can some one tell how many bala sharks can fit in a 40 gal

i have a 3foot tank and looking to put some bala sharks in it, so before i buy any i would like to know how many can fit in it.i also want to know wat other fish can be place in it(i prefer fish bigger than 5 inchs). thanx for your help.

 

A 40 gallon tank is too small for bala sharks. They get 14" long and need to be in groups of at least 3 (5 - 6 would be better though) and they're very active. So they really shouldn't be kept in anything smaller than 100 gallons (150+ would be more ideal).

What kinds of fish do you have in mind? Gouramis? Cichilds?

-Chelle

 

a fish that is active i mostly like cichlids but they must be preditory( eat other fish)

 

You can keep the Bala's in that tank for awhile until you get a bigger one. Some very aggressive cichlids that eat live fish include, Red Devil's, Jewel Cichlids, and African Cichlids, Red Terrors, and Black Belts.

 

want does those look like. i dont think they sell where i live.But if you have pics i would love to see wat they look like

 

Red Devil Cichlid
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/greddevil.html
Jewel Cichlid
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gjewel.html
Black Belt Cichlid
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/d ... _records=1
Red Terror Cichlid
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10cichlid_redterror.htm

Hope those help

 

i like the red devil and the red terro cichlid but how many red devil can fit in a 40 gal( but i never saw one in the pet store here)

 

It's not advisable to keep a potentially big fish in a small tank hoping to upgrade later. You never know what can happen and your plans for a larger tank may fall through leaving you with a large fish suffering in a small tank.

Also, none of the fish you listed are obligate piscivores so they all would do much better with a good quality pelleted food as opposed to feeder fish. In fact, many of them are mainly insectivores & herbivores so feeder fish will provide almost no nutritional value. And in some cases (diseases carried by feeders aside) it can kill them (ie many africans) because their digestive systems can not handle very much protein.

If you want a fish simply because it will eat other fish, I think you're in it for the wrong reason (that's like saying you only want a pit bull because you've heard it's a viscious dog).

Not to mention feeder fish get expensive over a long period of time and you are almost guaranteed to introduce some nasty disease to your tank ifyou buy them from the store. I've talked to many people have or have had obligate piscivores and they hated the expense & hastle of always getting feeders. And it's really not worth the effort to raise your own.

-Chelle

 

Red devils and red terrors both get too big for a 40 gallon tank.

-Chelle

 

i dont want them because they eat other fish i like to see big fish swiming in a tank mostly preditory fish e.g oscars, and i also raise feeder fish such as guppies and molies

 

Oscars are insectivore, not piscivores. Sure they'll eat other fish, but it's not part of their natural diet so it's not very good for them.

-Chelle

 

so wat fish would one recomend for a 40 gal

 

Personally, I would either go with 2 cons and maybe a bristle nose pleco (or some other hardy, small species of pleco) or some Malawi cichlids (you could probably fit 8 - 10 depending on the species). They shouldn't be eating other fish, but they are active and have personality.

-Chelle

 

hmm preditory, well you coud go for a few rocket gars (no one snap on me there not real gars they do not get veryy big) they "eat other fish" ill try and get there scientific name

 

yes i forgot to mention alot get too big for a 40

 

none they get 14 inches long and need at least a 4 foot tank for swimming room

 

Yeah, I agree with Fish Addict.

 

Also, in regards to which fish to get, a convict would be iight if you don't really care about color, but what they lack in color they make up in personality. Just make sure they you have two of same gender or else you will make the same mistake as I did and have an overpopulated tank of convicts!

 

wat a bout piranha,tin foil barbs and lemon-fin barbs :?:

 

Not tinfoils cause they can get up to 15'' (even though they grow slowly) so that is a no fa sure. Piranhas get up to 11'' and are aggressive as everyone knows and I don't know anything about lemon fin barbs.