Compatibility in 60-70 Gal. tank

[lerien68]

I inherited my tank from in-laws and there were 3 existing fish in it and I have added the rest in the last week, this is what i have:

Older/Bigger Fish
Angelfish
Baloon Belly Molly (we think)
Large Plecko

New Fish
2 red dwarf gourami
rainbow shark
small plecko
red tailed shark
jack dempsey
banded leporinus
electric yellow lab
bala shark
blood red parrot

I have recently been told that I may have some problems in the future with aggression, but as of now they all get along and there is no bullying at this time. Any help would be greatly appreciated as most of the info I find seems to be all over the place. Oh and it's either a 60 or 70 gallon tank. I mainly want to know about compatibility between my existing fish and with some i may want to add. I am looking to add some more color, something vibrant blue but really have no clue where to go from here. All of the newer fish are of the same size if that helps.

[imma24]

If this is accurate, oh boy are you going to have problems. Before someone else gets to respond to this posting, let me advise you to not put anymore fish into this tank until compatibility is addressed.

Most of those fish you added will get too large for the tank and some of them will eventually attack others due to aggression issues.

If you went with the advice of a local fish place, boy were you misguided - unless you chose all these without researching them 1st.

[Goes to 11!]

+ 1. Totally agree with the above!

What are the dimensions of this tank LxWxH?.
Did you mention your current stock OR that all these fish were going in the same tank to the people that sold them to you? You have much to sort out before you even consider adding anything & by this I mean you will be rehoming some of your fish.

You really should have looked up the requirements for these fish [& the ones you have already] before you brought them home.

*The sharks will not work together due to aggression
* The Yellow Labs have ENTIRELY different water parameter requirements than the rest and aggression issues to boot.
* Dempsey get BIG and is aggressive
* Two gouramis is only going to work if there is enough cover that they can stay out of each others way
* Bala sharks need schools and get far too large: This is not a record sized fish btw.


If I were you I would go out and buy an API freshwater master test kit right now because you are going to have ammonia spikes like crazy due to the amount of stock you added at once.

What is the filtration on this tank?
How did you cycle it? How long has it been up and running?

[lerien68]

If this is accurate, oh boy are you going to have problems. Before someone else gets to respond to this posting, let me advise you to not put anymore fish into this tank until compatibility is addressed.

Most of those fish you added will get too large for the tank and some of them will eventually attack others due to aggression issues.

If you went with the advice of a local fish place, boy were you misguided - unless you chose all these without researching them 1st.

I had a list of my existing fish when I bought the new ones, and they were added 2-3 at a time actually over 2 weeks not one. Everytime I bought a new one I took in my list of what I had and went on the advice of the person there. It was only after doing even more research after feeling misled did I find out there would be issues, we are working on getting at least one more tank to seperate the fish accordingly to try to help the matter. I don't know the dimension right this moment, but can get them later. I also made sure to tell them what size tank I had before buying any of the fish. :( Where do i go from here? I have found a chart and from what I can tell I may only need the 2 large tanks but at this point I am a very confused fish owner!

[Goes to 11!]

I had a list of my existing fish when I bought the new ones, and they were added 2-3 at a time actually over 2 weeks not one.

This makes effectively no difference. It is in your [and your fish] best interests to stop taking advice from that person.

I know you had several questions there but you missed a few:

What is the filtration on this tank?
How did you cycle it?
How long has it been up and running?

I would add do you have a test kit?

Please do post the dimensions when you get home, It's impossible to offer accurate stocking suggestions without knowing the tank size.

[lerien68]

This makes effectively no difference. It is in your [and your fish] best interests to stop taking advice from that person.

I know you had several questions there but you missed a few:


I would add do you have a test kit?

Please do post the dimensions when you get home, It's impossible to offer accurate stocking suggestions without knowing the tank size.

I only have what came from his parents, so no I don't think there is a test kit, I honestly don't know what cycling is (sorry) and as far as filtration all I know is that there is a hanging unit on the back with 4 filter bags inside. Yes I realize I know absolutely nothing and that is why i relied on them to tell me everything i needed to know, so yeah won't be doing that anymore! And the tank is 12.5 deep x36 wide x22 tall. The tank has been up and running for over 3 years in the in-laws house, we re-located it to our house (2 houses down the street) 2+ weeks ago.

[Goes to 11!]

You need an API freshwater master test kit.

I only have what came from his parents, so no I don't think there is a test kit, I honestly don't know what cycling is (sorry) and as far as filtration all I know is that there is a hanging unit on the back with 4 filter bags inside. Yes I realize I know absolutely nothing and that is why i relied on them to tell me everything i needed to know, so yeah won't be doing that anymore! And the tank is 12.5 deep x36 wide x22 tall. The tank has been up and running for over 3 years in the in-laws house, we re-located it to our house (2 houses down the street) 2+ weeks ago.

Ok, You have a steep learning curve ahead of you here and time is of the essence here because what you have in that tank will not last. It is a disaster waiting to get worse.

BTW, According to the dimensions you have a 42 gallon tank. This limits your possibilities even further from what I listed earlier.

Have you made any decisions on what you are going to return? Basically you need to return all of the new fish except the parrot.

Not knowing the variety of pleco is an issue and they may need to be returned also since commons can exceed 12" in length, How big is the 'big' one?

Read the red stickys here & the links here.

[lerien68]

You need an API freshwater master test kit.


Ok, You have a steep learning curve ahead of you here and time is of the essence here because what you have in that tank will not last. It is a disaster waiting to get worse.

BTW, According to the dimensions you have a 42 gallon tank. This limits your possibilities even further from what I listed earlier.

Have you made any decisions on what you are going to return? Basically you need to return all of the new fish except the parrot.

Not knowing the variety of pleco is an issue and they may need to be returned also since commons can exceed 12" in length, How big is the 'big' one?

Read the red stickys here & the links here.

I have not considered what to return because most are past the 14 day mark that the store allows, I just checked my receipts. I would much rather relocate them into different tanks if that is all possible. The large pleco is 6-7" long already and the new one I believe was a common as well. I was wondering if they were wrong about the size of the tank but didn't question them further about it.

[Goes to 11!]

The return policy is not relevant, That just means they cannot return to the store.

They still have to go somewhere. And soon.

If you are intent on keeping them you need to start googling each one on your list and take care to note their adult sizes, tank size requirements. aggression level/compatibility, and preferred water parameters. And soon

This will be a very very informative process for you and will help you to understand what is required for some of the fish you apparently intend to keep & also why they won't work where they are.

Since you hadn't heard of cycling I am doubting that you have cycled appropriate sized tanks ready and waiting. Cycling a tank takes a few weeks so you can see how keeping them is not as simple as just filling a few more tanks up.

This is the short version of cycling which you can do without fish in a tank. This is the longer version when you have fish in the tank.

[lerien68]

The return policy is not relevant, That just means they cannot return to the store.

They still have to go somewhere. And soon.

If you are intent on keeping them you need to start googling each one on your list and take care to note their adult sizes, tank size requirements. aggression level/compatibility, and preferred water parameters. And soon

This will be a very very informative process for you and will help you to understand what is required for some of the fish you apparently intend to keep & also why they won't work where they are.

Since you hadn't heard of cycling I am doubting that you have cycled appropriate sized tanks ready and waiting. Cycling a tank takes a few weeks so you can see how keeping them is not as simple as just filling a few more tanks up.

This is the short version of cycling which you can do without fish in a tank. This is the longer version when you have fish in the tank.

Thank you, i will begin my HUGE learning process!