New to the forum but not to the hobby!

[Tony blazer]

I am new to this form but not to the hobby. I've been involved in fish tanks with my dad and continued in some way throughout my entire life but still consider myself a novelist I am here to increase my knowledge base.

My last tank was a cichlid tank that was established seven years ago and two months ago my last cichlid passed away. This is a re-established community tank about 5 weeks old. 55 gallon 170 filtration system with to hang on the back filters. 8 species of live plants lace Rock and small gravel substrate.

24 tank mates.
Old tank mates 7 years old
2 synodontis petricola cats
1 King tiger pleco

new tank mates
1 Chinese algae eater
2 Panda Cory cats
2 Angelfish
4 German Rams standard and gold
4 dwarf gouramis flame and powder blue
2 red eye tetras
2 serpae tetras
4 fancy tail guppies all males.

The new fish have been added in phases in the last few weeks. Only had two deaths in the last few weeks adding new fish two guppies on 23 days and one 8 days in the tank. 24 fish was my target but considering adding one more a Frost ram. I did not realize they came in that color variant and they're pretty new to the hobby within the last three years I've been told.

 

[JxsPxxle]

I am new to this form but not to the hobby. I've been involved in fish tanks with my dad and continued in some way throughout my entire life but still consider myself a novelist I am here to increase my knowledge base.

My last tank was a cichlid tank that was established seven years ago and two months ago my last cichlid passed away. This is a re-established community tank about 5 weeks old. 55 gallon 170 filtration system with to hang on the back filters. 8 species of live plants lace Rock and small gravel substrate.

24 tank mates.
Old tank mates 7 years old
2 synodontis petricola cats
1 King tiger pleco

new tank mates
1 Chinese algae eater
2 Panda Cory cats
2 Angelfish
4 German Rams standard and gold
4 dwarf gouramis flame and powder blue
2 red eye tetras
2 serpae tetras
4 fancy tail guppies all males.

The new fish have been added in phases in the last few weeks. Only had two deaths in the last few weeks adding new fish two guppies on 23 days and one 8 days in the tank. 24 fish was my target but considering adding one more a Frost ram. I did not realize they came in that color variant and they're pretty new to the hobby within the last three years I've been told.

You need more than two corys, they need to be kept in a larger group. I would recommend you get at least 10 for this tank. Same with the tetras, you should get 6 of each species. Also the angels are likely to attack some of the smaller fish as they get larger and this could be a huge problem. I would consider removing the angels.

 

[Retired Viking]

Hello and welcome to the forum, nice looking tank. I like the live plants, good to see some floating Suggestion: Your tetras and cory are schooling fish best to have at least 6. Looks like you have plenty of hiding places that's good. I also have a 55 gallon tank that is a tetra tank except for my albino corys

 

[Tony blazer]

You need more than two corys, they need to be kept in a larger group. I would recommend you get at least 10 for this tank. Same with the tetras, you should get 6 of each species. Also the angels are likely to attack some of the smaller fish as they get larger and this could be a huge problem. I would consider removing the angels.

My father always told me to agree to disagree with that said you would have 18 of my 24 fish be tetras and Cory cats. My serpae and red eye tetras school together believe it or not as well as the guppies. I've never had any major issues with angel fishes but that will be based on individual fish as we all know. The angelfish may go after the guppies once they get full size but guppies only live about one two three years I may have not replaced the guppies at that point in time. Remember fish temperament is really based on individual fish yes I would not put guppies with African cichlids but you understand what I'm saying. Thank you for your reply but I respectfully disagree with your analogy of adding 18 fish just of tetras and kois in a 55 gallon tank which there is definitely a fish cap that I've always tried to keep as well as 1 inch per gallon rule which right now is all the fish in the tank reach their maximum size I will have 70 inches of fish only 15 in over and like I said I have a hundred and seventy filtration system in this 55 gallon tank and always do 18% water change weekly regardless since I had this 55 gallon tank over 18 years.

I would like to upgrade to a 125 but my wife vetoed that lol.

 

[Retired Viking]

I want to up grade to a 75 but like you my wife vetoed that I also have red eyed tetras, started with 5 (2 female and 3 male) and in 3 months they had 12 fry that grew to young adults. I gave them to my bother-in-law because they were starting to take over my tank. 2 weeks late found another red eyed tetra fry so I left him stay.I have neon, ember and glow light tetras with my cory. I also try and not over crowd my tank. I do a 35% water change a week and a larger one 50-75% once a month depending on the number of fish.

 

[acmaintenance]

The new fish have been added in phases in the last few weeks. Only had two deaths in the last few weeks adding new fish two guppies on 23 days and one 8 days in the tank. 24 fish was my target but considering adding one more a Frost ram. I did not realize they came in that color variant and they're pretty new to the hobby within the last three years I've been told.

