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I work at PetSmart and lemme tell you... it irritates me when customers come up to me and ask for an Oscar or any other cichlid for that matter and I ask how big their tank is and they always say 5 gallons and sometimes even 1 gallon! Customers hate me there cause I always refuse to sell them fish and other animals when they don't have adequate environments for them lol!

@balmeoanthonyray2275

3 жыл бұрын

How We wish that the world would have more animal caring beautiful souls like you out there. Ever since when I was a teenager I read an expert stated that like in the fish natural waters, THE MORE SPACIOUS THE TANK,, THE BETTER. This became my guiding rule for separate housing small schooling fish like neons, danios, tiger terras, to fancy goldfish, to big cichlids like oscars, or angelfish. If we want to keep our fish happy and healthy, just study/google/ask experts in pet shops or other expert aquarists their living arrangements in nature and copy them as much as possible.

@GunnyPA

3 жыл бұрын

I have a 36gal tank what fish would u recommend I should get? And how many? Ide like to get a good amount and have all kinds of different types of fish. Is that possible?

@dbsti3006

3 жыл бұрын

You are the PetSmart employee that I wish I had at my local store. You are doing nothing wrong. Oscars definitely belong in larger tanks. The customer would find out the hard way at the fishs expense.

@GunnyPA

3 жыл бұрын

@@dbsti3006 I have no interest in getting oscars. I have 2 tetras, 3 guppies, 4 Corys (different types) and 2 frogs. I just want a lively tank with a lot of different kinds cool lookin fish

@FunnyAFClipz

2 жыл бұрын

@@GunnyPA I have the same size tank, rn its doing very well I have 2 gouramis 1 male 1 female, 8 cory catfish, a gold pleco only gets to 4-6 inches long, and I have 2 killifish and 3 platys my tank thrives very well and everyone is happy, havent had any deaths or problems since I added my killi idk why but they get along great with my gouramis

As a current Petsmart employee, thank you for posting this. I enjoy and appreciate videos that help me sell fish/animals to healthy, loving, fitting homes. I will keep this information in mind when selling fish to people. ❤️

@74nova36

2 жыл бұрын

Sup. Lol

@thelastsamari7923

2 жыл бұрын

Good for you sweetie truely caring for the fish and customers

@davidmacphee3549

Жыл бұрын

Oscars are really nice but you're gonna need a 100 gallon tank. Great if you do but that would mean you have some smaller tanks going as well. (This is in response to your post from a year ago. I just added to the page). I hope you are doing well.

Instructions unclear: I now have a 20 gallon high with 5 Bala sharks and 3 Jack Dempsey chiclids

@fishandfloral

3 жыл бұрын

You really need to add a common pleco too. 😆

@brazzr

3 жыл бұрын

thought of getting an arapaima?

@silverbuyer

3 жыл бұрын

Have you considered adding about 6 Eastern bottle nose and a couple alligator gar too?

@joewwilliams

3 жыл бұрын

Wait, was this not the "Best community fish" video?

@noahlikesfish9211

3 жыл бұрын

Add pine needles to the aquas cape they calm the f ish down

I watch in horror as I have put the first 3 fish you describe into my community tank - being new to the hobby. Thanks for the great advice.

@SteenfottAquatics

3 жыл бұрын

The nice thing about this hobby is nothing is absolute. You could get lucky with them and have no issues =)

@anthonycr3atin926

2 жыл бұрын

Ur not alone buddy

@FunnyAFClipz

2 жыл бұрын

My friend has a 29 gallon with 6 opaline gouramis 3 bala sharks and 12 tiger barbs. They didn't listen too me at all 😅 they say its working out well but wait a couple months when everything grows then they'll see

@davidheymer2297

2 жыл бұрын

I have a dozen Rosy Barbs in with my tetras, no problems, theres enough of them so they keep the aggressiveness amongst themselves and leave everything else alone

@alexandergardiner4056

2 жыл бұрын

I have tinfoil barbs 6 of them in with neons and guppys and mollys and oleckys platys gorammys

may I propose classic plecos? most people stick em in a 20 gallon and call it a day, despite the fact that they get like a foot long. they’re gentle giants with an emphasis on giant lol

@bencottis6386

Жыл бұрын

We had 2 leopard Plecos and they were absolutely massive. They were gentle fish though and never had any issues with them apart from their massive size! Thankfully we kept them in a 40 gallon tank which did the job (surprisingly)

@fishkingoftheaquarium7605

Жыл бұрын

Kinda surprised my common pleco not really that big compared to many others I seen and he about 8 years old. While my sailing who only 2 already just as big as him XD

@stephaniemartin7999

Жыл бұрын

I don’t understand why as a sales person at a pet store you don’t just say like”you do know this fish can get up to a foot long” my husband bought me one and I had totehome it because I didn’t have a setup for its size but he didn’t know and they didn’t say anything

@JX02123

Жыл бұрын

Common pleco is prob the worst offender that he didn't mention. People get them then dump them when they cant support anymore. Florda is overrun by the things. They get huge and are extremely resilient.

@officermcdankins591

8 ай бұрын

I have one common in my community tank that I was keeping for a friend but she decided she no longer wanted her and now I have a foot long monster that runs over everything but I feel bad that she was unwanted by the original owner

So glad to see Bala Sharks on this list. They were the bane of my existence when I worked in a couple of the LFS's around here, as the boss always wanted to carry small ones but then 6 months later didn't want to deal with what they become. Great video overall!

