Need Advice!!!

[Crispii]

You still have an incompatible stocking idea. Some fish such as livebearers need hard water while tetras and Corydoras need soft water.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Okay so I did a bit of reshuffling - this is my new tank list:

1x male betta
3x female betta
4x black skirt tetras
9x guppy
19x neons
5x brown bristlenose
4x albino bristlenose
4x spotted Corydoras
1x mystery striped baby fish
3x mollies

I am going to this fish shop later to get water tested - will write down all results and post.

My brown bn pleco killed my albino the first night. Only 1 male pleco. They are big poop machines too and will increase your bio-load. Plecos are cooler water also and bettas need 80F so that won’t work.

 

[Retired Viking]

My brown bn pleco killed my albino the first night. Only 1 male pleco. They are big poop machines too and will increase your bio-load. Plecos are cooler water also and bettas need 80F so that won’t work.

I agree when my pleco got a few years old all he did was lay around and poop.

 

[Byron]

Okay so I did a bit of reshuffling - this is my new tank list:

1x male betta
3x female betta
4x black skirt tetras
9x guppy
19x neons
5x brown bristlenose
4x albino bristlenose
4x spotted Corydoras
1x mystery striped baby fish
3x mollies

I am going to this fish shop later to get water tested - will write down all results and post.

As already noted by other members, there are some serious issues here. Once we have the GH and pH we will be in a better position to narrow this down, but a couple things need mentioning regardless.

Tetras and corydoras catfish are shoaling species, meaning they live in large groups and must have a group in an aquarium. The cories will be better with 9-12, all same species or mixed, up to you, but you really do need more of them. The Black Skirt Tetras are notorious for fin nipping, and this aggressive behaviour is heightened in small numbers. A group of 7-8 but this is going to seriously limit other fish in this small a tank (a 3-foot tank is small to the fish). I would leave this species out.

Mollies must have harder water, the GH will sort this out. And the 8 bristlenose has already been mentioned.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I agree with above. We need to know the gh first guppies and mollies cant go with the others and there are the other issues with the rest of the fish good luck tho!

 

[Retired Viking]

@Byron is correct, I have mostly tetras and have them in shoals of 10-15 fish each. I have several different types of tetras but avoided the black skirted tetras because of their bad reputation. You should have at least 6 tetras but much better to have 10 or more of each type. We need your water type is it hard or soft and GH . I use RO to soften my hard water and keep my tetras in their own tank separate for my hard water fish like guppies.

 

[BronteKate]

Okay so I haven't been able to get my water tested, but I went online and found:

https://store.brita.com.au/pages/know-your-water
says that my water is 120mg/L,

https://www.seqwater.com.au/water-quality-report
says that my water is 101mg/L

 

[Byron]

Okay so I haven't been able to get my water tested, but I went online and found:

https://store.brita.com.au/pages/know-your-water
says that my water is 120mg/L,

https://www.seqwater.com.au/water-quality-report
says that my water is 101mg/L

I think they give the pH as well, it would be useful to know. I didn't know which of the five or six regions you are in so I couldn't check it myself.

The GH at either 120 mg/l or 101 mg/l is soft water. The unit mg/l is equal to ppm (parts per million) which is a commonly used unit in the hobby. The other unit used is degrees GH, and you can divide ppm by 17.9 to get the equivalent dGH (and in reverse multiply dGH by 17.9 for the ppm equivalent). So that is around 6 to 7 dGH.

Livebearers (guppies, mollies, as well as platies, swordtails and Endlers) will not be in good shape in this water as it lacks the essential calcium and magnesium. Mollies especially need water 12 dGH minimum. That would cause difficulties for the soft water fish (tetras, catfish, etc) so there is no point in making their lives more problematic just to have mollies and guppies. You have the whole range of fish from South America and SE Asia to select from.

The Black Skirt Tetras as previously mentioned would not be a good choice because of their temperament and this restricts other possible tankmates. The 8 BN plecos was dealt with by other members.

 

[Back in the fold]

That's an awesome tank ! Listen to @Colin_T he knows his stuff.

 

[vanalisa]

Thank you so much for this!! So what fish should I keep together, and what fish should I move to seperate tank?

You are so polite and willing to take advice.
Bravo to you!

 

[FishGuest5123]

@Byron is correct, I have mostly tetras and have them in shoals of 10-15 fish each. I have several different types of tetras but avoided the black skirted tetras because of their bad reputation. You should have at least 6 tetras but much better to have 10 or more of each type. We need your water type is it hard or soft and GH . I use RO to soften my hard water and keep my tetras in their own tank separate for my hard water fish like guppies.

Isn’t it a shame about the black skirt tetra. I fell in love with them when I first saw them but then read about their aggression.

 

[FishGuest5123]

That's an awesome tank ! Listen to @Colin_T he knows his stuff.

So does @Byron! What would we do without these guys?

 

[Back in the fold]

So does @Byron! What would we do without these guys?

That's a big 10-4 Madame' @Deanasue

 

[Retired Viking]

Isn’t it a shame about the black skirt tetra. I fell in love with them when I first saw them but then read about their aggression.

They are an attractive looking fish but I want peace in my community tank especially since I have smaller tetras.

 

[FishGuest5123]

They are an attractive looking fish but I want peace in my community tank especially since I have smaller tetras.

I totally agree. I had to scratch them off if my list.