# Other Pets > Fish >  new fish

## Alexiel03

finally got my fish tank all set up and got some fish in it now  :Smile:  we got 2 bala sharks and a rainbow shark.









the little rainbow shark loves the gator skull lol hes always in there during the day.

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## carlisleishere

Very nice. Be prepared to upgrade your tank in the future. I love sharks!

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## Alexiel03

> Very nice. Be prepared to upgrade your tank in the future. I love sharks!


thanks  :Smile:  i have a 75 gal in the basement for them when they start to outgrow the one they are in right now

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_George1994_ (01-05-2015)

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## carlisleishere

Oh I'm glad to hear that. So many don't realize how big and active these guts are. I would love to see more pics when they're older.

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## Alexiel03

> Oh I'm glad to hear that. So many don't realize how big and active these guts are. I would love to see more pics when they're older.


yeah lol i know they can get over a foot long and the rainbow can be at least 6 inches or more, i always research animals before getting them, i wanted to get cichlids again but the bf wanted the sharks lol at least this way ill be able to get me an albino tiger oscar and a fire eel later on for the bigger tank cuz they are compatible with the sharks, so im happy with it. eventually i want to do a cichlid tank too though.

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## carlisleishere

Sounds like it will be an awesome tank. I had columbian sharks and they were awesome. The got to be about 7" before one developed an ulcer then the other one didn't do so well alone. I had frontosa later on and they kind of hooked me on cichlids. Definitely keep an update on your tank (s).

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## Alexiel03

ill be doing updates as they grow for sure  :Smile:

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## Alexiel03

took a couple more pics of the fish, i added new ornaments and a new plant for the tank  :Smile:  the rainbow shark is hard to take pics of cuz hes fast and shy but the balas are always easy to photograph lol

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## carlisleishere

Very cool  :Good Job:

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## Zincubus

We call them Silver Sharks ( Manchester area , uk )

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## Smarion0006

Very pretty tank. I like the decor  :Smile:

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## Alexiel03

thanks  :Smile:  i always love skull themes in fish tanks lol i also like Asian themes too.

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## Zincubus

Are you going to add any more fish ???  An Albino Plecostumus would look immense in there and they max out at 5" so not huge like the other more common  Plecs ....also if you want the fish to be the attractions I'd swap to black gravel as it looks real classy and shows  the fish off. They use it in show / display / competition tanks .

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## SnakeBalls

Balas are cool guys! Keep the gupies out... or put them in  :Devilish:

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## Alexiel03

well sadly the balas died, i dont know why either but im guessing its because the water was too hard, but the rainbow shark is still alive and doing well  :Smile:  i also picked up 2 african cichlids today and they are all getting along well so far. i used to have 2 cichlids before, they died due to a power outtage last winter and the water got too cold for them :/ so im really excited to get more, they are my fav freshwater fish. ill post pics of them tomorrow  :Smile:

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## Alexiel03

> Are you going to add any more fish ???  An Albino Plecostumus would look immense in there and they max out at 5" so not huge like the other more common  Plecs ....also if you want the fish to be the attractions I'd swap to black gravel as it looks real classy and shows  the fish off. They use it in show / display / competition tanks .


ill add more when i get my 75 gallon up and running, ill be using white and blue gravel (more white that blue tho) might put a bag or 2 of black gravel in with the mix but not sure yet. i like using all black gravel but wanted to try something new this time, pink is my fav color so i went with that mixed with purple and black lol

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## Zincubus

> ill add more when i get my 75 gallon up and running, ill be using white and blue gravel (more white that blue tho) might put a bag or 2 of black gravel in with the mix but not sure yet. i like using all black gravel but wanted to try something new this time, pink is my fav color so i went with that mixed with purple and black lol


The only trouble with multi coloured gravel is whilst it can look eye catching to the casual onlooker .. the colours actually detract from the real ' stars' your fish . Display tanks ( apart from marine ones ) normally have black gravel and then the plants look great and your eyes are drawn to just the fish . ..imagine how those skulls would look on a bed of jet black  :Wink:

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## Alexiel03

here are some pics of the new cichlids i got yesterday  :Smile:  the albino one is hard to get pics of cuz hes always on the move lol

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## Alexiel03

> The only trouble with multi coloured gravel is whilst it can look eye catching to the casual onlooker .. the colours actually detract from the real ' stars' your fish . Display tanks ( apart from marine ones ) normally have black gravel and then the plants look great and your eyes are drawn to just the fish . ..imagine how those skulls would look on a bed of jet black


yeah ill probably eventually switch to all black gravel, i used to have black with a little bit of blue mixed with it

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## Zincubus

I may be wrong here and get shot down from all sides ( again ) but they look kinda like my old Lake Malawi cichlids I used to keep a while back 
If so the one thing to remember is that these are 'usually' get very territorial , very quickly and weirdly the best thing to do is to loads of rocky areas giving little territories and hiding places AND also they thrive when there are huge numbers of them as it cuts down on the bullying ( its true !) .