@lisaknupfer7768

Жыл бұрын

Do jo from sh

@chrislewis8974

Жыл бұрын

My bala sharks are in a 55 gallon and had them for years and the biggest one is 3”

I had actually tried keeping pea puffers with neon tetras and ember tetras , and it turned out to be just fine. They were not much aggressive towards each other nor towards other fishes. For reference i had a 30gallon tank.

@reticulous_pets

9 ай бұрын

Many many people keep them with tetras no issues. But I'm sure things happen. So they get a bad name for that

@guts872

8 ай бұрын

its almost like they are tolerating each other for now you know. almost like he said in the video that they can be fine with others for years but one little aggresion towards the puffer and all the others are dead

THANK YOU For your clear explanation of what are really bad beginner choices. I also loved the fact that you had similar options for these fish that WERE community friendly!

Good thing I found this video, though I was going to research about them but I had great interest on Pea Puffers for my community tank. They are sooo cute! Great video!!!

I'd say roseline sharks are a great alternative to Bala sharks if you want the shark-like looks without the agression and enormous size. My four roselines are my favorite fish in my 75gal community tank and they've gotten along great with everyone, despite being the largest fish in the tank. They school together and are always exploring around. Their coloring makes them look like little fighter jets zooming around.

Thanks for trying to get this information out there, in shops there are so many fish that grow to huge sizes that only a small proportion of people will ever have an aquarium big enough for them yet there's often no information/advice on the sizes they grow to, which must lead to so many unwanted fish. My parents bought 2 Chinese algae eaters for their small community tank. Thankfully a shop took them off our hands.

This is a super important topic. Thanks for your insight!

🐡 My pea puffers have lived in a community aquarium for over SIX YEARS with blind cave tetras, paradise gouramis, angelfish, male and female bettas, microcorys, and dojo loaches and guppies.

I enjoyed this video, Bob. I had to watch to see how much crossover there was with the "10 Terrible Community Aquarium Fish" video I did a couple years ago. It was interesting to see which fish our lists had in common and which fish you selected that I didn't. I hadn't even thought about Rosy Barbs being more aggressive at warmer temps. Great video. Looking forward to the next two installments.

@pjp9383

2 жыл бұрын

I believe I watched that video when it was released. 🙂

@huldu

Жыл бұрын

The store I bought fish from during the 90's loved to trick us into buying fish not "suitable" for a community tank. They'd show us smaller fish, a centimeter or so and they would look so cute. They got us to buy 2-3 yellow catfish like fish, not sure what they were called, they had long "whiskers" and were really small and super active. But oh boy... did they grow. In a month they were big. Had to move them out of the tank because their appetite for *anything* was very high. They were quick too. They did fine with bigger fish however as long they couldn't eat them that is lol.

I breed very high end guppies but not in what many would think is the reason. I have worked in dna genetics for 22 years and exotic Veterinarian Medical for 15 years for two major zoos. Currently breeding rare Guppies in genetic testing but sell off the ones we do not need obviously cheap to help fund the progress. I do appreciate that you reach out to the public on not doing spontaneous buys as it leads to people releasing exotics into our water ways which is actually criminal and one can be arrested in doing so. It destroys the natural economy and resources while posing problems all around. With working in two zoos, this area had always disturbed me personally. So thank you for making this video sir.

@gharrett2092

3 жыл бұрын

May I buy some guppies from you?

@ricardodizon1336

3 жыл бұрын

Are you selling some guppies now?

@supportyourtroopsathletes6460

3 жыл бұрын

Jason has some really nice Guppies so I encourage you both to check his first and if you like his, I encourage you both to buy his, if not I can provide you a list of strains but this is his channel and I would not respectfully sell on his channel. I encourage you both to post your own comment on both channels respectfully. But I will say Jason has some really nice ones if you check his website also.

@rapscallion3421

3 жыл бұрын

@@supportyourtroopsathletes6460 they are just standard guppies lol they are not exotic in any way shape or form. Which is why you won't sell them, you literally tryed so hard to look cool but over guppies🤣😭🤣. Nice I see what you did. "I breed rare guppies and they sell all the ones we don't need cheap". So people ask you for some and you say "no Jason has nice ones ask him"🤣😭🤣so it seems you were trying to brag or showoff since you can't give any away like you said you do in your post. Rare guppies 🤣 you are important I bet.

@supportyourtroopsathletes6460

3 жыл бұрын

@@rapscallion3421 .. I am selling a lot thank you and have a steady customer base locally.

This is a good video. These can be great fish when kept properly.

Man that was a great rundown, my dad loves fish and I'm more into mountain biking. He had it playing this morning and I just had to take the laptop from him and tune in myself! Lol Thank you very interesting👍👍

Earlier when I was new to the hobby I kept buying single bala shark and eventually each one would die, but now keeping a school of 7 in my 300gallon… they are healthy and thriving…

Nothing is worse than the common Pleco. Thanks, Bob!

Love what you do Bob! Your love of fish, animals and the outdoors is heartwarming. I agree that many of the Gouramis for sale are too territorial for community tanks. Love the angelfish but they need a large tank and more numbers if you keep more than one.

