Update On My New (First) Tanks

[Trilo_G]

Hi, I posted on here earlier about my new tanks and was told that the fish I had were too large for my tanks so we have made some changes, and want a little advice from people who obviously know a lot more than us about tropical fishkeeping.

We go rid of the Red Oscar, Angelfish ans Kissing Gourami, and now the only fish left in the larger (50 US gal) tank that was there originally is the Gold Spot Plec. We have introduced a male Siamese Fighting Fish, 3 female Fighters, 2 Mollies and 4 male Guppies. I was wanting to know how many fish I could add to the tank without it being regarded as overstocked.

We got rid of the smaller (30 US gal) tank for a 40 US gal tank, which we now keep the Jack Dempsey and the 'yellow fish' in, which we have since identified as a Golden Severum. They get on great togather and work together on rearranging the tank which is quite funny to watch.

We obviously can't add to the smaller tank as the Severum will no doubt get larger and both fish will almost definitely be very aggresive towards any newcomers, but we are definitely wanting to add to the larger tank. It is full of small, colourful and peaceful fish and we would like to continue this trend. I have heard that Neons can be 'fin-nippers', especially towards Siamese Fighting fish, so we wouldn't want to risk stressing them out and losing their pretty fins.

Also, the newest addition to the larger tank was the third female Fighter. She is the smallest of the three females but they are all young. The thing is, she constantly has horizontal bars across her body, which we understand to be displayed when she is feeling threatened or stressed. Although the largest female occassionally throws her weight around towards the other two when they get a bit too close, I can't think of any other reason why she should feel so threatened. Any ideas?

Any help will be much appreciated.

 

[Wills]

Hi! Sounds like you have changed things around quite a bit! The addition of a 40g sounds good to me how big are the severum and the JD? When they start to get a bit of size on them they will need a much bigger tank, especially the severum - the gold is a line bred form of Heros Efasctious which gets to between 10-12 inches and as a result they need a decent sized tank at least around 75g so just something to bear in mind as the fish grow.

With the other tank, usually male bettas are not recommended to be mixed in a community tank like your 55 though a sorority of females is a good idea, usually people keep them in groups of 5. I would recommend getting your male a 5-10 gallon tank for himself rather than being in a community environment. Also mixing Guppies and Male Bettas can sometimes have bad results because of the guppies fancy tails bettas can sometimes see them as a threat. Just a few things to consider there.

Also just a thought but why not move the smaller community fish into the 40g and the bigger fish into the 55? In terms of stocking the smaller fish community it wont impact your stocking that much but your severum and JD will definitely appreciate the extra growing room.

Wills

 

[Trilo_G]

The JD is about 8" but the previous owner has had her for a long time and assured us that she is fully grown. The Severum is about 5" so she definitely has more to grow. I definitely don't want to seperate these fish as they are so good with each other, so if they need rehoming later I will look to rehome them as a pair.

As for the Betta, they haven't bothered the male Guppies at all. They are curious and will come over for a look, but I have seen no squabbles between any of the fish apart from the female Betta between each other. As I said, the largest definitely seems like the dominant fish of the three but she isn't malicious, I guess she just likes her own space.

I'd still like to know what's bothering the smallest female, though. She's had the horizontal bars since we put her in the tank, for about 3 days now, but we see no obvious signs of abuse from any other fish. She is also curious and isn't scared to wanser the tank, even have a few close up looks up the 9" Gold Spot Plec (it looks like she's trying to stare it out at times), but sometimes likes to hide in the tiny gap between to side of the tank and the in-tank filter. Could she just be taking a while to settle in?

 

[Wills]

Yeah I imagine the the new betta is just taking a while to settle in. With the male betta separating him would be a preventative measure but if you would rather wait and see thats okay each scenario I was talking about is sometimes a bit 50/50.

What kind of plec is the gold spot? Is it a gold nugget, common plec or a gibbiceps? The nugget should be okay in there but I reckon you could probably move them to the cichlid tank. But if its one of the other two it needs a bigger tank.

At 8 inches the JD will be fully grown and sounds like your sev is about half grown as well. What are the dimensions of the 40g? Would you be able to consider upgrading the cichlid tank at some point to something like a 4x2x2 or around that kind of size? If so thats a decent size of tank for those fish and you would also be able to consider adding more bigger fish into that mix but its just a case of accomodating the severum long term in a comfortable environment to avoid them getting stunted and any associated disease. Severums are sometimes susceptible to hole in the head disease when kept in cramped conditions which is perhaps one of the most pressing issues of keeping severums in small tanks.

Wills

 

[OldMan47]

A severum can easily reach 8 inches in just a few years, so even the 50 will some day be too small for it. My daughter breeds severums and keeps a few in a 6 foot long tank that goes over 100 gallons.
The Bettas are a problem if they are Betta splendens, commonly called fighting fish in some parts of the world. A male Betta splendens cannot be kept for long with any other Betta splendens, including a female, without one or both suffering severe damage in a fairly short time. I love my bettas in my community tanks but keep only one in each tank.
Horizontal bars on a female betta shows that she is under significant stress, a condition I do not find unusual for one kept with a male or an aggressive female. If any of your female bettas was ready to breed, you would instead see a zigzag vertical pattern of stripes on her in the presence of that male. You need to either remove your female bettas to another tank or move the male out of the tank, you can't keep both together without losing them to injuries.