Rescue fish

[Madisonkeug]

I see ammonia read .50 yesterday, and zero now...is there any source of ammonia in the tank (fish, added ammonia, bacterial supplement...)?

The numbers as such as good, very good. And if there are plants in this tank, I would feel safe adding fish, carefully.

Yes there are 8 fish in this tank and four different “bunches” of plants in here

 

[Byron]

Yes there are 8 fish in this tank and four different “bunches” of plants in here

I would not worry then.

 

[Madisonkeug]

Hi guys, so I was given a bunch of fish from a local business who could no longer care for their fish. I’m new to owning fish and I’m not sure if I’m doing everything I can to care for these guys and I need help. Biggest question is the tank over stocked?
1x Bronze Cory (swimming around glass lots)
1x Spotted Cory
1x yoyo loach (hiding 60% of day but eating)
1x Pygmy gourami
1x guppy
3x platy
2x X-ray tetras
3x kuhli loaches 2/3 hiding during the day, other swimming around like crazy

Should I consider surrendering my Platties and going for some smaller schooling soft waters since I have very soft water in the lower mainland (BC)!

what would go well in a 15gal ? Any suggestions?

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

Should I consider surrendering my Platties and going for some smaller schooling soft waters since I have very soft water in the lower mainland (BC)!

Platys are livebearers, and - as most livebearers do - will breed a lot in time. If you want to nip it in the bud and avoid hundreds of little baby platy fry, I would attempt to rehome them. A lot of fish shops will be willing to take in spare/unwanted fish, so you can look there first if you'd like.

what would go well in a 15gal ? Any suggestions?

Lots of things. Snails, shrimp, a betta, guppies... You can even have some gourami in there I imagine. Depends what you're looking for.

 

[Byron]

Should I consider surrendering my Platties and going for some smaller schooling soft waters since I have very soft water in the lower mainland (BC)!

what would go well in a 15gal ? Any suggestions?

I would. It really is much easier to maintain a tank of fish that are suited to your source water, than fussing over adjusting water parameters at every water change. And with soft/very soft water, there are many options in small fish, often termed "nano" species. The pygmy cories, Ember Tetra, dwarf rasboraras in Boraras, pencilfish, hatchetfish...not every species in the latter two groups but some are suited to a 24-inch 15g tank. All of these species I just mentioned are not active swimmers but cruisers, and they suit smaller spaces for that reason.

Just to illustrate what is possible, the photos below show my 10g tank as it was in August 2010 when I had it set up as an experiment; no filter, no light, just a heater. There was a group of pygmy cories, 11 I think (not visible in this photo) and a group of 12 or 13 dwarf rasbora (Boraras brigittae). I could have had more fish, another shoaling species of nano fish. The second photo is my 29g in December 2015; although this tank is 6 inches longer than the 24-inch 15g, it still shows how many of these small quiet fish can work in a fairly small space. There are Carnegiella sp. hatchetfish, two pencilfish species, a group of Ember Tetras, a group of false/green neons...any of these species would work in a planted 15g with soft water.

 

[Madisonkeug]

I would. It really is much easier to maintain a tank of fish that are suited to your source water, than fussing over adjusting water parameters at every water change. And with soft/very soft water, there are many options in small fish, often termed "nano" species. The pygmy cories, Ember Tetra, dwarf rasboraras in Boraras, pencilfish, hatchetfish...not every species in the latter two groups but some are suited to a 24-inch 15g tank. All of these species I just mentioned are not active swimmers but cruisers, and they suit smaller spaces for that reason.

Just to illustrate what is possible, the photos below show my 10g tank as it was in August 2010 when I had it set up as an experiment; no filter, no light, just a heater. There was a group of pygmy cories, 11 I think (not visible in this photo) and a group of 12 or 13 dwarf rasbora (Boraras brigittae). I could have had more fish, another shoaling species of nano fish. The second photo is my 29g in December 2015; although this tank is 6 inches longer than the 24-inch 15g, it still shows how many of these small quiet fish can work in a fairly small space. There are Carnegiella sp. hatchetfish, two pencilfish species, a group of Ember Tetras, a group of false/green neons...any of these species would work in a planted 15g with soft water.

How can you have these guys in with no filter? Because it’s so heavily planted? Or just removed for the photos?

 

[Byron]

How can you have these guys in with no filter? Because it’s so heavily planted? Or just removed for the photos?

That tank ran for over a year like that. The plants do the filtration. This is why I regularly advise not to go overboard on "biological filtration" if plants are in the tank. I performed a weekly partial water change of 50-60% as I do all my tanks.

That was also the first tank in which I used sand. The light was the only problem; using the light from the west facing window meant the plants naturally tended to grow towards the rear wall of the tank. And with no tank light, it was not easy to see the fish with the light behind them. And with daylight you have no real control, even with blinds; too much light in summer, less in winter, which in itself is OK but algae is quick to take advantage of excess light, and it did on the rear wall. But aside from that, the tank was healthy, and the fish did very well from all I could see.

I moved the tank away from the window after just over a year, returned the overhead tank light, and added a single sponge filter. This provides clear water--clear is not the same as clean; the plants did the "clean" aspect, but the sponge filter being mechanical does the clear part.

 

[Madisonkeug]

That tank ran for over a year like that. The plants do the filtration. This is why I regularly advise not to go overboard on "biological filtration" if plants are in the tank. I performed a weekly partial water change of 50-60% as I do all my tanks.

That was also the first tank in which I used sand. The light was the only problem; using the light from the west facing window meant the plants naturally tended to grow towards the rear wall of the tank. And with no tank light, it was not easy to see the fish with the light behind them. And with daylight you have no real control, even with blinds; too much light in summer, less in winter, which in itself is OK but algae is quick to take advantage of excess light, and it did on the rear wall. But aside from that, the tank was healthy, and the fish did very well from all I could see.

I moved the tank away from the window after just over a year, returned the overhead tank light, and added a single sponge filter. This provides clear water--clear is not the same as clean; the plants did the "clean" aspect, but the sponge filter being mechanical does the clear part.

Thats really interesting maybe once I’m more expirienced I’ll give it a try!! I’ve got a decent amount of plants heading in these two tanks now so once they eventually need some pruning maybe I’ll start to propagate and get another tank set up that way! I’ll probably still keep using an aquarium light for that control aspect!! I’ve also been hearing a lot of people suggest that if I do a big live plant tank taht I should try adding the pothos to the back of the filtration unit or even around the outside of the tank with the roots in the water to help lower the nitrate levels which I think would be super cool (and also benaficial)

 

[Byron]

Thats really interesting maybe once I’m more expirienced I’ll give it a try!! I’ve got a decent amount of plants heading in these two tanks now so once they eventually need some pruning maybe I’ll start to propagate and get another tank set up that way! I’ll probably still keep using an aquarium light for that control aspect!! I’ve also been hearing a lot of people suggest that if I do a big live plant tank taht I should try adding the pothos to the back of the filtration unit or even around the outside of the tank with the roots in the water to help lower the nitrate levels which I think would be super cool (and also benaficial)

A caution on pothos roots in the aquarium water...this is a toxic plant. Dogs and cats can become very sick from ingesting any part of the plant. Personally, I would not go down this road.

Nitrates should not be a problem if the tank's biological system is balanced. One benefit of aquatic plants is that they take up ammonia/ammonium, but do not produce nitrite, and thus nitrate, as a result, so nitrates are naturally lower. With enough relatively fast-growing aquatic plants, they outcompete the bacteria in the uptake of ammonia, so nitrate in such tanks is usually in the 0-5 ppm range, depending upon the stocking.