Getting rid of silver sharks...

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I keep a school of 5 tinfoils and 5 filamentosa barbs that I am growing up in my 150g at the moment (check my sig for updated pics)

the filamentosa are literally just as greedy as the tinfoils. its a matter of stuffing as much food into their mouths as they can, usually throwing some of it back up, and then eating it again LOL

the difference between the two is that the filamentosa 'fill up' much faster than the tinfoils, which are all stomach.

if you had trouble with tinfoils eating most of the food, you may find a similar situation with the filament barbs. the greediness is why I have no bottom feeding fish in my 150g, other than a few bristlenose plecos that were in there from before. and even now, I really don't know how well they are doing..

I have kept pink tailed chalceus too, and they are nice, but not active. my got pretty big (8" and fat) but they tended to 'hang' at the top of the tank, rather than swim.

what stock do you currently have in the tank besides the flagtail?
 
I think even though they are greedy, filamentosa barbs are probably your best bet. grab 4-6 of them.

they are an underrated fish in the hobby, mainly because, like other barbs like aurelius barbs, they don't really get nice colour until they are adults.

some of mine are just now showing orange and green on the body:

sorry for the crappy pic, but these fish never stop moving..

IMG_0179.JPG
 
Thanks! Is it true they only get to 6 inch? Seems small (lol!). In my tank (100 gal UK - approx 135USA) I have 8 clown loaches, 1 flagtail, 5 cherry barbs and a syno catfish. It has an FX5 on it and powerheads.

I'm really worried the loaches won't eat. To be honest i've tried to take the focus BACK to the loaches rather than have them as just "the bottom feeders". They just weren't growing due to the sharks you see. I have a shop selling the filamentosas at £5 each at the moment on sale, but wouldnt want them to steal all the food. Mind you, the loaches are hiding a bit more than usual despite plenty of refuges. Maybe since the sharks have gone there are no dithers to bring them out.

This pink tailed chalceu is it at all suitable?

It's a damn tough desicion!
 
12 Volt Man;3528150; said:
the chacleus is a top feeder, so it would be fine. Here is an old shot of mine from my old fishroom:

but they can be skittish too. but usually not as bad as the bala sharks.
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Hmmm I quite like him. Is he vicious? Don't they have teeth?

Do you think it would be okay with my fish? I keep reading they are vicious.

I quite like the idea that it just stays on the top, that could be interesting. My tank is full at the bottom but literally there is nothing but a flagtail swimming around the rest of the water.:ROFL:

I can get them, none in any shops around here but I can mail order one to my door via the net...
 
they are peaceful, at least mine were. - as long as they can't fit other fish into their mouths.

being a characin, they have large mouths.

I used to have 2, but one died when it got spooked when my nephew hit the tank with a soccer ball and the fish rammed into the glass at 90 miles per hour..and died 10 minutes later. hence why I mentioned they were skittish :)
 
Hm, it sounds not bad but a little too skittish for me. Those silver sharks did my nut in! Also it made my loaches nervous constantly making them dart for cover. I may trial the barbs though! Thanks for your help!
 
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