Gouramis and Cichlids

[Wills]

Hello there Wills thanks for your expertise I also wanted to know if I stocked properly or should I remove some.. here's the list...

1. Blue (he's a blue dwarf Gourami)
2. Spot ( he's a spotted Gourami )
3. Bee (it's a baby bumblebee Cichlid)
4. U.K. ( that's the unknown Cichlid)
5. Banana ( electric yellow Cichlid
6. Louie the Loach
7. Patty the pleco
8. And lastly 2 snails

And there I a 30 gal. Tank

Hi I'll be honest its not a great mix.

3 and 5 are Rift Lake Cichlids so should be in a dedicated set up and really need to be in a 55 gallon or above due to the way you should keep them. They need high ph and hard water, they are pretty aggressive and need to be kept in a way that suits this.

Which gourami is in your profile picture is it 1 or 2? 1 should be ok in a 30 gallon tank, 2 could ideally be in a bigger tank.

4 the Convict Cichlid could be ok in a 30 gallon but will limit the other fish you keep and I get the feeling you want a variety of fish.

6 What kind of loach is this? Loaches are social fish and should be kept in groups, they should also be kept on a sand substrate. Commonly sold species are Clowns, Dwarf Chain, YoYo, Rosy, Khuli, Dojo - is it any of them?

7 Which kind of Pleco is this? If its a common they get very large and will out grow the tank, hopefully its a Clown, Bristlenose or Bulldog?

In all honesty I would consider what is best for the fish you have as you have a lot of really aggressive fish, a lot of fish that will outgrow the tank and fish that need to be in groups which you cannot accommodate at the moment.

A good way to decide what to do is to work out if you want to get a bigger tank or if you want to keep where you are and also understand what your tap water is like - eg is it hard or soft water and what is the ph? If you go on your water companies website you should be able to get water readings.

Also let us know what you like about the fish you currently have - eg the colours, personality etc and we can try and make some suggestions.

Wills

 

[MsReRe Wright]

Hi I'll be honest its not a great mix.

3 and 5 are Rift Lake Cichlids so should be in a dedicated set up and really need to be in a 55 gallon or above due to the way you should keep them. They need high ph and hard water, they are pretty aggressive and need to be kept in a way that suits this.

Which gourami is in your profile picture is it 1 or 2? 1 should be ok in a 30 gallon tank, 2 could ideally be in a bigger tank.

4 the Convict Cichlid could be ok in a 30 gallon but will limit the other fish you keep and I get the feeling you want a variety of fish.

6 What kind of loach is this? Loaches are social fish and should be kept in groups, they should also be kept on a sand substrate. Commonly sold species are Clowns, Dwarf Chain, YoYo, Rosy, Khuli, Dojo - is it any of them?

7 Which kind of Pleco is this? If its a common they get very large and will out grow the tank, hopefully its a Clown, Bristlenose or Bulldog?

In all honesty I would consider what is best for the fish you have as you have a lot of really aggressive fish, a lot of fish that will outgrow the tank and fish that need to be in groups which you cannot accommodate at the moment.

A good way to decide what to do is to work out if you want to get a bigger tank or if you want to keep where you are and also understand what your tap water is like - eg is it hard or soft water and what is the ph? If you go on your water companies website you should be able to get water readings.

Also let us know what you like about the fish you currently have - eg the colours, personality etc and we can try and make some suggestions.

Wills

Omg your amazing with the information you're providing me so let's start

As far as 3 and 5 if I aquire a bigger tank let's say 100-150 gal would they all have enough space to co habitat with each other if not I will make the proper adjustments..

My profile pic is #1 the Blue Gourami he's the oldest and the weirdest ... Stay's low, only comes up for air and food, and very skidish .. he runs from me ... Lol swims fast and pretty much is the loner unless Spot #2 comes by him ...

And the Louie the Loach is a Kuhil and I only got 1
The pleco is a suckermouth catfish.. from the pictures online

Also I'm in a rural city and I'm sure I have horrible water conditions, but I do use the solutions to clear and test the water on every water change.

And also I like active fish that don't mind human interactions I got more fish because Everytime I came close to my tank 1 and 2 would hide and get scared and so I added what the pet store suggested .. should've known better than that.. but now I'll have to make new accomodations for my fish family.

 

[Wills]

Omg your amazing with the information you're providing me so let's start

As far as 3 and 5 if I aquire a bigger tank let's say 100-150 gal would they all have enough space to co habitat with each other if not I will make the proper adjustments..

My profile pic is #1 the Blue Gourami he's the oldest and the weirdest ... Stay's low, only comes up for air and food, and very skidish .. he runs from me ... Lol swims fast and pretty much is the loner unless Spot #2 comes by him ...

And the Louie the Loach is a Kuhil and I only got 1
The pleco is a suckermouth catfish.. from the pictures online

Also I'm in a rural city and I'm sure I have horrible water conditions, but I do use the solutions to clear and test the water on every water change.

And also I like active fish that don't mind human interactions I got more fish because Everytime I came close to my tank 1 and 2 would hide and get scared and so I added what the pet store suggested .. should've known better than that.. but now I'll have to make new accomodations for my fish family.