 

[Sarah73]

Corydoras like to be groups of 6 or more. It is the natural shoal.

 

[seangee]

Guppies require hardwater. Everything else on your list requires soft water. Which do you have?

 

[Tony blazer]

I live in West Palm Beach Florida I use my tap water I usually treated with stress coat and let my water sit for a few days before I add it to my tank in buckets. I don't really know with formal testing if we have hard or soft water I never had an issue using my tap water. I think what's more important is a steady pH low nitrite ammonia and nitrate levels. I do a 18% water change religiously once a week and a 45% water change once once every 3 months with maintenance on my filters and aquarium substrate. I never had issues with major loss of fish?

I was going to write a different post asking people's opinions on this. Growing up in the 70s and 80s I was taught to change filter carbon and amino chips every 4 weeks. There are some new data that suggests that you should not add carbon to your filter only after medication and other major tank issues as well as not to add Amino chips if you have a planted aquarium The only exception if you have high ammonia levels in the tank. Chemicals that help unCloud your water should never really be used because it contains chemicals that can cause serious respiratory issues with your fish and even death.

I'm interested to hear what others think about this.

 

[Retired Viking]

I don't use carbon filters or amino chips. I have a small box full of new carbon filter cartridges that I keep in case I add medications. Only use Imagitarium water conditioner and just started using seachem flourish for my plants but at 1/2 dosage

 

[Essjay]

Hardness is more important than pH - though I agree that pH needs to remain stable (as does hardness). Look on your water provider's website to see if they give your hardness. If they do you need a number rather than some vague words.
We should aim to keep fish that come from water with the same hardness as our tap water. Soft water fish kept in hard water will accumulate calcium in their organs and die earlier than they should. Hard water fish kept in soft water will suffer from loss of calcium from their bodies and not live as long as they should.

My understanding is that decades ago water changes were only performed rarely as they were thought to be bad for fish. Between water changes, the water developed a yellow tinge so carbon was used to remove that yellow. We now recommend water changes of at least 50% a week so the yellow colour never has chance to build up - unless some source of tannins are deliberately added to the tank. Carbon adsorbs organic matter - the yellow colour, strange odours, medication etc. Most of us only use carbon if our fish get sick and we have to medicate the tank and need to remove the medication once treatment has finished.
Ammonia removing chips are not necessary. We grow ammonia eating bacteria in our filters to remove ammonia. Using something to remove ammonia means that a tank will never grow a full colony of bacteria. The ammonia removing chips need to be replaced before they become used up and stop removing ammonia; if they are not replaced, ammonia will build up because there are not enough bacteria to remove it. It is much simpler and cheaper to grow a colony of bacteria which will remove the ammonia and a second colony of bacteria to remove the nitrite that the first bacteria make.
Or grow lots of live plants which use ammonia as fertiliser.

If you have high ammonia levels in the tank, water changes are the best remedy. High ammonia is the result of not cycling a new tank before getting fish; or something happening to kill the bacteria. Water changes using a dechlorinator which detoxifies ammonia will keep the fish safe until more bacteria have grown. The ammonia detoxifiers only last around 24 hours so water changes need to be done again next day if ammonia is still above zero.
Nitrite also needs to be zero; if a test shows any nitrite in the water, again water changes must be done to remove the nitrite.
Nitrate needs to be kept below 20 ppm as we now know that nitrate does long term damage.

 

[seangee]

@essjay sums it up nicely. My tanks get nothing but fresh water (around 75% per week). The filter media is all sponge and I have plenty of plants. I also use liquid fertiliser at half the recommended dosage.

I have almost zero experience of sick fish since I have been doing this.

 

[Tony blazer]

This is why I joined this form for exchange of ideas. Fish companies and stores still push products that are really not needed like carbon let me know chips and other products to help clean cloudy water like acurel F clarifier which actually is dangerous and can kill your fish. The industry pushes these products for revenue. I have a fulval filter the manufacturer recommends that you change the sponge every 6 months that is a joke in my opinion. My cousin runs a pool company and the same thing goes with pool filters he tells me I should not change my pill filter unless there's this bull rips tears or major stain marks that cannot be washed out. I feel the same way with sponge pads four filters please tell me if I'm wrong with this notion.

 

[seangee]

Yup - change them when they fall apart and disintegrate. No point before then

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Yes, definitely don’t change your filter cartridge every month, like the box says to. They just want to get your money. If you throw it away, you loose your beneficial bacteria. If you need to rinse it out (if it gets super brown/green), rinse it out in tank water. (I usually rinse it out/swirl it in tank water from my gravel/sand vacuum.)

Pools are very different from fish tanks, ask a member on this forum before taking your cousins advice.