I need help please

[Simpson1]

Hi, I've been looking at these forums for a long time and seen that all your advice is really helpful so I joined,
I'm having a nightmare with my tank,
Everything the shopkeepers have told me so far has been completely wrong when chosing fish, then I look at these forums and the answers from everyone on here are so accurate with what's actually happening, it seems almost impossible to have a pretty looking tank without some of the fish killing each other.
Thanks to the shop keepers advice I've literally lost 11 fish over 1 night and it keeps occurring over and over so I thought I'd ask for some proper advice.
I've read on here that a lot of people suggest bigger schools of the fin nippers and so on, I've had to remove 3 angel fish, danios, tiger barbs and now the silver tip tetras, nothing seems to be working,
Can someone help me with compatibility in the tank?
I have a 280litre tank
One red tail black shark, yellow spotted pleco, 6 neons, 4 rummy nose, 4 penguin tetra and 3 silver tips which are causing havoc, with everything that's happened so far should I double the quantity of silver tips or not take the risk and re-home them? Many thanks guys,
Every bit of advice will be much appreciated
Ryan.

 

[Demeter32]

Larger numbers of schooling fish is key to keep nipping and aggression down. Your tank is roughly 70gal, which is plenty of room to keep 3-4 schooling species in groups of 10+ each. Can I ask what the parameters are? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, hardness and temp are all helpful in recommending the next step.

 

[Byron]

Agree with above, we must have those test numbers. While there will be serious aggressive issues with some of the fish named when put together, it is not really likely to kill 11 fish overnight. Though it might. But those numbers will tell us more. Some, like GH (hardness) you should be able to get from your municipal water authority, check their website. The pH too, though you should have a pH test kit, this can be an important test especially in times of trouble. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate should be tested periodically but more often (daily) with problems.

Fish have evolved to function best in very specific environment--meaning everything about the fish's habitat (here, the aquarium) from water parameters, to the décor, to numbers for shoaling species, to combining species, to water flow, to light.

Angelfish will never be happy with active fish (danios, barbs, some tetras) in their tank, and also never with likely fin nippers like Tiger Barbs, no matter the numbers. The nipping by the Silvertips is sometimes an issue, so this tetra is not good with sedate fish like angelfish. Small numbers of a shoaling species will usually result in increased aggressive behaviours, and this is not reversible once the fish goes down this road. Whether or not to return them will depend upon what you intend for this tank when all is resolved. The ST will be problematical however, no matter what.

The red tail black shark is a troublesome fish. As it grows to 5 inches, it can sometimes become a terror. It seems especially intolerant of upper fish with vertical stripes (Tiger Barb, angelfish), and other substrate fish like loaches and cories are not recommended. So this one fish is limiting your options too.

But all is not over, this is a common issue for many new aquarists. You've learned one important thing, not to rely on store advice unless you research and that research from reliable sources agrees.

And welcome to TFF.

Byron.