Is my tank too small?

Hi, I have 4 fish in my tank right now. 2 of them are I think placo fish or something (This is my first time getting fish), they just suck all day and eat algae, brown patterns on them. 1 Is a ID shark, and another is some other smaller shark I don't worry about. The thing is, the ID shark goes absolutely crazy. it keeps swimming into the glass like it's looking for a whole , it's not like crashing into it, just like swimming against it and goes quite wild. I'm not sure how many gallons my tank is (again I'm sorry, I'm not quite the pet owner heh)and when I put the fish flakes in for the shark, he doesnt eat it until later. Please help!

 

IMO all tanks are too small for irridescent sharks. I believe they get to about 3 feet long. Also depending on what type of plecos you have your tank could be too small for them too. Most of the common types get about 2 feet long. Could you post the dimensions of your tank please?

Unfortunately most people new to this hobby start out with a tank that is much too small for their fish I am hoping you are not one of them.

 

Right now all my fish are like 2 inches only. The tank is 50 gallons I just found out.

 

That's a wonderful size for a first tank Your plecos will probably be ok for a while in it as will your ID shark but you might look into returning him before he reaches a massive size that no one will be able to take off your hands. Here's a link for you that has some good basic ID shark info.

http://www.myfishtank.net/freshwaterpro ... profile=10

 

Definitely get rid of the iridescent shark ASAP. They are extremely active (have been known to kill themselves by ramming into the sides of tanks) and need to be in groups. It simply is not practical to house several 4 foot long fish and give them ample swimming space. You'd need a 3000+ gallon aquarium. It will be much easier to find a LFS that will take a 2" iridescent shark than a 2' iridescent shark.

http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/pangas ... /172_f.php

Also, could you post a pic of your plecos and your other shark.

-Chelle

 

3000!? Good lord thats like bigger than my house. Wow... I bought this at wal-mart. So no household fish newbie like me should raise this monster?

(edited for language by Hooben)

 

My list of fish that, IMO, shouldn't be sold for aquariums:

Iridescent sharks
Red tailed catfish
Channel catfish
Black pacus
Pretty much any fish that gets over 2' long

And I also think that any fish that gets larger than 6" should be special order only. That way people will be less likely to buy them on impulse and throw then in a tank that's too small. If someone is going to go to the trouble of special ordering a fish, hopefully they'll do a bit of research first.

-Chelle

 

uh oh.. I know flower horns grows more a foot long.. and currenlty mine is in a 25 g. is it too small? what's the minimum space requirement for one of them :?:

thanks

 

Flowerhorns need at least 50 gallons each. Since they are so aggressive, if you try to keep two together, you may need to give them even more space (depends on how well they get along).

-Chelle