Thanks for all the information there thats really great

3 and 5 both look to be types of Mbuna Cichlid the full yellow one is a Yellow Lab and the striped one I think is a Bumble Bee Cichlid which can be pretty problematic as they mature. Even in the bigger tanks you mentioned they are not compatible with the rest of the fish you want to keep. Have a look at this article to get a better idea https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/the-mbuna-keepers-survival-guide/

I really like that article as it shows whats possible with a mbuna tank and some good recomendations of species to keep. Pseudotropheus saulosi are a favourite are mine, black and blue males and yellow females

So good news on the loach, tank size is good but I'd like them in a group and on a sand substrate as they like to burrow in and can scratch themselves on gravel. In a group they will be much less secretive too.

When you say you think you have terrible water conditions what do you mean? Do you know your numbers for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? In theory you should have 0 ammonia and nitrite from the tap but the main thing to understand is if you have hard or soft water - if you find your local water company and search on their site you should be able to find some figures we can work with. Or a very simple way to work it out is do you get limescale build up in your appliances or kettle? But getting precise numbers will really help. Once we know if you have hard or soft water we can work out some ideas for this 30 gallon tank

Just as an example though

30 gallon hardwater tank could look like

5 Sunset Platies
8 Dwarf Neon Rainbows or Forktail Rainbows
5 Petricola Synodontis

30 gallon softwater tank could look like

3 Dwarf Gourami (1m 2 f)
10 Harlequin Rasboras
10 Khuli Loaches

Wills

 

[MsReRe Wright]

Thanks for all the information there thats really great

3 and 5 both look to be types of Mbuna Cichlid the full yellow one is a Yellow Lab and the striped one I think is a Bumble Bee Cichlid which can be pretty problematic as they mature. Even in the bigger tanks you mentioned they are not compatible with the rest of the fish you want to keep. Have a look at this article to get a better idea https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/the-mbuna-keepers-survival-guide/

I really like that article as it shows whats possible with a mbuna tank and some good recomendations of species to keep. Pseudotropheus saulosi are a favourite are mine, black and blue males and yellow females

So good news on the loach, tank size is good but I'd like them in a group and on a sand substrate as they like to burrow in and can scratch themselves on gravel. In a group they will be much less secretive too.

When you say you think you have terrible water conditions what do you mean? Do you know your numbers for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? In theory you should have 0 ammonia and nitrite from the tap but the main thing to understand is if you have hard or soft water - if you find your local water company and search on their site you should be able to find some figures we can work with. Or a very simple way to work it out is do you get limescale build up in your appliances or kettle? But getting precise numbers will really help. Once we know if you have hard or soft water we can work out some ideas for this 30 gallon tank

Just as an example though

30 gallon hardwater tank could look like

5 Sunset Platies
8 Dwarf Neon Rainbows or Forktail Rainbows
5 Petricola Synodontis

30 gallon softwater tank could look like

3 Dwarf Gourami (1m 2 f)
10 Harlequin Rasboras
10 Khuli Loaches

Wills

Ok great info my guru ... You are saving me time, money and headaches ty again ... I'm going to check it out now (the water info) and get back to you asap .. and I'm also going to look into a inexpensive 60-100 gal for the Cichlids

 

[emeraldking]

FIrstly, welcome to TFF...

From pic#1, I'd say a convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata). Kept those for years. But in the other pictures, the stripes are very pale. And I do see a shimmer of orange on the belly area. Which makes me wonder if it's a cross between a convict cichlid and another kind of cichlid. That the black stripes have faded, could also be a mood thing, btw.

 

[MsReRe Wright]

Ok great info my guru ... You are saving me time, money and headaches ty again ... I'm going to check it out now (the water info) and get back to you asap .. and I'm also going to look into a inexpensive 60-100 gal for the Cichlids

Good morning Wills after some looking and searching I found this water info ..I don't really understand what it's saying but I'm sure it's not the best ..lol .. the info should be on page 5 and 6 ... Thanks again guru

 

[Essjay]

Looking at the link, the numbers you need are on page 5.

Hardness (as CaCo3 mg/l) = 220. This is the same as ppm, one of the two units used in fishkeeping. The other unit is dH and your 220 ppm converts to 12.3 dH.

Alkalinity is 130 ppm. Fishkeepers use the term KH rather than alkalinity, but it's the same thing.

 

[MsReRe Wright]

Looking at the link, the numbers you need are on page 5.

Hardness (as CaCo3 mg/l) = 220. This is the same as ppm, one of the two units used in fishkeeping. The other unit is dH and your 220 ppm converts to 12.3 dH.

Alkalinity is 130 ppm. Fishkeepers use the term KH rather than alkalinity, but it's the same thing.

Thanks for breaking that down .. So are these measurements ok or safe .. if not what do you suggest and if so can it be better ??

 

[Essjay]

It's a bit on the hard side for soft water fish, but too soft for some hard water fish. I don't know too much about hard water fish since I have soft water, but other members with hard water should be able to tell you which of your fish will be happy in that hardness.