More Fish Friends?

[Carecalmo]

So I've got a 20 gallon tank. Right now living in it are 2 zebra danios and 5 blackskirt tetras. They've been happily (as far as I can tell!) living in there for 2 weeks. I'm wondering a couple of things:

WWhat would be good tank mates for them? I know in another topic of mine someone suggested I get a few more zebra danios which I would like to do. I'm very afraid to add more fish. I don't want to overstock or get fish that won't play nice with my danios and tetras.

 

[hillmar77]

So I've got a 20 gallon tank. Right now living in it are 2 zebra danios and 5 blackskirt tetras. They've been happily (as far as I can tell!) living in there for 2 weeks. I'm wondering a couple of things:

Would it be okay to start thinking about adding in a new fish or two with them now or should I wait longer? And the biggie, what would be good tank mates for them? I know in another topic of mine someone suggested I get a few more zebra danios which I would like to do. I'm very afraid to add more fish. I don't want to overstock or get fish that won't play nice with my danios and tetras.

I know my daino's love playing with each other! adding more daino's are a sight to see once they start playing tag with each other ( usually happens right after eating)

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Carecalmo - How long was the tank set up before you put the fish in 2 weeks ago? Did you take any actions to "cycle" the tank before introducing the fish?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Carecalmo]

Oh yes, I did a fishless cycle. The tank was set up for 3 and a half weeks before introducing my fish.

 

[Wills]

Hi yeah i would add more danios asap they are going to appreciate the numbers for for at least 6 or 8 and then have a look for either some bottom dwellers or some feature fish (maybe both depending on what you choose)

Feature fish for that tank, I would pick an Thicklipped Orange Gourami or a pair of Bolivian Rams and for the bottom maybe panda cories or some kind of dwarf loach like khuli loach or rosy loach quite a few dwarf loaches in the shops at the moment so worth having a look around.

Wills

 

[waterdrop]

Nice suggestions from Wills, I agree, up those zebra numbers first thing. WD

 

[Carecalmo]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I do love my zebra danios and I definitely will up their numbers first.

Those Bolivian Rams are stunning. I'm off to read up on them and the others. Thank you again. :]

 

[OldMan47]

Before deciding to bring in Bolivian rams, be sure to check their mineral requirements. I am a very experienced fish keeper, at least in my own mind, and I will not bring in any rams to my tanks. I find the requirements of rams to be outside the range that I am able to reliably ensure are present in my tanks. Instead I use fish that are far more adaptable to increase the species diversity in my tanks. It is not a very daring approach but I seldom ever have any losses to adverse water conditions. Your own mileage may vary as you decide which way to go with this question.

 

[mollyfishgirl]

does any one know about molly fish?

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum MollyFishGirl.
I do know a bit about mollies but why not start your own thread in the livebearer section.

 

[BethK]

Rams are very sensitive, how about apistogrammas instead?

3 and a half weeks? That doesn't seem a long enough time for a fish-less cycle. Can I please ask what your current water stats are? I am only asking, as if you wish to add a sensitive fish like dwarf cichlids, they need perfect water conditions, otherwise they will be the first to drop in an unstable tank

 

[Carecalmo]

Well I had some help from my Mom's tank and hers has been running a little over 3 years. I won't be bringing home anymore fish for quite some time. I thought it'd be good to get a head start is all. :] I have been having problems though. I was feeding my fish way too much. It was terrible and my Mom yelled at me. I guess I was used to feeding her much bigger goldfish. All my stats shot up way high and I lost my dwarf gourami in the process. So since I've been trying to get things under control with water changes of about 30 to 40 percent almost every day. And things are getting there.... stats are improving and the fish seem okay (everybody comes to eat and looks alright).

My stats right now are:
Ammonia: O
Nitrite: It looks between the .25 and .5 D: It was much higher a few days ago. It was at 1.
Nitrates: 0

Also it looks like bolivian rams wouldn't work for me. I definitely don't need anything sensitive. XD And everything I've looked up says they like a pH of 6.5 - 7.0 and my water stays around 6.2.

And again, thank you all so much. This forum and it's members are so great. :]

 

[waterdrop]

Sorry to hear you went through that experience Carecalmo but glad to hear you have been doing water changes, they are the first thing a good freshwater fishkeeper turns to in time of need or doubt usually.

Let's talk about water changes so the technique can be improved right away and for the future. There's nothing wrong with very large water changes (in rare cases where a tank has been almost completely neglected for more than a year or more it could be different but I doubt that's the case for you) and indeed, its very large changes that are needed to combat nitrite(NO2) especially!

Its important the very large changes be done with better technique as you are making a rapid change to the environment the fish are used to. The return water (tap water) should be treated with a good conditioner (product to remove chlorine/chloramines) dosed at 1.5x to 2x whatever the instructions call for (but not more than about 2x.) The return water should be temperature matched. This can be done roughly using your hand, that's good enough but its good to put your hand back and forth several times between the fresh tap water and the old tank water to get a feel for whether its right.

The -removal- of the old tank water is quite important. It should be done with a common gravel-cleaning siphon which is a siphon tube that has a clear cylinder on one end for churning up the gravel. This plays an enormous role in pulling the organic debris out of the substrate where it is in the process of breaking down into ammonia and can be overwhelming the tank ecosystem if allowed to sit there too long. This is why we perform this type of weekly maintenance. In a tank that is showing nitrite(NO2) levels above zero ppm, it could be that this substrate debris is at a bad level or is just at a level that overwhelms the not-yet-big-enough beneficial bacteria in the filter. When you plunge your clear cylinder deep in the gravel and hold it there, you can sometimes see a cloud of debris slowly move up the cylinder like dust. The chemical charges in this organic debris can attract nitrite(NO2) and nitrate(NO3) and thus it may be abnormally high in the substrate.

When your nitrite(NO2) gets close to 0.25ppm (or higher) then the fish will be much more damaged or stressed by that nitrite poisoning than they would be by any effect of a large water change. The water change will be a life-saver in that case.

Your pH of 6.2 is quite low for bacterial growth, but I think its important that the large water changes be tried for a while (and please show daily stats of ammonia, nitrite, pH and nitrate here in your thread for the members) before anyone recommends any extra action regarding that.

~~waterdrop~~