is likely going to be a pill to everyone in the tank. They can be managed in large enough groups, but I don't think that's any option for you. That means keeping a bunch of tough fish.
Cories: happiest in groups, will likely be okay with most other fish, since they stay near the bottom and aren't obnoxious, but are armoured against mild aggressions.
Pleco--depending on the species, this fish may eventually outgrow your tank. The common pleco can hit 18 inches pretty quickly.
Clown loach--needs a group. Won't thrive by itself. Again, has the potential to outgrow the tank.
The African butterfly won't outgrow the tank, but will eat small fish, so limits what you can add. What I would do is get rid of the pacu, bala shark, the cichlid and the pleco. I'd get 7 more tiger barbs, 4-5 more cories. Add lots of floating plants for the butterfly. The barbs will add the action missing with the butterfly, the cories will help keep the tank clean, and the butterfly will be a quiet centerpiece.
Sorry, overall, I know this is what you want to hear. What is comes down to is that you need to choose--plan the tank and it's occupants, return what you have and start fresh with a tank that will work, or try to keep the mish-mash you have now, and watch them slowly die due to the poor conditions.
I agree with everything orion girl said except that the tiger barbs might nip the fins of your african butterfly.
Just to give you some idea, you can do an african themed tank with the african butterfly, a school of congo tetras, a couple of leopard ctenopoma, and 1 or 2 senegal bichirs.
Just to give you some idea, you can do an african themed tank with the african butterfly, a school of congo tetras, a couple of leopard ctenopoma, and 1 or 2 senegal bichirs.
OrionGirl said:
I agree. I have an African Butterfly Fish in my 55G, one of my favorites. I have had him for three years. I feed him feeder guppies, crickets, and any flying bugs(butterflys, moths, that come into the house. All the fish you are keeping need to be in groups and get large(except the butterfly). Balas and Pacus are not particulary aquarium fish, most Mpnster Fish Keepers dont keep either species and they have very large(room size) tanks. Pacus can get 3 feet and will eat everything, I bet the person that sold you that fish was very happy you didnt know that.
While it depends on the individual tiger barb, as a whole they like to nip fins of pretty much anything. They will get along with other types of tiger barbs--I have three green, three albino, and three regular and they will group together despite different coloring. Some people say if you have them in big enough groups they will contain their aggression within the school, but I've also heard that they are best in species only tanks. My lfs also said that if they've been being agressive towards a particular fish, and then you add more to tone down the aggression they will continue attacking that fish--as it is a habit or something. In my tank the new tigers added to tone down the agression were much more agressive to the other tank mates. I would avoid anything with long fins in with the barbs.