I agree completely. I did the mistake with #7 as a kid too in the 90's. The ones I got had the exact same shape but were grey. They grew. Slow but yes, they will eat anything they can catch. They do well with bigger fish. The ones I had in a tank were lungfish and would go to the surface to breath and then go back to the bottom of the tank. They liked to hang out with each others, very chill and non aggressive. But anything smaller will be eaten eventually. I made a lot of mistakes buying fish but back then it was a learning process, we didn't have internet, I used to go to the library to read about fish. My favorite fish was probably the elephant fish. It had such a "personality" not the most peaceful fish out there, it loved bullying my pleco. It would swim around it and stroke it with the "trunk" which had no effect but then it would go underneath to the belly and that would really make the pleco angry.

I made the BICHIR mistake every time the light went out another fish went missing. Eventually it was just him and the pleco and I loved that fish so much that's just how I kept the tank. 1 bichir 1 pleco and tons of plants. I moved the survivors to another tank.

@mofj.p4877

3 жыл бұрын

Get more bichers and maybe 1 more pleco i have 3 bichers but for some reason my bichers are the nicest fish i own

@hnmarsh1

3 жыл бұрын

I had a similar experience with weather loaches. LFS sold them as a great community fish... I've had them 7 months, and they're now 8 inches long. Nothing else lives in their tank.

@Sean3D2Y

2 жыл бұрын

Ive read Pleco's are not good to keep with Bichirs. They apparently latch on to them at times. Have you noticed anything? Look into the Brittle nose Plecos, those are safe or other types of algae eaters.

@ElCapitanY92

Жыл бұрын

@@Sean3D2Y I did notice my pleco latching on my Bichir a few times but more like trying then just leaving it alone

Very enlightening. This has been a helpful, informative video. Much appreciated.

Sweet video Bob thanks for cranking these out every week.

Got about 30 fully grown Bala sharks in my pond, absolutely love them! But yeah, too big for a tank.

@mapyn131

3 жыл бұрын

Would love to see that

@tysonsmith9216

3 жыл бұрын

They get huge!

@WraithLK

3 жыл бұрын

Could you post a quick vid of them? I’d love to see them

@kingssuck06

2 жыл бұрын

How do you heat it?

@LB-yv3wq

2 жыл бұрын

@@kingssuck06 I live in a place that’s not cold.

My experience with rosybarbs is that as long as you keep 5 or more and you have them in a larger tank they will keep the nipping between themselves.

Great video! Really helpful for beginners

I learnt most of these lessons the hard way. I had Bala shark (silver shark here in the UK) that were growing rapidly, puffer fish that were killing everything, and various wierd fish that kept dying. I've just ended up with an African cichlid tank now, although I am keeping cichlids that shouldn't really be together.

Nice. I for sure think red tail/rainbow sharks should make an appearance. They can be pretty brutal in the wrong setup, but absolutely gorgeous in the right one lol

@nathaliee773

3 жыл бұрын

Yes I looked thru comments to see if anyone mentioned Red tail sharks. We bought two at Petsmart when we started our tank and they nearly killed each other. We separated them 1 to our Son’s tank and kept the other. Both started bullying all the other fish in the tank, the one in our tank starting bullying the Balla Sharks, and the one in our Son’s tank started bullying every fish in the tank and killing a couple of them. We ended up getting rid of both of the fish and now for the most part the two community fish tanks are going well. The two Ballas chase around every once in awhile but otherwise thrive in our 100 gallon tank.

Another great video Bob!! I love all the fish on these lists!! But definitely a lot you need to take into consideration before not knowing and adding them to a community!! Someday, I would like to have a dedicated tank for these little pea puffers, so I can watch them do their little pea puffer things 🤣♥️ And Oscars💔 it's just so heartbreaking. Recently I talked to a family at a big box co store. They had no idea what they were getting into. The store associate of course didn't let them know what was involved with keeping these beautiful fish!! All they saw was a cute little fish!! Instead they ended up going with some platys and corys for their children to enjoy ♥️ I made this mistake also with Oscars in the beginning! Another fish that I added to a community tank when I was just a little girl was a blue gourami! I absolutely thought it was the most beautiful fish in the world but it became very aggressive and took everything out in the tank 😭 Another mistake I made was the Chinese algae eater, when I was first starting out, a lot of these stores do direct you to these fish!I'm so thankful for you and videos like this over the past year! I've learned more about them and many of the fish on this list!! Thanks for sharing this, hopefully it will help beginners not make some of the same mistakes that I know I did!! Have a great weekend Bob and I hope you have a wonderful day! ♥️🙏🌿🐟🌿

@pjp9383

2 жыл бұрын

I would also like to one day have a dedicated tank to watch pea puffers do their little pea puffer things. One day... 😁

@marypaigeflynn4512

2 жыл бұрын

@@pjp9383 I love watching pea puffers do pea puffer things🤣💚🥰🐟

I think this is a great video other than the pea puffer thing. I've kept some for quite a while now and they just aren't typically aggressive. If u keep them with small schooling fish like danios, neons, or rasboras, they aren't gonna be aggressive towards them.

Not sure what it's like in the states, but in Australia most stores (especially basic pet stores) on the tags of the fish prices they do regularly list the full size of the fish once fully grown. We sell things like Murry Cod here and those get HUGE so having the fishes total size on the tags help people know what they're getting into. Some stores have the big fish on display to show how massive they can really get and it's a good way to show that they're not beginner fish.

