Hello!

[Fontaine]

Hi everyone, great forum!

We're pretty new to Tropical Fish, although my fiancée had some when she was younger.

Currently we've got a Juwel 110 Tank with internal filter/heater/etc, which was sold on ebay including 3 gourami (who we gave to a pet store), 1 red-tailed shark (who died after our first addition of new fish) and 1 bronze corydora (who we still have). The tank had been poorly maintained, was thick with algae growth and we had to really give it a good overall clean to get it fish-friendly, and have since got the filters nice and cycled.

We'll be looking to upgrade to possible a 6-footer once finances allow.

 

[Gytas]

 

[Fontaine]

Thanks for the welcome! Would you say I have too many fish?

 

[fluttermoth]

It's not so much too many fish as (and please don't take this personally,; we all know how hard choosing stock is for beginners) poor choices. Many of your fish (for example, the silver sharks, clown loach and gibbi) are going to get far too big for your tank. The sharks and clown loach should also really be kept in groups of 6+ if they're to be happy, as should the the corydoras, discus, glassfish and glass cats.

You also have fish from varying waters; the guppies, glassfish, swordtails and mollies really need hard, fairly alkaline water to do well, whereas your discus, clown loach, glass cats need soft, acidic water to do well.

Sorry to be such a downer on your first thread, but I think these things are better said... to the forum anyway, and as I said, don't take it personally; we all make mistakes when we're first starting.

 

[Fontaine]

I really appreciate the honesty! It's easy to be bombared with the wrong information when consulting online guides and books, so hearing itfirst-hand from the people who know what they're talking about really helps!

I think the main problem we've had is, upon asking the local aquarium shops, "Will x-fish go with our silver sharks/loaches/etc" the response we always got was "Yeah, they're all community fish" - which of course they are, but not with the other species!

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Glass fish are schooling Brackish Fish.

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, I'm afraid some shops will say anything to make a sale; there's also the fact that most fish shops seem to be run by people who's fishkeeping knowledge is stuck in about 1972

At least you're here now; this forum is full of very experienced fishkeepers who can put you on the right track

For a start; what are the dimensions of your tank and is your local water hard or soft?

 

[Fontaine]

After a quick google, I'm guessing you're trying to tell me the glassfish need a higher salinity than my other fish, but in a less-than-helpful, non-layman manner?

Regardless, thanks for the info. Just remember not every newbie will know what "brackish" refers to.

 

[Fontaine]

Yes, I'm afraid some shops will say anything to make a sale; there's also the fact that most fish shops seem to be run by people who's fishkeeping knowledge is stuck in about 1972

At least you're here now; this forum is full of very experienced fishkeepers who can put you on the right track

For a start; what are the dimensions of your tank and is your local water hard or soft?

The tank is 32 inches long, 15 inches tall and 14 inches wide.

I think our water is fairly hard. We live in the midlands.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Sorry. Brackish means that they need some salt in the water, more than other fish. So basically your glass fish will die sooner.

Sorry for any confusion!

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Glass fish are schooling Brackish Fish.

Sorry, but you spreading misinformation, not all Glassfish require brackish conditions...

Parambassis pulcinella (Humphead Glassfish)
Paramabassis ranga (Indian Glassfish)
Gymnochanda filamentosa (Filament Glassfish)

all require freshwater, without googling other species.

 

[Fontaine]

Unfortunately, but somewhat ironically, all three of our glassfish died last night as did one of the glass catfish.

I thought maybe we'd had an Ammonia spike, since the remaining fish were all gasping at the top of the tank. Got a free water test by my local Pets At Home store, and my Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels are perfect, apparently. I've since done two 5-10% water changes and this seems to have rectified the problem for now - even our discus has settled down and returned to his usual hiding spot.

I'll be keeping my eye on the tank for the next few days, but I'm holding off on feeding until things have truly settled.

One thing that's sort of against the rules is I bought another female balloon molly, purely because the two I already had looked ready to mate, and I've read a few reports of the males over-mating females to death!

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Unfortunately, but somewhat ironically, all three of our glassfish died last night as did one of the glass catfish.

I thought maybe we'd had an Ammonia spike, since the remaining fish were all gasping at the top of the tank. Got a free water test by my local Pets At Home store, and my Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels are perfect, apparently. I've since done two 5-10% water changes and this seems to have rectified the problem for now - even our discus has settled down and returned to his usual hiding spot.

I'll be keeping my eye on the tank for the next few days, but I'm holding off on feeding until things have truly settled.

One thing that's sort of against the rules is I bought another female balloon molly, purely because the two I already had looked ready to mate, and I've read a few reports of the males over-mating females to death!

Gasping at the top of the tank is classic signs of nitrite issues, it messes with oxygen levels in the blood. If any of your fish are still doing this, you need to do a massive water change, in the region of 90-95% (basically removing all but enough water to cover the fish on the tank floor, adding similar temp dechlorinated water).

Whenever fish die, it is good practice to do a reasonable water change anyway in the region of 50%.

Glass Catfish (K. minor/bicirrhis) are infamous for pining/starving themselves to death in small numbers, plus they do not take big water chemistry changes or poor water quality (ammonia/nitrite spikes etc.) well at all.

 

[Fontaine]

I'll do a 95% WC when I get home tonight. I think I'll move the fish into a temporary bucket though while I'm doing so.

The discus died last night. I just don't think he could handle the water. Sad thing is I saw him go

 

[colleen0309]

I'll do a 95% WC when I get home tonight. I think I'll move the fish into a temporary bucket though while I'm doing so.

The discus died last night. I just don't think he could handle the water. Sad thing is I saw him go

Any time you lose a discus is a shame IMO.Gives me nightmares of when I lost all of mine! The best thing you could do now is get your own liquid test kit for ammonia and nitrite. If this isn't possible, get your water tested and ask for the actual numbers. Don't let the shop tell you everything is fine. Get the numbers and post them here. The shops idea of fine and ours probably differ. I also would not remove the fish to a bucket while doing a water change. Just take enough out so they can still swim upright. Moving them may stress them more.