Community tank

[TESS]

OK so i have got a new tank 180 litres and my platies are in there at the moment with 2 sucking loaches, once the tank has cycled what fish can i add?, i know about adding a couple of fish at one time but im looking at about 10-12 more fish for my tank. So that will be 8 platies+1 baby platie soon and 2 sucking loaches and 10-12 more fish.
I was thinking of
mollys
guppies
maybe a betta
and there is another fish that ive seen,its black about 5cm and it looks like its been covered in glitter, dont know what its called any ideas?
The ph in my tank is 7.7 and the pump is quite a strong flow, a medium size cave to hide in and a few big conifer like plants, tempreture 78-82.
I realy want fish that will be good in pairs as i would like a varity of fish in my tank, as i have red platies i would like different colours and some black for contrast.
Thanks

 

[iobre8ks]

mollie and guppy they come in many different colors and are beautiful. I would not get a betta as they are agressive.

 

[WILDER]

The betta will eat the guppys as they are competition to them.

 

[TESS]

Ive seen the name of the other fish i was describing, its a speccled swordtail (looks like its been rolled in glitter).
Do mollys, guppies and swordtails live alright in pairs?. I want just females, 2 of each.
Which will make my 180 litre tank:
9 platys (red)
2 mollys (1 black 1 white)
2 guppies (blue)
2 speccled swordtails (black covered in glitter)
2 sucking loaches (silver)
And 4 free spaces for any platy fry
Does this sound ok?

 

[sylvia]

By sucking loach you are probably reffering to chinese algae eaters or golden algae eaters. These get to 10", are aggressive and are not suited to a community tank. As they mature, they may begin to attack your fish so be prepaired to remove them.

Bettas and guppies don't get along because bettas mistake male guppies for other bettas.

You say you want only females but this doesn't realy make sense to me... Female guppies are quite drab with grey bodies. Female swordtails don't have swords - they look like large platies - so if you only want female swords, you might as well only get platies as they are smaller so you could keep more. Most livebearer females can store sperm for several months as well - so if you don't want fry, it's usualy reccomended to only get males . Plus, females get larger than males so you can't keep as many.

I think you'd be better off going for 2 MALE guppies, 2 MALE mollies (or a male and 2 females if you want them to breed) and also a pair (one male, 1-2 females) of swordtails or just one male if you don't want them to breed. Once the sucking loaches reach about 4", you're going to need to get rid of them anyway so you'll have plenty of space for new fish. Obviously, you keep the 9 platies you already have.

Do you only want livebearers in your tank though? I would suggest you put a little more thought into your stocking before making any final descisions. I know from experience that it is very easy to make hasty choices and then to realise you'd like something else as well when it's too late. Look into some other types of fish - danios, tetras, barbs, rasboras, gouramies, cichlids (compatible types like rams), some of the less aggressive 'sharks' like flying foxes, small plecos, cory cats, khulie loaches and other smallish loaches, medium-sized catfish species and of course look into some of the rarer livebearer species - there are so many species to choose from and, unless you specificaly want a livebearers-only tank, I'd look into some bottom-dwellers at least and maybe a few otos or other algae eaters particularly for when your loaches are gone.

 

[TESS]

{By sucking loach you are probably reffering to chinese algae eaters or golden algae eaters. These get to 10", are aggressive and are not suited to a community tank. As they mature, they may begin to attack your fish so be prepaired to remove them.}
My local fish shop sold me the loaches and said they would only get 3-4" maxium and hes a experienced fish dealer, also freinds have them in their tanks and they are only 3-4" big. They are now about 2 1/2 inches and i have just moved all fish from the small tank to the 180 litre, the loaches were attacking in the small tank (even each other) but they now love the big tank and no-one is being attacked and both loaches swim happily together. I still keep a close eye on them though and have a freind ready to take them on if they get to much.