I started my new hobby about 3 months ago. I bought some "little fish including 6 Zebra Danios. WELLLLLL, I had to buy a second tank and remove them. They chased and nibbled everything in the first tank. Little horrors! LOL. They appear to be quite settled on their own. I do enjoy learning from your videos, thank you.

@kissedbysun2517

3 жыл бұрын

I wish more people talked about this aspect of danios. They are little monsters, endless energy and all of it put towards worrying and chasing other fish. Zebras and giants, nipping anything with fins. Never again.

If you need a small algee eater you can't beat otocinclus (think they also know as water monkeys). Those little guys are amazing and work so well in planted tanks

@vikalawa5301

Жыл бұрын

Hey i have dwarf hair grass in my tank they get algae so much and its no easy to remove ,i have two siamese algae eater but they dont eat them i guess please tell me are otto cinclus good for algae on Hair grass or i should buy a shrimp please reply

@sumguyonabike8776

Жыл бұрын

@@vikalawa5301 nope I'm afraid not. Try Putting tank in darkness for a week. No lights and wrap in bag to keep natural stuff out. That killed it off pretty fast when I had that problem. 👍

@edcotter5452

Жыл бұрын

I tried keeping Otocinclus a few times. They never lasted very long and just kept dying

@nobrainsnoheadache2434

3 ай бұрын

'water monkeys' are brine shrimp

@sumguyonabike8776

3 ай бұрын

@@nobrainsnoheadache2434 that's sea monkeys mate. It may also be todo with location as that's what local shops have as common name in UK. I always just call em ottos tbh.

I have a community tank with Harlequin Rasboras, Tiger Barbs and Bronze Corys. I never noticed tiger barbs pestering any fish other than eachother while I've seen Rasboras Chasing Cories multiple times.

Never had a problem with Tiger Barbs in my community tanks. They are always in a schools of 8-12 and they rarely ever go after anything except themselves. I do keep them in 75 gallon tanks though so having the extra room makes them even less likely to nip. Just my experience with them. Tiger Barbs are probably the most misunderstood fish:P

Some years ago I had Leopard Danios in a tank and got into a regular habit of introducing Harlequins into the tank as they mysteriously just disappeared.. one day I witnessed the Zebras attacking and killing the Harlequins.. no one believed me when I said but it’s true 😳🤷

@1014p

Жыл бұрын

Odd, my leopard danios are nice. Favorite fish once matured especially.

@TickleMyDadsPickle

Жыл бұрын

Wow never knew danios could be like that

@JB-ho4ob

Жыл бұрын

I had Zebra Danios and they were obnoxious with the other fish.

I loved my Oscar. Absolute beast. He dominated my biggest aquarium. Fun to introduce him to new friends (translation: live food). If you love a fish that will devour just about anything, this is the fish for you. Word to the wise, do NOT introduce him to you favorite Jack Dempsey. Yep ... that was a mistake. I had to separate them FAST. (I was cleaning tanks.) I quickly put that task off foe a day and went and bought a new small temporary tank with a cover. They didn't even like seeing each other's tank.

Great info! Thank you very much.

Good insight for beginners, and reminders for those who have been in the hobby a while.

I had a barb tank and my black ruby’s were by far the most aggressive fish. More so than any tiger variant. Only the red tailed shark could sort it out. And that was fine with everything else.

If I could have an infinitely massive tank. It would have a school of balas. I got baby ones and raised them until they were about 4 inches. Had to rehome them because of IRL stuff and I miss them. They actually had personality and look so cool swimming together. I miss you all :(

Great video Bob! Tiger Barb tip: they do do well with other bullies of about the same size. I used to keep a school with a rainbow shark.

What a great video mate, so easy to watch and listen to 10/10

The common pleco. At the time I had a 29 gallon tank and was not told how massive they get. Unfortunately a year later I had to give him away because he was out growing my tank fast. It was a sad day because I watched him grow but I rather he go to a home in a bigger tank.

Think you're about to stop me making some serious mistakes, I am definitely following this channel

@pjp9383

2 жыл бұрын

Checking multiple sources - good ones, like this channel, Aquarium Co-op, Prime Time Aquatics, KG Tropical and more - for care guides and info on a species you're considering keeping is a good idea. And what I do is take the more conservative or difficult approach out of those recommended. If tank size suggestions range from 10-20g, I go with the 20. If minimum schooling numbers suggested are from 6-8, I get at least 8. And so on...

Thank you for the good information I already had known about oscar fish not being compatible for a community tank but I was thinking about a tiger barb but not now.

Good info! I’ve never had tiger barbs but wouldn’t have known they were bad for community tanks. The more you know!

I once bought two platinum angel fish for my 15 gl community tank, soon I had to move out my community fish to another tank and separate the two angel fish because they were fighting everyone and each other. From 1 tank, it became 3 tanks. Nobody told me that I had to overcrowd the tank to prevent fighting. New fish enthusiast learning the hard way.

@gokul41123

6 ай бұрын

LoL. Separated my angel fish today from others today

All beginner must watch this video, waiting for next ones in series.Wish all store owners give such information to their customers, but normally they don't.Many beginner people lose interest in hobby due such lack of information about fishes.

@LeeDfined

3 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, they also lose interest due to the harsh criticism they receive if and when they make a mistake. Instead of people offering advice, they act like they are trying to make you feel stupid. It almost drove me out of the hobby. I understand criticism or a person not liking my aquarium set up. But there is a way to go about it.

