120 gallon: bala sharks & clown loaches

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Swifterz

Exodon
MFK Member
Aug 20, 2010
42
14
23
Lexington, KY
i recently switched from large lake malawi haps and peacocks. i have a 120 gallon (60x24x18).

i have 8 bala sharks around 5". i know my tank ideally isn't quite large enough for a group of bala's but i figure it's better than a lot of people who put them in 55's or even smaller, and an upgrade is definitely coming eventually. so i had the 8 bala sharks in there, with my 5-6" rainbow shark i've had for years, 3 synodontis multipunctatus, and a couple albino bristlenose plecos.

then i got 3 clown loaches. i instantly fell in love with them but they were a bit shy and i read they like to be in larger groups. i may have got carried away because i now have 10 of them. i know they are very slow growers. right now they're all around 2.5-3".

the tank has two very large pieces of driftwood on each side, and about a dozen large stones. for maintenance, i do a 50% water change every weekend. i've been feeding large shrimp pellets and blood worms.

now obviously, i now have 20 fish that will (potentially/eventually) get 12". i was thinking of adding another species, like 7-10 giant danios or something, as it actually seems rather empty due to the fish not even nearing their adult size yet, but am i better off just sticking with what i've got? how fast can i expect the bala sharks to grow in this setup?

thanks for any input.
 
Swifterz said:
i have 8 bala sharks around 5". i know my tank ideally isn't quite large enough for a group of bala's
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Swifterz said:
so i had the 8 bala sharks in there, with my 5-6" rainbow shark i've had for years, 3 synodontis multipunctatus, and a couple albino bristlenose plecos
Click to expand...

Swifterz said:
then i got 10 clown loaches
Click to expand...

Swifterz said:
i was thinking of adding another species, like 7-10 giant danios or something
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I think you're correct. The balas should not be in that tank. I'd remove them and then add the danios and call it done. The fish will be healthier and easier to maintain. Your comment on the loaches is telling:"i instantly fell in love with them". So they, and not the balas should be the centerpiece of the tank. The balas, being larger and extremely active will dominate the food, the bio and the tank.
 
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Drstrangelove said:
I think you're correct. The balas should not be in that tank. I'd remove them and then add the danios and call it done. The fish will be healthier and easier to maintain. Your comment on the loaches is telling:"i instantly fell in love with them". So they, and not the balas should be the centerpiece of the tank. The balas, being larger and extremely active will dominate the food, the bio and the tank.
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+1

Balas get to be monsters and they are super fast. They can get moving so fast that they can become a danger to the tank itself. A torpedo that can't stop smashing into the side of the tank can become a real issue when you come home to either dead balas with head injuries or a shattered side panel and a flood. Their ideal tank would be at least 8' long, but linger is always better with those guys.

If you like the body type of the balas though, look into filament barbs or Denison barbs. Both look pretty much the same body-wise, but are quite colorful. They are more expensive than giant danios, but you have to pay for beauty. :)


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Drstrangelove said:
I think you're correct. The balas should not be in that tank. I'd remove them and then add the danios and call it done. The fish will be healthier and easier to maintain. Your comment on the loaches is telling:"i instantly fell in love with them". So they, and not the balas should be the centerpiece of the tank. The balas, being larger and extremely active will dominate the food, the bio and the tank.
Click to expand...

well said.. on that note.. you can never have too many clown loaches. There are some tanks here that are almost 100% stocked with clown loaches.. and its amazing. I'm sure some of them will pipe up and show you pics if you ask nicely =)
 
Heres a video I've posted on my other thread just to show a better representation of how big they get. The biggest one is about 12" maybe a little bigger. When he goes over next to the far you can tell. I measured the gar yesterday and it is 13.5"

http://youtu.be/z_EHWnDzH50


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I had thought about 2 oscars before, but now that I have the clowns I can't really see parting with them. I think oscars, even if purchased smaller than the clowns, would eventually surpass them in size and try to eat them?
 
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