My 55gallon

**jlennon** · 10-07-2008, 05:45 AM

I have a 55 gallon with two Jack Dempseys, one Redtail shark, one bala shark, one placo, one spotted catfish, and two farowellas. All these guys hide so well that my tank looks empty most of the time. I know where to find them and they do come out when I am by the tank but not for anyone else. I am just wondering if I should get something to fill the emptiness or will whatever I put in there have an hard time coexisting? May be someone has a good idea and if so let me know please.

**Dave66** · 10-07-2008, 05:59 AM

When the Dempseys grow up they'll eventually kill all the other fish, and unless they are a compatible pair, one will kill the other. The bala reaches 15 inches, and is a schooling fish, meaning you'd need at least six and a much bigger aquarium. The common pleco will hit 18 inches, two feet if it's a female.
If you want a fish you'll see all the time, get a school of a dozen Tiger Barbs. And for goodness sake take some of those fish back to the pet store. The Bala and pleco grow too large for a 55, and the Dempseys get very aggressive as they age. The redtail shark is semi-aggressive, but as long as you don't add any other bottom feeders, you should be ok with him, since they top out at four inches. The spotted raphael is too armored for the shark to do anything with, so he's safe.
What are you feeding the twig cats?

Dave

**jlennon** · 10-07-2008, 06:31 AM

The Dempseys get along very well with each other. I would say the are compatible. I was mistaken on the bala shark. He is an iridescent shark which I know will end up getting pretty big. This just means I will have to get a bigger tank sooner or later.
I do have a 30 Tall that has a community of tetras I was just asking a simple question whether I should introduce anything else to my Dempsey tank. At this point I am the only one who can enjoy the tank. The pleco is rather new to the tank and is rather small thus far. I have friends with big tanks who love to take my plecos off my hands when they get to big for mine. So far they have relieved me of two healthy foot long plecos off my hands. The Redtail is about three and a half inches long and as for the twig cats they have been eating algae wafers. Do you have something better in mind they should be feeding on?

**Dave66** · 10-07-2008, 07:19 AM

LolL you bet that iridescent shark will get big. 51 inches big. Schooler, too.
Try dropping in a peeled and cored apple about an hour after lights out. You can sink the apple with a clean teaspoon. The twigs and the RTS will really chow down on it. If you can see that some of the apple was eaten in the morning, put in a new one the next night. Don't worry, the apple won't impinge on your water quality.
Best food for the twigs is real green algae, but they do like the cellulose in the apple.
I wrote a six-part how to culture manual for the forum some time ago. Here's how I culture green algae to feed to my loricariad and my marine tangs. Algae isn't at all hard to culture. The red tail shark would enjoy fresh green algae as much as the Farlowella pair would, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Dempsey's nibbled on it.
Reason I said that about the Dempsey is I had one for 25 years that killed all the tankmates other than a pair of 20-year old 18 inch common plecos, all three 'gifts' from my sister who unknowingly purchased them for her 15 gallon. That Dempsey was a holy terror, but a gorgeous one.

Dave