@azredylnasha.ashenvolt533

3 жыл бұрын

Ikr? I learned a lot from this as a beginner in fish keeping.

Nice, looking forward to part 2 & 3

I must be very lucky. I’ve had 12 tiger barbs in my 75 in a very standard “community tank” for over a year and they only seem to bicker amongst each other. I have plenty of driftwood and plants in the aquarium so that when one gets tired, they have a place to retreat to. None of my fish have torn fins or signs of stress. Everyone’s tanks are different, just thought I’d share my experience with a very personable beautiful fish. Great video, Bob.

@pjp9383

2 жыл бұрын

I'm guessing it may make a difference that you actually have a decent sized school of them. Have never kept tiger barbs, but I know when I first started, I got the bare minimum recommended number of schooling fish. Now that I've moved on to bigger tanks, and learned more, I keep fewer types of fish, in bigger numbers, and get to enjoy their more natural behaviours. Like my most recent addition (in 2 batches) of 16 pygmy cories in my recently re-scaped tank.

When I was a teenager I made a mistake of buying African Cclides and they ate everything I had... they were so territorial and angry lol

@facesoffearbrewing1229

3 жыл бұрын

That's racist man.

@m.heyatzadeh

3 жыл бұрын

lol

@donaldewert2402

3 жыл бұрын

I had a few Cicklids and all they did was fight, never again!!!!

@timmykkgb

3 жыл бұрын

@@donaldewert2402 why can no one spell cichlids lol

@donaldewert2402

3 жыл бұрын

@@timmykkgb I only had one letter wrong but I guess I failed, still don't like 'em. I was afraid to try spelling it again HA!!!

I personally have a community tank and in there is- 4 bala sharks (2 biggest are 7-8 inch long), 3 angels, two parrots, 6 rainbow fish, 1 eel, 1 knife fish, two bigger fancy tail guppies and an albino pleco. They have done amazing together. Eventually, the balas and knife fish will go into a bigger tank I have on hold and the rest will stay where they are. I have 6 tanks. I have pea puffer tanks and I have tons of shrimps and baby guppies in the one and they don't ever bother any of their tank mates. I still have every single shrimp and guppy in there. There are two different types of pea puffers, I have both. The bigger ones with the perfect spots on them with the green like hue that need the more brackish water are the more aggressive and will eat anything in their path whole. The tiny pea sized puffers that are fresh water they won't bother tank mates- so far from my experience. You're lucky to get them to even eat the snails. People seem to get the two mixed up.

Never had any of these fish on your list but I did make the mistake of adding a school of penguin tetras to my planted tank once and I was shocked how horrible they were to one another and the other tetras in the tank, took me ages to net them out without destroying my tank.

Thank you so very much for this information I can actually further help myself at my job and help customers this was very helpful useful information

I actually kind of disagree with pea puffers, over the years I've experimented a lot and have kept many many pea puffers successfully in community tanks multiple times, but I've also had a couple who just didn't work in a community. It honestly just depends on the individual fish's personality, some are much more peaceful than others. When I buy pea puffers I watch for their behavior in the stores, ones that come up to the front of the glass and chase each other around tend not to do well in community tanks, while ones that then to keep to themselves often continue that behavior in your own tank adn do well with other fish, and they will usually thrive as long as they are kept well fed, are not outcompeted for food, arent kept with tankmates large enough to eat them, in well planted tanks to break their lines of sight and kept with others of their own kind to interact with. I've personally kept pea puffers with rainbowfish, short finned guppies, swordtails, platys, least killifish, mollies, plakat and longfin bettas, tetras, barbs, pencilfish, danios, rasboras, small gouramis, corydoras, baby and adult bristlenose, kuhli loaches, otocinclus, kribensis, apistogrammas, rams, gobies, small killifish, scarlet badis, neocaridina shrimp, amano shrimp, mexican dwarf crayfish, fire belly toads, and african dwarf frogs, with no problems.

@Tobi-kr1yp

2 жыл бұрын

Mine are with a badis badis

@andyalvarez5908

2 жыл бұрын

My step dad has shown little interest in his puffers so I continue thinking about putting them in my community tank. The largest fish I have in there are 3 dwarf Gourami’s but I haven’t committed to the idea yet

@samcruz7782

2 жыл бұрын

@@andyalvarez5908 dope i have a pair of puffers living with a scarlet badis cherry shrimp and rocket killies in a 7 gallon and theyre all doing great

@mjgereau

2 жыл бұрын

Yes! I was about to reply about pea puffers. I put them in my community tank. And they’ve done really well. I added more plants for them so they can hide. I haven’t had any issues. They live with 3 Angel fish, 8 celestial Pearl danios, 20 cardinals, 6 cories and 3 ottos. Hopefully they stay peaceful but I’ve had them in several community tanks and haven’t had issues. I agree I think it depends on the fish.

@randomkidontheinternet4589

2 жыл бұрын

@@andyalvarez5908 I have a pair of puffers with a blue gourami and a dwarf gourami and they get along swell, granted they are in a 60 gallon

The common pleco in my opinion. They grow way to big for your community tank. Unless you have like a 120? Hahaha

@HungQDang

2 жыл бұрын

120 is small for a 2ft fish

@pjp9383

2 жыл бұрын

Just the other day, I was at my LFS and listening to someone oohing and aahing over the size of a pleco in one of their tanks. "Wow, I didn't know they got so big!" she said. I casually mentioned the full grown size as I walked by, and her jaw dropped. 🤣 (I did tell her there are some types that stay small, if she was interested in getting one.)

