My poor Bala's :S

[Lovemafish]

I just got a 25 gallon tank. I started it with 3 Bala sharks, and one Male Betta. I have since added, one Kenyi cichlid, one Albino Zebra cichlid and 6 Ruby barbs. I also have 3 african aquatic frogs and one plecostomus. My question is, my Bala's fins are all tore to pieces, the barbs have been after them quite a bit, even though i put 6 of them :S I did however just put the Kenyi and barbs in last night. Should i put another Bala in to balance things out? Or should i just wait it out and see what happens? Please help, Im new to this and i dont want to lose any of my fish [color=violet][/color]

[Fish Addict]

no don't put anythign esle in your tank
it is wayto full as it is if anything get rid of your balas. balas can get up to 12 inches + in length


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[t_chelle16]

Hate to break it to you, but you have some really major stocking/compatibility issues. You're going to have to look into either more tanks or returning some of the fish.

Balas - like Fish Addict said, they get over a foot long. They are also very fast, active swimmers. Honestly, I wouldn't even try keeping them in anything smaller than 6' x 18" tank (that would be about 120+ gallons). I recomend returning them.

Ruby barbs - can be very nippy and will probably end up tearing up the betta's fins (maybe even killing it). You can keep them in a 25, but you'll be a bit restricted as far as tankmates go (no slow, peaceful fish, or fish with long, flowing fins).

Betta - again, compatibility issues with the barbs. I would pick one or the other, but I would not try to keep both in the same tank. If you want to keep both, I suggest getting a 3 - 5 gallon tank for the betta. Or, if you want to get rid of the barbs, you could keep the betta in a 25 and get some different tankmates, but you'll be limited (nothing really big, nothing aggressive, nothing with long flowing fins, no other bettas or gouramis).

Kenyi & albino zebra - these are highly aggressive fish. It is highly likely that they will kill all the other fish, then kill eachother. African cichlids like these two do best in a large tank (40+ gallons) with several other similar african cichlids. I would definitely not try to keep these two in the tank under any circumstances. They also have different dietary needs than some of the other fish, btw.

3 frogs - What kind of frogs? There are 2 types of aquatic frogs commonly sold. African clawed frogs get around 5", need at least 10 gallons each, and will eat smaller fish. African dwarf frogs only get around 1" and are for the most part pretty peaceful (too small to do damage to other fish). The easiest ways to tell the difference are to look for webbing on the front feet (no webbing = clawed, webbing = dwarf), look at the eyes (top of the head = clawed, sides of head = dwarf), and thighs (big "thunder thighs" = clawed, thin thighs = dwarf). Also, only clawed frogs come in albino.

If you have clawed frogs, I would either get rid of all the other fish and only keep 2 of the frogs or get rid of all the frogs. If you have dwarf frogs, you can keep all 3, but they definitely can't be kept with the pleco, or africans (too small, peaceful, & delicate); the barbs will be a bit risky because, like I said, barbs can be a bit nippy. The barbs very well could kill adfs. Bettas and dwarf frogs tend to be just fine together.

pleco - What kind of pleco? If it's a common or sailfin, it's going to get WAY too big for a 25 gallon tank.

-Chelle