Decisions...

[robbo1078]

Today im going to the local aquatics shop and want to purchase some new fish, I either want to just buy a pleco (brisstlebose) or some small, schooling fish.

Currently in mu 60 litre tank I have 1 danio, 1 silver fin tetra, 6 guppies and 2 'bottom feeders'

Any suggestions as to what to get?

Edit: apologies for the repeated thread, stupid phone...

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I personally feel you have too many fish for a 60l already, because if you are feeding your current fish enough I would expect your nitrate levels to soar towards toxic levels even if you experience no ammonia or nitrite spikes, unless you were doing something like bi-weekly 50%+ water changes. Yes, a heavily planted setup with fast growing plants could help, but the real danger is that hobby nitrate test kits (even liquid) are horribly inaccurate as the compounds tend to turn into a sediment at the bottom of the test bottles.

I'm also concerned about getting proper identification of your current fish... what is the "danio"; "silver fin tetra" (Silver Tip?); "2 bottom feeders"? At least two of these three are likely to be schooling species that should be in at least numbers of 6+, which you do not have room for unless you upgraded to a 150-200l tank, if you have a Silver Tip Tetra they can be nippy (not good for at least your guppies) and if the bottom feeders are Common or Sailfin Plecs they should reach 45cm or more and need 6-foot tanks.

In conclusion, no new additions until you sort out what you already have and deal with any issues upon ID, in my opinion.

 

[fozzy81]

Imo you will be fine with a beistlenose

 

[robbo1078]

Sorry I'll clarify a bit better lol,

the tetra is a silver tip tetra, seems fine with the guppies, before I got the tank someone else had it set up and established for a few years and never had any problems with them, the danio also seems fine and happy, the bottom feeders are of the smaller variety and are albino something-or-others

Obviously before I buy anything I will ask the shop keeper, but obviously they are there to sell, but he does seem fairly genuine.

Also, with the ammonia and nitrate levels, I hopefully have this fairly covered as I have two filters, each 'saying' they are able to run tanks upto 60-90 litrrs

Oops...also another piece of info, before I got the tank, the people kept a common plec with less filtration than I've got on it, which is why im considering the brisstlebose

 

[sadguppy]

I would think you'll be ok...

 

[Wills]

I agree with Nobody of the Goat. Your tank needs sorting out.

Just because the people before you did something does not mean it is right. If you have no desire to up the schools of the Catfish (The albino something or other... are probably Albino Corydoras), Danio or Tetra your best route is to rehome them to the store. This is good for them as they have a chance of finding a school of their own species and its good for you because it frees up space for fish you want and can have in this size tank.

The thing is with tanks like this is you have to be clever with the stocking. A good example to get the most out of the tank you could have gone for Endlers rather than Guppies to get a few other fish in there. Endlers pack a lot of colour for a small fish and they stay smaller than Guppies.

The same principle can be used for the Bristlenose, what about getting Putbull Plec a much smaller plec but still a plec. Or you could look at some of the small whiptail catfish but you would need to learn which ones stay small as not all do. An LDA10 Red Lizard Whiptail could do well these max out at about 5 inches but usually make 4 inches as adults and are nice and slender which meets a good requirement for this tank as they dont produce much waste.

If your after schools look at things like Galaxy Rasboras or Chilli Rasbora. Given you have Guppies that come from coolish waters the Galaxies might be a good bet in water of around 25c where as Chilli would do better slightly warmer.


I think the important thing to remember is its your tank not the previous owners and the fish left in there would be better with someone who can keep a big school of them.

Sorry if it seems harsh but its just in best interest of your tank.

Wills

The best way to stock tanks like this are stocking with fish with names that start with words like Pygmy and Micro. Sometimes Dwarfs but its not always guaranteed ideal for this tank.

 

[CezzaXV]

I'd like to add, on top of what of others have said, that no amount of filtering will keep nitrate levels low.