@HungQDang

2 жыл бұрын

@@pjp9383 that's what she said, lol

@pjp9383

2 жыл бұрын

@@HungQDang Not my type of humour, but I do get the joke. Have a great day.

Great video, thanks for the information!

I didn’t know Pea puffers were related to R. Kelly genus as they tend to “pee” around 😂. Awesome vid 👍🏽

me with a golden chinese algae eater: oh crap...

@boges11

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I have 2 and they are starting to harass my Golden Panchax.

I wish I could do a rosy barb pond, but I don’t think they could quite survive a Canadian winter 🥶 Maybe an indoor unheated pond in the basement... I should just make my basement a giant fish room lol

@nazeemameen1253

3 жыл бұрын

I also love rosy barbs. I used to keep them with green tiger barbs, diamond tetras, dwarf neon rainbows and giant danios.

@huldu

Жыл бұрын

I tried to keep native fish in a tank but it's so hard. For them to "thrive" you really need to somehow simulate that winter and I couldn't do it as a kid in the 90's. I had some native fish for a few years until I sold them to local aquarium store. The fish I had were carps, perch and one pike. I caught them as fry. The scariest one was the pike. That was a nightmare *monster* lol. The carps were super friendly and they would let me stroke them in water, always coming up to the surface happy. I had them in a BIG tank. Loved it but even then I knew it wasn't right to keep them in such a condition.

Thanks for this video and information. It helped me out a lot!!!!!!! 😊😊

Cool video and also very helpful!

Tiger Barbs were the most aggressive fish I ever had. Had to return them to the pet store because they were biting the other fish and hurting them.

@toddbefield1100

10 ай бұрын

Had a roommate years ago that would cut the tail off the tiger barb that nipped the others. Worked until the tail grew back. Rinse and repeat. It would hide any time net in water.

I'd also add the Pacu . Wonderful fish but it grows way bigger than an Oscar - HUMONGOUS ! :)

@PULAG

2 жыл бұрын

I've seen these giants in ponds in every pet store I've been to. All donated because they got too big.

Awesome video. Senegal bichirs are super fast they can also turn on a dime have great control of their swim bladder. even small ones will kill much larger fish by holding on to the fin and wearing it out. Good content in this video just my opinion they are capable of great speeds

Your best vid so far! Great stuff!

Might wanna rethink on the whole "the more the merrier" for pea puffers as they can be most aggresive towards other puffers if not in a harem

@SteenfottAquatics

3 жыл бұрын

In the wild they are in giant shoals. More the merrier.

@faridsyarmany

3 жыл бұрын

I have mine 8 peas which are in a group and they have been doing well since august last year in a 30g tank heavily planted tank.

@dominicremaro8687

3 жыл бұрын

I had two pea puffers in a community tank 40 gal for years with not a single issue ever. Not a nipped fin nada. Had a very interesting community tank with a bunch of odd ball fish that somehow blended together perfectly🤷🏻‍♂️. From pea puffers to bubble bee goby’s also a pair to fresh water flounder to pigmy water frogs also paired and also several other species of small unique fish including some fresh water clams. Somehow everything gelled together perfectly. I miss that tank could sit and watch it for hours. I only fed diet of live food and mixed it up to get them all their nutrients, had a large fluvial canister filter then went under stand. TONS of good bacteria from the beautiful porous Mexican pot rock to the biological filter media to the fine sand I used. It was perfectly cycled the and had a good amount of live plants. But years and meticulously added to it slowly. Sometimes I would go back and forth looking for a fish to add over weeks to a month looking for just the right fish. But anyway yeah all these weird fish/frogs/clams etc all lived in perfect harmony. Maybe it was because the tank was set up just perfect? They all had their routine and area and weirdly everything seemed to know and respect it. Maybe it was because I purposely only picked species that were very small or grew very very slowly so there was lots of space. For size of tank I definitely never came anywhere close to capacity. Will see if I get lucky again as I am back into the hobby having the time again now, and want to try and recreate that tank that was my favorite tank back when I was into the hobby before

I've had all kinds of barbs for years now and not one species has been a fin nipper. they've been in my community tanks also so I recommend any barb for a community !

@CommanderClank

3 жыл бұрын

My tiger barbs chase each other around from time to time, but not once in 3 years have I seen them mess with any of my tetras/zebra danios/cory cats

@JohnJames.

3 жыл бұрын

I had one rosy barb , and it was a crazy fish

@nickhayward6893

3 жыл бұрын

I keep barbs with all sorts of fish and have 0 issues I think people run in to issues when they have 5 or less barbs in with other fish

@andrewgillan2013

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed

@andrewgillan2013

2 жыл бұрын

Funny enough I have 1 Bala 4 Barbs.. two tigers one golden one green barb..two African cichlids and a Pleco..two years

Used to have a pair of oscars that were in a community (all large fish) included two sharks, two freshwater catfish and two large angels and a couple bristlenose. super calm and friendly to each other but anything else fish wise was viewed as food. Was a very large tank though. 8foot long

Great info i do think that in some cases people may have different levels of success as i do with community fish and Bettta

Lets not forget the Common Pleco! They should not be sold unless you have a tank big enough!!!

