Compatible Fish

[Kirstie]

Right now, I have guppies, mollies, and swordtails, i was wondering if there were any of the smaller fish that I could buy that would be compatible with these guys, because I need some more variety in my tank! I have a 10 gallon tank right now, 4 years old, and I am upgrading to a 20 gallon tank and I would like some more variety, especially now that I have 10 baby guppies growing up fast! Most of my fish are good and get along well with each other, other than the molly who tends to bully. Any suggestions would be awesome! Thanks!

 

[William]

Most tetras only grow to about 1 1/2inches, some of catfish family will also do well - ie cordorus or a ancistrus.

 

[Kirstie]

Thanks! I don't know about catfish though, don't they get a little big? Can you get them in really bright colours like you can with guppies and such? Oh, and I also have 2 bottom feeders (Otto Cats, about 2cm in length). I heard somewhere that cherry barbs would be too aggressive, is this true? What about other barbs, cuz they can be really beautiful.

 

[semper fi]

you did not list the amount of fish that you have of the mollies and swords, but 10 guppies. i say that you need to upgrade to a larger tank before thinking of adding any variety tothe tank. you could crash your tank with that amount of load on the biologiccal filter. the rule of thumb is 1" of full size fish per gallon of water. if the fish are juvies you take the estimated adult size to calculate the size tank that you need. 10 gallon tanks are great for hospital tanks, grow out tanks and goldfish. would go with atleast a 55 gallon to get a good amount of variety. i tend to overstock my tanks, but they are much larger than a 10 gallon.

suggest that you sdtick with what you have for now, invest in a larger than 20 gallon tank and then add variety. would also help to know what variety of mollies and swords you have to get an accurate compatibility.

maggie

 

[Kirstie]

Well, I have 2 painted swordtails, 1 red swordtail, 2 guppies, I don't know what breed they are, 1 dalmation lyre-tail molly, and 2 Otto Cats, which are bottom feeders. And of course, the 10 baby guppies. I would like to get a bigger tank, but they do get very expensive, and I don't know where Icould put one!

 

[semper fi]

that is way too many fish for a ten gallon. you would need atleast a 40 gallon for what you have now. and that is if the average adult length is 2" per fish.

as for not enough room for tanks, i've got 7. the 180 is the headboard for my new bed and the 85 is in the livingroom. being that neccessity is the mother of invention, there is always somewhere to put a tank. even got one in my laundry room. i would save up and get the bigger tank though. otherwise you could have more problems with the one that you've got. either that or cut down on the number of fish that you already have which is hard to do.

maggie

 

[Kirstie]

How easy do you find it to keep tanks of that size clean? Because, I only clean my tank once a week and that's the only time I can do it pretty much. If I got a much bigger tank, is there any way I could cut down on that extra cleaning time? Maybe an undergravel filter thingy?

 

[semper fi]

it is much easier to eep a tank of the larger size clean. just takes longer. the 180 is done on sunday, two of the thirties on monday, a forty each on wednesday and thursday, the grow out tank on friday and the 85 on saturday. not a whole day to get all of them done at once. i also feed them smaller amounts of food three times a day. cuts down on the amount of waste and on sunday fast everyone except for the 180, the 180 gets fasted on monday. got it down to a regular schedule now. takes about an hour or two, depending on how motivated i am, for the 180.

you should ask cichlidmaster how he does 135+ tanks. that is a real job there!

don't like the ugf's. found it hard to clean, obsolete and had all kinds of problems keeping the levels of toxins down. debris gets trapped under it. also with the cichlids, who are notorious for digging, it is ineffective. with all of the other filters out on the market, there is a much better selection. use a wet dry on the 180, magnum on the 85 and sponge filters on the others.

maggie

 

[cichlidmaster]

Kirstie,
Even if you got a 55 gallon tank ity should only take a maximum of an hour total to clean once a week.

Just in case you interested...Here is my cleaning schedule....

Simply put I clean on average 20 tanks a day every day. Some of my larger tanks I clean twice a week due to being heavly stocked or having very delicate/expensive fish that need extra care.

Every other month I take care of the filters.....350+ of them. Now THAT'S were the time consuming factors come in.....

CM

 

[semper fi]

cm is really only 20 he just looks all wrinkly from having been in water all his life! heehee! could not resist!

maggie

 

[Kirstie]

I've got a question, which is totally unrelated to fish, but how do you get the happy faces and such on the left to work? ANd how do you get a picture under your name?

 

[Amadaca]

I've got a question, which is totally unrelated to fish, but how do you get the happy faces and such on the left to work? ANd how do you get a picture under your name?

Kirstie...

1) Simply click on the face you wish to incorporate into your post.

2) Find a picture online, anywhere, & then right click on it. Go to, "Properties" & copy the URL into your Avatar space.

 

[Kirstie]

Thanks Amadaca. I sorta figured out the happy face thing, but mine doesn't work for some reason. I click on them and they don't come up! Ah well, I'll have to see if I can get a nice picture of Orlando Bloom for my pic! Ya know, Legolas, from Lord of the Rings? Thanks, though!

 

[Kirstie]

There, how's that? Did it work?

 

[Kirstie]

NOOOOOOO! Hang on.