My First Set Up

Hi all, I'm new to keeping fish but have really taken to it. I'm so surprised at how interesting and intelligent they are, and all with their own personalities. I know what all the species are apart from a couple. the larger silvery ones in the pic below and the ones which i thought were lemon tetras but when looking at other pics im not so sure,
Anyway if you spot anything wrong let me know, any comments and suggestions are appreciated, thanks
Andy



here are the ones im not sure about the two large silvery ones towards the top centre and the one at the bottom left which i thought was a lemon tetra? could be?
Sorry about the pic quality by the way

Looking good, particularly for a first tank.

However I have a couple of problems...
The main one being the Red Tailed Black Shark.
They should grow to at least 6"...and are therefore FAR too big for that tank. They also get extremely agressive, and in such a small space WILL kill your other fish.

Also, second problem. It is quite a small tank so you have to be careful how many fish you add. To me it looks like it may well be overstocked.
What fish exactly do you have in there?
And could you put up pics of the ones you don't know so we can ID them?

The one bottom left in the second picture is (by the looks of it) a silvertipped tetra.

I'm not sure about the two silvery fish...but they don't look like 'normal' community fish.
The one in the middle looks a bit like a juvenile silver dollar...which if it is should grow in excess of 5", but will be stunted in that tank.

Or it could be a Ctenobrycon spilurus - AKA Silver Tetra...

sorry mate but agreed 98% with what she says above,<never agree with a women 100%
looks to me like a red finned black shark but still a no no, your quite over stocked there,also whats the filteration like?
rehome soon as mate

thanks for the advice I thought as much my self from what i'd read on here and looked at on you tube vids but the guy at my local aquarium told me an inch of fish per litre I suppose he would tell me anything though when I'm spending money there. I plan to buy a 300lt tank in a fortnight and keep that tank in case i need it in future when i learn a bit more maybe for breeding or a quarantine tank?

I have in there at present 3 neon tetras a small rainbow shark 4 zebras? 2 sailfins, 2 sword tails? and 4 of the lemon ones, oh also a housekeeper

you can see a bit clearer here


the male sailfin.

They all seem happy have all been together over a month now no deaths, last few days the rainbow shark has been much less recluse and started chasing the others a bit thats my main corcern

what do you class as a housekeeper, sorry but thats very vage, alot of common fish sold by fish shops for so called cleaning purposes grow well over 12+inches, fish do not clean the tank only sometimes eat some of the algae,

So you have...
3 x neon tetras = 3" of fish
1 x rainbow shark = 6" of fish
4 x zebra danios = 4" of fish
2 x sailfin mollies = 3" of fish
2 x sword tails 2"
4 x Silver-tip tetra (the lemon ones) = 4"

A good rule of thumb for a new keeper with small bodied fish such as yours. Is 1" of fully grown fish per US Gal.

You currently have 7.4US Gal so should be aiming at 8" of fully grown fish for the first 6months or so.
You actually have AT LEAST 22" worth of fish (then add the ones that aren't ID'd yet!!!)

Presuming you re-home the rainbow shark then you're down to 16" of fully grow fish...though still no taking into account the un ID'd fish.

So you're AT LEAST double the 1" per gal rule.
This can potentially cause big problems in the coming months.

yes like i said I'll be getting a bigger tank in the next couple of weeks will get it up and running and add them gradually, is that the best way?

The housekeeper is the main victim of the rainbow shark its constantly bothering it so quite hard to get a good picture although i've tried

looks like an albino chinese algae eater, get aggressive with age, what with that and the shark they are bound to spar in a small tank, sorry......problem is do not listen 100% to fish shops as they will just sell fish and thats it, you can be lucky as we have some fish shop workers on here and a few owners,but as a whole theres alot out there only in it for the money,shame but true, good luck with the new tank, yes look for the fishless cycle link, will take aleast six weeks to mature a tank ready for fish

A chinese Algae Eater
Grow upwards of 6" and are EVIL little *ahems* when they begin to mature.
They go from docile algae eaters to killers near enough overnight.

And I would add all fish in one go as it'll give them the best possible start. Plus then you can move all of your filter media from the small tank accross into the big tank.

Did you cycle the tank before you bought it by the way?

I left it with no fish for a week then added the sailfins and every week added new species, I'm concerned now about the rainbow shark, I dont want to just take her out and let her die but have nowhere to put her i feel like just putting her in a bowl of tank water for a few hours just to give the others a break they all look fed up of it. all the rest are fine a few of the zebras chase each other about but it seems playful. but literally overnight the rainbow shark has turned into a serious bully and I dont know what to do with her

This is my mums tank by the way, more overcrowded than mine i'd say

Hmm, just cause your mum may also have an overstocked tank doesn't mean that yours is ok...

What size is you mums tank and what is the exact stocking?

So you never actually cycled the tank then...with that sort of stocking I'd have thought you've probably still got an ammonia reading.
How many weeks has the tank been up and running now?

Go have a look in the 'beginners resource' area in the 'New to the hobby' section of the board.
Do you have a test kit? If so what are your Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH readings?

Hi I did test everything first ph is 7 temps between 25-26 treated the water for chroline and nitrate levels were at the lowest colour in the test kit pale yello.
Should i remove the shark is it going to stress the others

Please don't take this the wrong way as I'm not accusing you of lying.

But I don't believe that tank is cycled. With that many fish your nitrates should be going sky high between water changes. I'd expect them to be up to 40ppm a week.

What exactly are your test results? Can you do all the tests now?

Also I probably wouldn't seperate the shark unless you have somewhere permenant to house it until you can re-home it (either into your upgrade or to a new home)
A bowl wont be sufficient I'm afraid.

No-2 nitrate kit says its 0.3mg