{I think you'd be better off going for 2 MALE guppies, 2 MALE mollies (or a male and 2 females if you want them to breed) and also a pair (one male, 1-2 females) of swordtails or just one male if you don't want them to breed. Once the sucking loaches reach about 4", you're going to need to get rid of them anyway so you'll have plenty of space for new fish. Obviously, you keep the 9 platies you already have.}
Hmmm i think i will just have the 2 male guppies and 2 male mollys and forget about the swordtails. The trouble is the lfs store accidently gave me 3 male platies instead of 2, would getting more males of a different species cause fighting in the tank? as my 3 males are getting a bit nasty at times (not to serious though).


{Do you only want livebearers in your tank though? I would suggest you put a little more thought into your stocking before making any final descisions. I know from experience that it is very easy to make hasty choices and then to realise you'd like something else as well when it's too late. Look into some other types of fish - danios, tetras, barbs, rasboras, gouramies, cichlids (compatible types like rams), some of the less aggressive 'sharks' like flying foxes, small plecos, cory cats, khulie loaches and other smallish loaches, medium-sized catfish species and of course look into some of the rarer livebearer species - there are so many species to choose from and, unless you specificaly want a livebearers-only tank, I'd look into some bottom-dwellers at least and maybe a few otos or other algae eaters particularly for when your loaches are gone.}

No, im not realy wanting all livebearers but ive been asking for a long while now and also trying to decided on my fish, but ive been told about the ones you have mentioned and people over the net told me not to get them because most are not compatable . I am interested in barbs but ive been told they dont go well in pairs and need a shoul of 10, cichlids im told were agressive, tetras wouldnt suit my water nor gouramies or rasboras and flying fowes were also agressive. I hav'nt heard nothing about danios though or discus.
What other species would you advise on to go in pairs of the same sex? to go with 8 adult platies, 1 baby (hospital tank at present), 2 loaches
180 litre tank
ph 7.7
tempreture 78-82
planted
alot of swimming space
1 cave to hide in and also 1 tunnel

 

[jflowers]

Try and ID your sucking loach here...

http/www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

If its the CAE, then sylvias correct, rehome them.

Jon

 

[TESS]

This is mine:
Siamese Algae Eater, Crossocheilus siamensis (Smith, 1931)
This slender algae eating barb is the only known fish that eats red algae. It comes from the flowing waters of Thailand and the Malay peninsula. It was first brought to Europe in 1962, but became popular in the 1970's when its ability to eat red algae was noticed. The fish is also known as Siamese Flying Fox, and Siamese Fox. It previous scientific name was Epalzeorhynchus siamensis. To those interested in the fine, but admittedly boring details of taxonomy, the genus Crossocheilus differs from Epalzeorhynchus by rhynal lobes (nasal lobes).

Description
It is a slender, grayish-brown fish with a distinctive black horizontal stripe. Maximum length is 15 cm (6") and might be obtained in two years, if the conditions are optimal. Normally They grow slower and don't always reach that size in captivity. They can live over 10 years. All the fins are transparent or slightly milky without any yellow or reddish sheen. The black band goes from nose to the fork of the tail and its edges are zig-zagged. When a fish is stressed or fighting the black color fades significantly. Underparts are silvery white and there is no light stripe over the black, but the whole upper body is brownish and every scale has a dark edge, which make the top look reticular. Some dark scale edges might be seen under the black stripe. It has a pair of thin, forward-pointing barbels but they might be pressed against the cheeks when fish is swimming or resting. The long black stripe is also easy to see in young fishes, but the scale edge pattern and zig-zag edges are not clearly visible until the fish reaches the length of 5-7 cm (2-3"); the ones that are normally seen in European shops are about 3-5 cm (1-2") long. Adult females are often slightly fatter than males, no other sexual differences are known.
Behavior
It is an active and fast swimmer, which thrives best in schools but can also be kept alone or in pairs. It is a strong jumper and should not be kept in uncovered tank, because it will eventually jump. Siamese Algae Eaters often chase one another but they never get hurt in these fights.
C. siamensis has a peculiar resting position: it doesn't lie flat on its belly but keeps its body propped up with its tail, pelvic and pectoral fins. Young fish sometimes rest on broad leaves, adult specimens prefer resting on bottom or dense, low plants like Cryptocorynes. The swim bladder is not very developed, so the fish can't stay in midwater but it must be in constant motion or it sinks.

