Fish Mixing

[garf3r]

Ok, i bought a 3ft deep, by 2ft in lenth and 1 ft in width fish tank with cabinet, had it set up and stuff and its quite stunnin, my water which i used ph testing kits is bang on what the kit says!

I bought 2 angel fish. 1 red tail shark and 1 silver shark, i left them 10 days! then bought 2 sword tails, and 2 black tailed mollys, within days the mollys died, i think due to stress, 1 swordtail died, it had its fins ripped to shreads! so am wondering if i have an aggressive fish! and maybe it killed all 3!

The other day i bought a dolphin shark! my prized fish, there so beautiful! And the red tail was tryin to push the dolphin shark everywhere. But it was also chasin the silver shark! I took the den that the red tail seemed to have claimed out and everything has calmed down now! The dolphin shark is still actin weird, he keeps chasing his own reflection in the glass at one side of the tank, should i get him a pal? and its also eating nothing i put in, except the froozen blood worm, also should i put the den back in? or get more rocks 1st...

Now there living all happy, but every fish shop tells me different things! "dolphin sharks should live themselfs" "red tail should be brung back" "all your fish will be dead in 3 months if u dnt get rid of the dolphin shark"

Any help will do guys n gals.

 

[smooth_bourbon]

Dont get any more fish!

Did yoy cylcle your tank? I hate to say it but I aggree with the dead in three months if you didnt cycle and you just keep throwing more fish in there.

In my experience with aggressive fish I give many caves to choose from so they dont end up fighting over just one.

 

[Xebadir]

As smooth said, I hope you cycled that tank.

I'd really suggest turfing the Red-Tail shark and the Silver shark, take em back to the fish shop and then think about how you are stocking. I mean we are talking about a 170L(44G High) tank, with a small footprint(2ftx1ft) and this really isnt suitable swimming space for the fish you bought. I have never heard of a 'Dolphin' Shark, and really id be cautious about keeping it in the tank as well: once again this fish at adult size(if like other sharks up to 1ft) is unsuitable for keeping in this tank. What I am trying to say is that these 3 fish will cause you nothing but grief, and you should take them back to the store from whence you bought them. I know you may not want to do so, but if you want them to live happy lives then let someone with an appropriate tank keep them.

Now if you have cycled your tank I commend you, youve taken a step towards responsible fish keeping. In this case you can keep your angels(this is a good tank for angel fish), and I reccomend adding some plants to your tank to provide the fish cover. If you are looking for fish that would be good partners for your angels in this size tank that you can add in the future i'd look at some tetra species, and some catfish of a suitable size(such as a bristlenose, and/or some corydoras catfish).

What you really need to decide is: what do you want to get out of your tank? How do you want your tank to look? and are the fish you bought suitable for the tank I have?.

I hope you get some of the information you need from this post, any further questions we are here to help.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Good advice given above.

Also, the ph, which you are testing, is not actually the most important test to do. What you should be testing now is ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. For ammonia and nitrites you should get a reading at all. If you do, then you need to keep doing partial water changes (replacing with dechlorinated water) until it goes away, if necessary changing some of the water every day. Nitrates is ok unless very high- anything under 40 ppm is not a cause for concern, but if goes up towards 100 ppm it is.

The swordtail may have died from an attack (RTBS main suspect) but just as likely from bacterial finrot brought on by poor water conditions. Read the pinned topic on cycling in the beginners' section and it will be made clear.

Secondly, what new fish owners don't always realise is that different fish species can be as diverse in their needs and behaviour as mammal species. You wouldn't expect a collie to thrive on the same treatment as a pet hamster. The main difference between mammals and fish is that most mammals can be trained to some extent to modify their behaviour- fish you have to take as they are. So you need to be prepared to research each species.

Now the thing about the red tail black shark is that it is highly territorial, it needs a fairly long tank to cope with its activity levels and it WILL attack any fish that looks vaguely like itself and so can be mistaken for a rival shark coming into its territory. This is how RTBS survive in nature, not a thing you can do about it except to let it have what it needs, or rehome it if you can't.

Silver sharks are a completely different thing. They are schooling fish which will be skittish and nervous if they are not surrounded by other fish that look like themselves. They also grow very large and are active swimmers, so will require a 6 foot tank eventually. Again, not a fish for this tank.

Afraid I am unable to identify the dolphin shark - could you do us a picture (or a Latin name, if the shop can give you that)?

 

[garf3r]

Water is crystal clear, it was set up for weeks before fish were even bought, and i was given 10 days before buyin new fish, which is followed..

Dolphin Shark Picture

I don't know its latin name sorry. They cost bout £9.50 to £15.

I got a question(s), what are nirates etc and what do they do? And can i change my stones for sand with tropical fish, if so, how would i do it?

