Wanted: Hardy Fish

[andyboy!!]

Hi

I set up my tank Christmas eve and cycled it, then slowly added fish in this order:

2 Platys
5 neons
2 Zebra Danios

4 Fish of Death (see below)

Everything was fine and dandy. The fish were happy and well and water readings were good. Then I added the dreaded rummy noses. With plans to add more in a few days. Two died the next day. Then the others got whitespot, which spread to the rest of the tank, so now I am left with 1 Platy and 2 Zebras.

So I was wondering if you could give me some hardy fish and fish that are less prone to whitespot. I was hoping to stock with:

3-4 more Platys
2 Dwarf Gouramis
1 Fighter
5 neon or cardinal tetras (not sure about these though as they dropped like flies with the whitespot).

Or some hardy fish if anyone knows any???

Thanks a lot
Andy.

 

[Phillip.M]

What size is your tank? What's the water perameter?

 

[andyboy!!]

Hi

It's a 58 litre tank (24x12x12).

Not sure of the exact reading, as the fish lady didn't tell me. She just said it was in very good condition.

She was the lady who I bought the rummys off, she replaced the two that died first after the water test because it passed. If the water quality was bad, she said she wouldn't replace them.

Cheers
Andy.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Hi! Sorry to hear you've had such a rough ride.

First of all, we need to know that your tank has cycled, before you can add more fish. What exactly are your water stats for ammonia and nitrites? How long ago since you medicated for whitespot? Did you finish the full course of treatment?

A 58 gallon tank is about 15 US gallons- so that should only have had 2 small fish in it for the first month or two (1 inch of fish/5 gallons for cycling). So this was probably your first source of trouble, adding too many fish too quickly. (I know you said you added them slowly- but it's not that long since Xmas, so I suspect it wasn't quite slowly enough).

Secondly, the lady in the shop should have told you that rummynoses are sensitive to poor water stats (as will inevitably occur in a cycling tank) and should only go in a tank that has been running with fish without problems for many months.

First of all, then, you need to make sure the present fish in your tank stay healthy for a few weeks and the readings for ammonia and nitrites stay at 0 (buy yourself a liquid test kit). Then you can slowly add one or two fish, wait a few weeks, check water stats.

Unfortunately, dwarf gouramis are now quite sensitive so I would be wary of adding them to a new tank. If you do go for them later- make sure you don't add two males (the brightly coloured ones), they will fight. Either one male, or one male and two females is the best ratio. Also, gouramis and bettas are both labyrinth fish, so may see each other as rivals=fighting.

You have now got one platy and two danios. Danios are schooling fish, so need to be in a group of at least 5-6. Platies also prefer company. If you add 4 danios (slowly, gradually, when the stats are fine and you are sure the whitespot is gone) and two more platies- that will pretty well fill your tank for you. A very basic rule for this sort of tank is 1 inch fish/gallon water- counting both platies and danios as 2 inches.

Leaving the danios as a pair may lead to aggression problems later on, as they tend to work on establishing a hierarchy, with only two danios this means the same inferior fish gets it in the neck from the alpha fish all the time.

Some people may object that platies and danios are both surface fish so your tank may be oddly balanced, but in my epxerience platies move all over the tank, so shouldn't be a problem.

But your first job is to buy a test kit- liquid ones are best and a good investment since they last a long time. Don't trust to the lady in the shop, be in charge! Ammonia and nitrites should stay at 0 in a cycled tank, in a cycling tank your aim is to dilute them (partial water changes with dechlorinated water) whenever they go over 0.5 ppm.

What is your maintenance regime (=water changes)?