Needs
Siamese Algae Eater is not very demanding. Suitable temperature is 24-26 C (75-79F). They can tolerate pH from 5.5 to 8.0, but 6.5-7.0 is ideal.
Hardness should be less than 20 dH. Water should be clean and oxygenated, because they come from bright and fast-flowing streams. They eat algae, including red algae and all kind of live and prepared foods. It is very rare that they harm plants in their tank if they are given enough green food. They also eat algae when they are mature, but seem to prefer flake food. Liisa's fish eat Duckweed (Lemna minor) but have never touched any other plants. They haven't yet been bred in captivity, so all the specimens are caught from nature. It appears that the fish are seasonal and are not always available in the shops. Minimum tank size for a pair of adult Siamese Algae Eaters is 100 liters (25 gallons). The aquarium should be long and have lots of living plants.

Compatibility
As they are not aggressive, they can be kept in any community tank big enough. Their active behavior might stress some sensitive species like dwarf cichlids and prevent them from spawning. They should not be kept with Red-tailed Sharks (Epalzeorhynchus bicolor) unless the aquarium is large and well planted, because that species is very aggressive towards all its relatives.

My tank is purfect then, 180 litres, planted, hideing spaces, and they can be 6" but dont normaly reach that, my lfs said 3-4".
I think 1 is fatter than the other, good god i'd faint if they bred
Thankyou jflowers

 

[sylvia]

Well in that case, sucking loach is the wrong name for your fish.

I don't think you'll have problems with aggression if you add male livebearers.

Anyway, I don't know what you've heard but a lot of barbs would work and are not aggressive and some (like cherry barbs) do not shoal and do fine in pairs or trios. I believe what these people have probably been reffering to is nippy barbs like tiger barbs. Not all cichlids are aggressive either, you could easily keep a ram or even a keyhole in a peaceful community and not have problems. Flying foxes have a similar temperament to your siamese algae eaters and, in any case, only show aggression to fish like themselves (eg: red tail black sharks or other flying foxes) and this is rarely a problem in an adequately sized tank (I believe yours is around 40-45 gallons?). Danios would do great in your tank but I wouldn't keep discus in anything less than a 55 gallon as they need to be in groups of at least 5-6 and need excellent water quality and very peaceful, non-boisterous tankmates. They also need very soft, acidic water which it sounds like you don't have... What's the pH of your water? If it's not above 8 (which is my pH BTW), you could very well keep tetras, gouramies etc. If you get fish bred in your area or that have been in water from your area for a while (at your LFS), there's absolutely no reason you cannot keep them.

 

[Lexie3787]

Never trust what your lfs says.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi TESS

Why not get some corys for the bottom of your tank? They come in many different colors and patterns and are perfect citizens of any community tank.

The only thing is that they are schooling fish and you should have 3 or more of them. They could be, but don't have to be, the same species. You could get, for example 2 pairs of different species corys. Or, 2 or 3 bronze and 2 or 3 albino C. aeneus. They are lively and interesting little fish and they would add activity to the bottom instead of adding more fish to the most busy area of the tank. They would love your cave too!

I would not recommend adding a betta if your filter makes a strong current. They are originally from still water and do not thrive having to fight a current with their long, flowing fins.

 

[sylvia]

Bettas and male guppies don't mix anyway.
Instead of a betta, you could try a gourami.

 

[TESS]

Thankyou all very much for your replies, you have all helped alot , soon i will be able to choose my fish (when tank is cycled). My baby platie is now nearly and inch long and she is getting more red by the day.
Sylvia my ph is 7.5-7.7 but did go to 7.9 but has come down again , so i will be looking at tetras and gouramies, my tank is 45 gallons ,at last i got the big tank. Compared to the little one which i was told was a 40 litre ended up to be a 30 litre , oh well baby platie (ive called her lucky) is happy in there.