It goes against everything we are told in the fish keeping world but it works with Lake Malawi cichlids .

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dianesdigitals/925776775/

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## Alexiel03

> I may be wrong here and get shot down from all sides ( again ) but they look kinda like my old Lake Malawi cichlids I used to keep a while back 
> If so the one thing to remember is that these are 'usually' get very territorial , very quickly and weirdly the best thing to do is to loads of rocky areas giving little territories and hiding places AND also they thrive when there are huge numbers of them as it cuts down on the bullying ( its true !) .
> 
> It goes against everything we are told in the fish keeping world but it works with Lake Malawi cichlids .
> 
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/dianesdigitals/925776775/


yup they are lake malawi cichlids which are my favs, i used to have a lake malawi and a kenyi in the same tank and the kenyi was very territorial towards the other and i only had 2 rock hides in with them. i do plan on getting a couple more malawi cichlids in there, especially the snow white scoloffi i saw (they are my fav) and so far they are doing okay, they both have their own places to hide if needed and i have seen them swimming together peacefully, the albino is being the dominant one of the 2 but hasnt been picking at the others fins or bullying. ill be getting more rock structures eventually, especially when i get the 75 running, ill have more room in it to play with decor stuff.

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## Alexiel03

> yup they are lake malawi cichlids which are my favs, i used to have a lake malawi and a kenyi in the same tank and the kenyi was very territorial towards the other and i only had 2 rock hides in with them. i do plan on getting a couple more malawi cichlids in there, especially the snow white scoloffi i saw (they are my fav) and so far they are doing okay, they both have their own places to hide if needed and i have seen them swimming together peacefully, the albino is being the dominant one of the 2 but hasnt been picking at the others fins or bullying. ill be getting more rock structures eventually, especially when i get the 75 running, ill have more room in it to play with decor stuff.


here was the old setup when i had the kenyi and malawi, the kenyi eventually killed the malawi because she was so aggressive, and i dont think i had enough hiding spots, so this time im using more.
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...34-My-Cichlids

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## Zincubus

> here was the old setup when i had the kenyi and malawi, the kenyi eventually killed the malawi because she was so aggressive, and i dont think i had enough hiding spots, so this time im using more.
> http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...34-My-Cichlids


Nice .  As  I recall the only way to stop / avoid bullying and even terrorising is to overcrowd the tank with loads if Malawis tbh.

Loads of rocks and hides helps somewhat or delays the inevitable but adding as many fish as you can afford is the way forward.

A good  filtration system and regular water changes as well , I had 3 internal filters working in mine but a decent outside filter also works wonders.

I'd add as many Yellow Labs as you can afford  :Smile: .  They are about $4 each around our way . 6 for $20

https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/V953Pv95n-Q/hqdefault.jpg

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## Alexiel03

> Nice .  As  I recall the only way to stop / avoid bullying and even terrorising is to overcrowd the tank with loads if Malawis tbh.
> 
> Loads of rocks and hides helps somewhat or delays the inevitable but adding as many fish as you can afford is the way forward.
> 
> A good  filtration system and regular water changes as well , I had 3 internal filters working in mine but a decent outside filter also works wonders.
> 
> I'd add as many Yellow Labs as you can afford .  They are about $4 each around our way . 6 for $20
> 
> https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/V953Pv95n-Q/hqdefault.jpg


i wil be getting a couple more with the next paycheck, they are still doing great and gettig along with the rainbow shark i still have in there, no bullying or fin nipping that i can see, they are all swimming around together as i type this too lol

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## Zincubus

> i wil be getting a couple more with the next paycheck, they are still doing great and gettig along with the rainbow shark i still have in there, no bullying or fin nipping that i can see, they are all swimming around together as i type this too lol


Those Yellow Labs are one of the cheapest and certainly one of the most  beautiful , don't get too big and are probably the most friendly of all the Malawis - what's not too like  :Smile:

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## Alexiel03

> Those Yellow Labs are one of the cheapest and certainly one of the most  beautiful , don't get too big and are probably the most friendly of all the Malawis - what's not too like


i do want a couple of those, always loved their colors

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## Zincubus

> i do want a couple of those, always loved their colors


Ideally 3 or more  .... as I recall Malawis are all born female and when the need "arises" the dominant female / females change gender to become MALES !!  