 

[alessasavoca]

Water is crystal clear, it was set up for weeks before fish were even bought, and i was given 10 days before buyin new fish, which is followed..

Dolphin Shark Picture

I don't know its latin name sorry. They cost bout £9.50 to £15.

I got a question(s), what are nirates etc and what do they do? And can i change my stones for sand with tropical fish, if so, how would i do it?

Everyone i spoke to whilst setting up my tank reccommended gravel, after all sand is very difficult to maintain. Nitrites (very harmful to fish) are produced before the fish's waste has had a chance to be broken down.

Once it's broken down it is converted to Nitrates that are much less harmful to fish. Nitrites and ammonia are the major things that you need to keep to an absolute minimum for the well being of your fish, and these are the things you should have tested before putting fish in there. Do you have real plants?

 

[garf3r]

I was told not to get real plants... for there hassle

I have 5 plastic plants, 2 1ft and 3 short ones...

My Tank (at present)

There was bogwood tht was acting as a roof and rock with 3 holes was below it for the fish to hide, but because the red tail went insane i had to take it out. Until i get more rocks.

What test stuff should i get for this nitrate etc? All your guys help is awesome!

 

[dwarfgourami]

Water is crystal clear, it was set up for weeks before fish were even bought, and i was given 10 days before buyin new fish, which is followed..

Dolphin Shark Picture

I don't know its latin name sorry. They cost bout £9.50 to £15.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news-that looks to me like a pangasius shark, aka irridescent shark, aka sutchi catfish. Another schooling fish, active swimmer and (deep breath) one that can grow to over 1 metre in length. Afraid you've got yourself an elephant for that hamster cage....

Incidentally, water being crystal clear says nothing about whether it's fit for fish (lots of dead lakes are crystal clear, come to that- and the Amazon is not). You need a test kit to test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

 

[SoCalMom]

Good lord...

That is a mighty small tank for so many large fish

Please take the sharks back like someone suggested

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oh dear, i really wish pangasius cats were not in the trade, you need an absolutely monumental tank to keep them properly, so many of them must die in little tanks every day it really saddens me

there's a link in my sig called 'how to work out stocking lists' it should give you some advice on how to work out fish compatibility and pick appropriate fish for your tank.

also read the link 'what's cycling?' as it's pretty likely your tank is cycling which is bad news for the fishies.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yes you have some very unsuitable fish in your tank- you really need to research fish before you go to the shop to buy them. Petshops are not obliged to tell you how to be a successful fishkeeper just as garages aren't obliged to tell you how to be a good driver- ultimately, both are there to sell you whatever they can and as much as they can, if you don't research your fish properly, not only will you end up with many unsuitable fish in your tank, but also lose money which would have been better spent elsewhere on other things.
Most petshop staff have pretty poor knowledge on fishkeeping either way and tend to spread myths more than facts- always be wary of people trying to sell you things.

Are you familar with with the concept of cycling or the nitrogen cycle? If not, i strongly advise you read up on this article below, as it will explain a lot about the water quality in your tank and how it works etc;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099


Anyway,

I bought 2 angel fish. 1 red tail shark and 1 silver shark, i left them 10 days! then bought 2 sword tails, and 2 black tailed mollys, within days the mollys died, i think due to stress, 1 swordtail died, it had its fins ripped to shreads! so am wondering if i have an aggressive fish! and maybe it killed all 3!

The other day i bought a dolphin shark!

Right;
Angel fish need a tank of at least 30-40gallons which is 18inches high
Red Tailed black sharks grow to 5inches long on average and need at least a 3ft long tank, they are semi-territorial/agressive fish and a lot of care musy be taken when choosing their tank mates due to their nature/agressiveness.
Silver sharks can grow to over 12inches long, and are shoaling fish, and need at least a 75gal long tank bare minimum (personally i would recommend at least 90-125gallon tank minimum though)
Swordtails will grow between 3-4inches long on average, they are prolific breeders and much care must be taken when stocking mixed gender groups as they have high sex drives and can often over-harrass the females. The same goes for mollys. Mollys and Swordtails fall under the category of common livebearer fish, there is a section dedicated to such fish on the forum where which you will find much more info about mollys and swordtails and other livebearers in it etc.
Your "dolphin shark" is a type of pangasius and can grow to over 3ft long, they really need tropical ponds due to their large size to be kept permanently in.

 

[garf3r]

fanks for all your help guys i'll take the sharks back! fanks though for everything

 

[archamfr]

its good to see you take advice well and correct mistakes
just think/research a lil more next time, and maybe post the fish u intend getting, someone will tell you if its ok

 

[Rex740]

dont add mollies or swordtails, they are peaceful not semi-aggressive.

 

[garf3r]

the sword tail i have was rather nasti to the other 1!

yep, ill bag them up once i get fish bags and take em bak!