Advice And Tips

[Nick.Bennett]

Hi Guys, just would like some advice and tips to have a seccuesful Community Tropical Fish Tank..

I have had a tank now for about 2months, its about between 150-200 Litres so reasonable size with a nice dual filter. Works a treat...

So since having this i have brought a few fish with getting advice everytime from various fish shops but they kind of differ opinions.

I have
2x swrodtails
1x plec
4x tetras
2x zebra dainos
2x bottom feeders (look like tiger sharks)
5x black widows
2x femail fighters
1x male fighter (I was told this was fine to have these aslong as its two femails per one male fighter?)
4x mollys ( 2 silver 2 poka dot)
2x gupies (did have 5 but 3 died) had 1 yellow, 1 red 1 multi coloured which all good tail nipped and ended up being stripped and found floating. Aparantly this was because of there impressive colourful tails and the fact they were small fish. Was told it mau of been the dainos who did this has have seen abit of agression from the silver mollys but no agression from the fighters which was a shock to one fish guy i spoke too

....Well thats my community so far....

So the questions i have in store is -

1 - Am i doing this right?

2 - What would be the best fish to buy to add to my tank to make it even better?

3 - Can you put Malawi, Clown fish and the random fish from Nemo in my tank without a problem (for my daughter of course lol)

I would like to get skeleton fish, ghost knife fish as they look quite impressive but also was thinking about different types of sharks but was told this is a no go for my cummunity as they would attack everything same as angel fish?

Any advice of this would be appreciated and greatful as all i want is a nice look tank with a easy flowing cummunity of fish...

Would add a pic but its over my upload limit

 

[CezzaXV]

I'm afraid there are several issues with your stocking.

[font="Verdana]2x swrodtails - would prefer to be in groups of at least three, and 1M to 2F at least.[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]1x plec - may grow massive, depending on what the specific species.[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]4x tetras - again, would prefer to be in a bigger group, 6+[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]2x zebra dainos - would prefer to be in a bigger group, but your tank is too small to comfortably house them (they are strong swimmers and do best in tanks 4 feet +)[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]2x bottom feeders (look like tiger sharks) - can you be more specific? Hopefully they're not one of the shark species as they grow too large for your tank[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]5x black widows[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]2x femail fighters [/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]1x male fighter - I wouldn't put females in with a male. While there are accounts of it being successful, it can be a lot of trouble.[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]4x mollys ( 2 silver 2 poka dot) - seems okay to me, though others may disagree.[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]2x gupies (did have 5 but 3 died) - 5 would have been a good number but they won't be happy in groups of 2. They were likely picked on by your male fighter who will mistake the long flowing fins for another male.[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]
[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]That is a lot of fish for your tank (knowing the exact volume of your tank would be helpful as there's a big difference between 150 and 200 litres) and although I have recommended adding more fish to certain groups, I'm not sure your tank would take it. How often are you doing water changes? Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]
[/font][/color]
[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Malawi cichlids would be a bad fish to add to your tank. Many of them can be aggressive and have different needs in terms of water chemistry that makes them unsuitable for a community tank. I can tell you that a clown fish (Nemo) is a saltwater fish and as such cannot be added to a freshwater tank. Not sure what your other fish is, but I can tell you there were no freshwater fish in Finding Nemo as far as I can remember. Black ghost knife fish grow too large for your tank. If by skeleton fish you mean glass catfish, these may be a possibility but to be honest I think you already have (or are on the verge of ) too many fish for your tank and you couldn't add a suitably sized group to keep them happy.[/font]
[font="Verdana] [/font]
[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Sorry to be the bearer of such a large amount of bad news.[/color][/font]
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[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]
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[Nick.Bennett]

Dont sound great then!

To be honest though i have heard what you said before by one fish guy but heard different aswell..

The bottom feeders are yoyo loaches.

The tank is more like 180litres to 200 litres. I also take out 1/3 water every two weeks and then do treatments. I have been told not to worry about changing water and treatments every time i put fish in as im putting fish in every 7 days if that as i been told by several fish guys thats the way to go?
Also was told i can get upto 80 fish in my tank so kinda downed there as you said i have enough already.

Thanks for the advice..

more the welcome though..

 

[KISSfn]

Agree with CezzaXV. Your tank is overstocked now. You should do weekly water changes. If your tank is 200L it can hold around 127cm of adult sized fish in total. Sorry...

 

[CezzaXV]

80 "fish" is a very generic term. Your tank could probably take 80 1cm fish (I'm not sure there actually are any 1cm fish that I can think of), but all your fish are at least 2-4cm, if not more.

What treatments are you putting in the water?

I'd also be inclined to change your water much more often. I personally change 70-80% once if not twice a week because I'm a teeny bit overstocked. I'd say you should be looking to change at least a third of your water once if not twice a week (which is probably what I should be doing, but I like to be on the paranoid side).

A lot of people new to the hobby think that it's just a case of throwing some fish in a glass box with some water, but it's quite a bit more complicated than that. My sister is always laughing at me because she says there's too much science! Unfortunately a lot of people get advice from people who work in the fish shop. Many of these have only the most rudimentary knowledge of fishkeeping, and many more are just trying to push sales. It's really important that you research any species of fish you plan to buy and make sure you know exactly what requirements each one needs to keep it happy.

Do you have a test kit? I'd like to be proven wrong but I'm going to guess on what you've said so far that your tank wouldn't have been cycled.

 

[MisssMarie]

No male fighters with female fighters unless you want a death match. They may be okay now, but not for long!