 Crazy stuff  :Smile:

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## Alexiel03

i picked up 3 more cichlids yesterday, got a snow white scoloffi, electric blue and an electric yellow. ill try getting pics of them today. they are all getting along great

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## Zincubus

Sound real nice

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## alucard0822

The trick with Cichlids is to keep the water hard, warm and alkaline, a lot of fish folk don't like to mix AC species from all 3 different lakes, Malawi and Victoria are close enough to be OK, Tanganyika is a lot more alkaline than the others, so while a few others have had luck mixing all 3, or keeping Africans in neutral PH and soft conditions with unrelated tankmates, I haven't in my tanks or others I've helped with.  Fish get stressed, then start to get aggressive, sick and die off eventually, the higher toxicity of Ammonia in high PH ranges also kills a lot faster In new tanks or where the bioload gets increased fast.  Zincubus is right on, more fish and more hiding spots cuts down on bullying, so too few fish they get picked on, but too many too quick, and they get sick, AC tanks are pretty much the reason fishless cycling came about.  Best advice is to use sand as a substrate, easy to spot clean to keep bioload down, and the fish seem to like it, add a pile of rocks containing limestone to keep the PH up around 8-8.2, and KH up at 10-14, small water changes often with enough buffer added to keep the PH consistent, and they will be happy.  You will have to change gradually being you already have fish, and the Shark should probably find a more compatible home.  Can't wait to see how they grow

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## Zincubus

Here in the UK , we have access to captive bred Lake Malawi cichlids who thrive in our local tapwater  so no need to worry too much about Ph or hardness etc

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## Alexiel03

> The trick with Cichlids is to keep the water hard, warm and alkaline, a lot of fish folk don't like to mix AC species from all 3 different lakes, Malawi and Victoria are close enough to be OK, Tanganyika is a lot more alkaline than the others, so while a few others have had luck mixing all 3, or keeping Africans in neutral PH and soft conditions with unrelated tankmates, I haven't in my tanks or others I've helped with.  Fish get stressed, then start to get aggressive, sick and die off eventually, the higher toxicity of Ammonia in high PH ranges also kills a lot faster In new tanks or where the bioload gets increased fast.  Zincubus is right on, more fish and more hiding spots cuts down on bullying, so too few fish they get picked on, but too many too quick, and they get sick, AC tanks are pretty much the reason fishless cycling came about.  Best advice is to use sand as a substrate, easy to spot clean to keep bioload down, and the fish seem to like it, add a pile of rocks containing limestone to keep the PH up around 8-8.2, and KH up at 10-14, small water changes often with enough buffer added to keep the PH consistent, and they will be happy.  You will have to change gradually being you already have fish, and the Shark should probably find a more compatible home.  Can't wait to see how they grow


they water is hard and theres good alkaline and the temp of the water is a consistant 80 degrees, i check the water weekley and do small water changes, we have natural spring water so thats probably why its hard. i had balas but the water was too hard for them so i got the cichlids instead, the shark is doing great in there too, they dont bother him at all. i might get some black sand for them when i switch them to a bigger tank, i really like the look of sand in tanks. they are all doing really well together  :Smile:

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## Alexiel03

here are the pics as promised:

Electric yellow Cichlid




Snow White Scoloffi Cichlid (My fav one)




and the Electric Blue Cichlid

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## alucard0822

Good choices, that Electric yellow is  :Good Job:

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## Zincubus

Lovely fish ...the Yellow looks very similar to the Yellow Labs (  Labidochromis caeruleus) I mentioned especially with that thin black strip on the edge of the dorsal fin  and that bottom one 'looks' a little like a Kribensis .. ..

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=yel...w=1024&bih=672

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## Zincubus

> Lovely fish ...the Yellow looks very similar to the Yellow Labs (  Labidochromis caeruleus) I mentioned especially with that thin black strip on the edge of the dorsal fin  and that bottom one 'looks' a little like a Kribensis .. ..
> 
> http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=yel...w=1024&bih=672


Kribs

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=kri...kribensis+fish

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## Alexiel03

i replaced the pink gravel with some black gravel, its the kind for planted aquariums, ill be getting a couple plants for the tank (a couple of Anubias Nana plants) the tank and fish look a lot better  :Smile:

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_AlexisFitzy_ (01-29-2015)

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## Zincubus

Yeah , looks 100 times better to me as well !  Your eyes are attracted to the fish and the pink plants now  :Smile: 

Get those coloured plants out and some green ones in and you've got a serious looking viv  :Smile:

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## Alexiel03

> Yeah , looks 100 times better to me as well !  Your eyes are attracted to the fish and the pink plants now 
> 
> Get those coloured plants out and some green ones in and you've got a serious looking viv


ill be getting a couple plants in there in a few days or so

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