Help Im New to fishkeeping

[FishDude15423123]

Hi My first question shall be is my 10 gallon tank overstocked i have 2 dwarf gouramis 1 kuhli loach a swordtail a white tetra and a emerald green cory cat? I believe so but I want to make sure

 

[Essjay]

To be honest, it's not so much overstocked as poorly stocked. Let me explain.

Two dwarf gouramis are OK provided they are male and female or two females. Two males, being territorial, will fight.

Kuhli loaches, tetras and cories are shoaling fish which need to be in a group of at least 6 of the same species. These fish are programmed by their DNA to expect a group and they get stressed if there aren't enough of them. But the tank is not big enough for a shoal of even one species.

The swordtail is too big for this tank, I'm afraid. And it is also incompatible with all the other fish as swordtails are hard water fish while all the others are soft water fish.
Do you know how hard your water is? Your water provider's website may give the hardness, or you can take some tap water to a fish store and ask them to test the GH (that's general hardness). With either of these you need a number rather than some vague word, and also the unit of measurement as there are several.

I'm sorry to be so negative in your first post, but we all have the best interest of the fish at heart.
The only realistic solutions are to rehome some of the fish (the shoaling ones), or buy a bigger tank and get more of the shoaling fish if you have soft water. If your water is hard, you have the hard choice of keeping small hard water fish or again buying a bigger tank.

 

[FishDude15423123]

To be honest, it's not so much overstocked as poorly stocked. Let me explain.

Two dwarf gouramis are OK provided they are male and female or two females. Two males, being territorial, will fight.

Kuhli loaches, tetras and cories are shoaling fish which need to be in a group of at least 6 of the same species. These fish are programmed by their DNA to expect a group and they get stressed if there aren't enough of them. But the tank is not big enough for a shoal of even one species.

The swordtail is too big for this tank, I'm afraid. And it is also incompatible with all the other fish as swordtails are hard water fish while all the others are soft water fish.
Do you know how hard your water is? Your water provider's website may give the hardness, or you can take some tap water to a fish store and ask them to test the GH (that's general hardness). With either of these you need a number rather than some vague word, and also the unit of measurement as there are several.

I'm sorry to be so negative in your first post, but we all have the best interest of the fish at heart.
The only realistic solutions are to rehome some of the fish (the shoaling ones), or buy a bigger tank and get more of the shoaling fish if you have soft water. If your water is hard, you have the hard choice of keeping small hard water fish or again buying a bigger tank.

I will return my swordtail and my cories and loaches if that is ok

 

[FishDude15423123]

Question 2 I had dalmatian mollies they appeared to get ick but the spots were BIG and so i went out to try and find medicine for him . Came home and it was DEAD

 

[Essjay]

You also need to return the tetra as the tank is not big enough for a shoal of them. You might get away with just the gouramis provided there is lots of decor and real or fake plants so they can get away from each other if they need to.

 

[FishDude15423123]

well shoot .That is why You don't believe the guy at the pet store. He told me I could Fit 3 white tetras 3 dwarf gouramis and my Cory cat and loach and be fine. I didn't believe him and still overstocked!

 

[Essjay]

Unfortunately, that's the first lesson in fishkeeping - don't believe anything a fish shop worker says till you have researched it for yourself.

This is the best site for researching fish https://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/ as it is written by experts rather than someone who just keeps fish. If you look up the fish you currently have, you'll see it tells you what water type and temperature they need, and the minimum size tank, together with things like which fish go with them and any special requirements they have.

 

[Byron]

I completely agree with all essjay has posted. I too learned the hard way, with many, many dead fish because I didn't have a reliable store (way back then) and there was no internet then (gives you a clue how long I've been at this) and books were limited to the ones in the store which were two or three. Research is your best friend in this hobby; make no decisions without doing it. It will save the fish, and you will not be discouraged but successful.

 

[Retired Viking]

Same here, I lost plenty of fish back in the day. It didn't help that my local library had very few books on fish. The hobby has really changed for the better since I started over 30 years ago. Only one of the 4 local fish stores from back then has survived. The owner knows fish but his staff really knows little. We now have a Petco in town too.