Ruby Barbs have been a staple in my community tank for years now! Love those guys and happy to see them in here!

Thanks for the information I appreciate your knowledge and presentation.

I found out the hard way about Chinese Algae Eaters. I was looking for another tank cleaner, and was talked into getting one for my community tank. When it was small, it was fine, but when it got older, it become violent to the other fish in the tank. When I called the pet store about the behavior, I was told to either rehome it or to add hiding places for the other fish since these fish can have attitude problems. So I bought more hiding places which worked pretty well, until I one day I saw the Chinese Algae Eater munching on one of my other fish. That is when I realized he was aggressive because he was hungry and didn't want algae. Another fish to be wary about are plecos. I currently have a common pleco that I got when it was only a couple inches long. It is now 13 inches and still growing. I only have a 29 gallon tank (he is the only fish in there) and will be upgrading here sooner rather than later to a 55 gallon. But when I got him I was told he would get maybe 6 inches or so but will not outgrow the tank. Yep, told nothing but lies lol.

I try to avoid putting any kind of cichlid into a community aquarium, due to the fact that they not only grow to a size that's not comparable to the other fish, but that they will effectively take over part of the aquarium and become territorial toward any smaller fish. Even the likes of Angel Fish, you have to be a little bit careful with.

@ddc2957

6 ай бұрын

Nothing wrong with dwarf Cichlids in a community tank.

@j0hnf_uk

6 ай бұрын

@@ddc2957 I never had any luck with Kribs or Rams. Even angel fish can be a bit tetchy with fellow tank mates, especially if they decide to breed.

One of my first tanks I setup had an Iridescent Shark, Red-Tailed Shark, Serpae Tetra, Rainbow Shark. Bala Shark and a Common Pleco. I had one of each species in a 50 gallon tank. The weird thing was the Serpae was the bully of the tank and he was the smallest fish! All of these should be on your next list and I should get the worst Community Tank setups of all time. The tank ran for three years like that and then I quit the hobby for awhile.

Absolutely awesome tank behind. I am a subscriber as of today great video

Pretty accurate rundown on what fish not to keep in a community aquarium - Silver Sharks have a peaceful temperament, but they're easily spooked, are jumpers, and will outgrow the average aquarium, plus they're schoolers too, so you're going to need almost an industrial sized aquarium if you want to keep them! One leaped out of my tank when I wasn't there and landed halfway across the room; unfortunately, it was too late by the time I noticed it was missing and found it behind some clothes drawers. I had a lid and cover on the aquarium too. Tiger Barbs will dive bomb Cory Catfish and any bottom dweller mercilessly and will leave fish such as Angelfish and Pearl Gouramis in shreds - literally! So they should be kept in a species-only tank really. Thanks for uploading; very informative.

Instructions unclear sofa cushion did not fit in the 5 gallon tank.

@SteenfottAquatics

3 жыл бұрын

You need a smaller sofa

@LushLookingLocks

3 жыл бұрын

No just try a smaller tank instead.

Clown Loach, Black Ghost Knife Fish and Red Tailed Sharks should defiantly have been added to this list. But cool Video 😊

@milkshakemistake6239

3 жыл бұрын

A lot of people have had success keeping red tail sharks in community tanks.

@classychandu5090

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I haven't had a problem with clown loaches or Red tail sharks in my community tank.

@gharrett2092

3 жыл бұрын

My red tail female just died. 7 years. She was nice to my barbs, tetras, mollies and guppies... yes I have a 120 gal but she was nice just not to the shrimp lol

@malusignatius

3 жыл бұрын

@@classychandu5090 The chief problem I've seen with clowns is that they's a schooling fish that will grow to about a foot long eventually. Otherwise all the ones I've seen have been pretty well behaved.

@1Ackack

Жыл бұрын

Never had a problem with clown loaches. Great aquarium fish!

learned from experience and glad to see my mistakes explained here... had to donate/return my bala sharks, tiger barbs, and bichirs... however, i've had my chinese algae eaters for a while and they're still very small, and seem to be doing a good job keeping the algae at bay. as soon as i bought them i didn't have to worry about black beard algae on my plants anymore.

Regarding Bichirs, there are two types that I have kept. The ones with a narrower mouth are much more docile and not aggressive at all, even to smaller fish. But the ones with a wider mouth, these will eat just about anything, even fish their own size. I made the mistake and added the wide-mouth bichir to the tank, and it tried to swallow a fire-eel bigger than itself, and choked on it... Both died.... 😔. So the narrow mouth bichirs are definitely community tank material.

Why not just keep Rosy Barbs with other schooling fish like danios, cherry barbs, white clouds, etc.?

7:02 good save

@Catfishcory

3 жыл бұрын

LOL, was looking for this comment.

From lots of experience keeping pea puffers I can confidently say they do well with otos, and you can manage ghost or large Amano shrimp, nerite snails given the low profile of their foot, and sometimes even get away with fast fish like small tetras but that’s on a case by case basis. My big male solitary in his nice planted tank after the rest dying off is fine with corys so that’s a possibility if you’ve got plenty of room. Growing out some pea females to add soon with a rescape but they’re surprisingly tolerant of some tankmates if you give enough territory in the scape and room for other fish to do their own thing. There are a couple of glow light tetras in the growout tank that have lived with them almost their whole lives and the others only died from other issues or age so they really have no problem staying out of the way. Dwarf puffers are notoriously messy eaters and it helps having some additional cleanup crew at the very least in ghost shrimp, nerites, and otos.

Thank you for your awesome info, learned a lot Cheers :)

Another dig on the albino oscar! Speaking of bullying!

@SteenfottAquatics

3 жыл бұрын

😶🤫

@joewilliams5072

3 жыл бұрын

Hey, wait a second.....that’s MY name. Joe (the other one)

me watching this after getting 2 alae eaters and a ball for my 20 gallon: 👁👄👁

Was surprised by Rosy Barbs, but then again I've always kept them in a proper school and in a temperate setup. Beautiful, chill fish if you set them up properly.

HIGHLY recommend golden bichir... but not for beginners and not for community tanks and not for small tanks. And yes, they'll get to 18"-22" if you take good care of them. (Careful, they have a primitive lung and will try to use it on occasion by jumping out of your tank).

Exodon Tetras. Ea .Bucktooth tetra they will tear small holes in all your other fish until they die.

@user-de8ny5zo2u

3 жыл бұрын

But they are a blast to feed

Clown loaches get big as well shouldn't be because they are schooling and get massive

@SteenfottAquatics

3 жыл бұрын

Thats a really good one

@robertjohnston25

3 жыл бұрын

@@SteenfottAquatics alternative, angelica and yo-yo loaches :)

@skipsterable

3 жыл бұрын

My clown loach has been doing quite well in my 55-gallon community tank for the past 10 years. Of course, he is in with silver dollars, a bushy nose pleco, Rafael cat and a Texas cichlid, and 3 giant Danios. Everybody does quite well but I do not think I would advise any of them for community tanks.

I agree 100% about what you said about tiger barbs! I had few in the past but one in particular (female) was so aggressive. She stared attacking platies and other peaceful eating her eyes. I never saw something like that in my fish keeper hobby career ! I noticed what was going on when several (believe me) fish started appearing without eyes.

@yonsenseafood7030

3 жыл бұрын

My rosy barbs attack and eat all of the red eyes balloon tetra's eyes, i thought it maybe happened after I installed the pink light into the tank, possible the red eyes looks like food to them?

Thanks for the info! just wondering if you have experience with paradise gourami and Kribensis? I'm trying to build a community tank with a 30 gallon tank, which I may change to the 38 gallon that I recently bought (and don't know what to do with at the moment now that the expiry date for returns has passed).... Um so I have one lady power blue gourami and 2 zebra danios, 2 kyathit danios and one leopard gold danios (the other one died). I want to add the shrimps and algae eaters (thankfully you mentioned the siamese one was a good choice because I was eyeing that).... Do you think the Kribensis which comes in pairs and one male paradise gouramis will do well in a community tank?

I'm confused, why are fish stores still selling chinese algae eaters when everyone 'hates' them? Is there even profit from that fish?😅

@roboticsbede3421

3 жыл бұрын

@[ 桂木優 ]KᗩTᔕᑌᖇᗩGI U see, this is what I mean and its wouldn't be considered a 'special' or 'pretty' fish

@JL-ym3eb

3 жыл бұрын

@[ 桂木優 ]KᗩTᔕᑌᖇᗩGI i would be so triggered if that happened to my betta. you wouldn't want to know what would happen to that algae eater after. :)

@JL-ym3eb

3 жыл бұрын

@[ 桂木優 ]KᗩTᔕᑌᖇᗩGI also i bet only the people who are ignorant and don't research buy whatever fish and put them together.

@JL-ym3eb

3 жыл бұрын

@[ 桂木優 ]KᗩTᔕᑌᖇᗩGI same not gonna lie. i had a betta in a 2.5 gal

@JL-ym3eb

3 жыл бұрын

@[ 桂木優 ]KᗩTᔕᑌᖇᗩGI yep i actually put a pole on my yt channel to ask what fish i should add and one of my subscribers said an angel fish but then i explained and we agreed on platies

Emperor tetras. The dominant male goes after everything. Definitely not for the community. 👍

@silverbuyer

3 жыл бұрын

I bought the last one my fish store had and he has claimed a tiny section on the left side of the tank he will chase almost any tetra out of his territory but leaves the guppies, guppy fry, and Bolivian Rams alone. I've been waiting for them to get more in stock hoping he'll mellow out but he doesn't fin nip or hurt anything just chases them out if his area then retreats.

@malusignatius

3 жыл бұрын

@@silverbuyer I never had any problems with my Emperors, but then again I only had a male and 2 females (it was a tiny tank).

@silverbuyer

3 жыл бұрын

@@malusignatius thanks for the reply. I was able to add a couple more emperor's and he's mellowed out now. 👍🏻

@malusignatius

3 жыл бұрын

@@silverbuyer Not a problem. It's good to hear they're behaving now, Emperors are stunning fish, one of my favourite tetras.

I made the mistake of getting a pea puffer as I am a fan of puffer fish and I didn't have to worry about a brackish or salt setup with the pea puffer. After he got acclimated, he started going after my 3 gouramis and my 3 female beta. I stuck him in a small tank but my little heater stuck on and cooked him. I do have a rosy barb flying solo with the rest of the tank and haven't had any aggression issues.