new here and need help from the people of the water

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koh the face stealer

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 12, 2011
365
1
33
Arizona
im new to the fish world so take it easy..but not totally in the dark.
ill try to keep this brief and try not to ramble and put everyone who may read a headache.

i recently(a month)adopted a convict cichlid from a female friend who has desperately trying to get rid of it.becoming negligent and letting the water get murky,cloudy and not replacing a water pump for a week and never having testing equip.whatever it was bad and not to mention she housed 6 other fish that werent feeders in a 10gl that hes spent his life in.its fine hes in my hands now.
i didnt really know what he was til i got him home and knew he would need to move into something bigger.until i could afford the big move,something had to suffice til.

he came home,i got new gravel,took out some old decor,plants and added a multiple entry log ornament and some new plants,air pump,sponge filter,10-15gl filter(i know now it shoulda been double)thus the big change depleted the 10gl of beneficial bacteria and started its cycle.ammonia spikes galore,tons of water changes.one month of that crap and convict is starting to stress,claustrophobic in a little box with constant human tampering.

now,hes in a 55gl i got off of some fish breeder.the tank came with all the live plants,gravel,decor,a 75gl marineland penguin biowheel,tetra whisper air pump,check valve,air stone and i think its an air strip already under the gravel.i also took home some of the fish that were living in it.ill get to them in a minute.this tank was running and fully cycled before i took it home.a fifteen minute drive before i got it home and filled up with some of the tank water i brought in buckets and new water conditioned for chlorine and chloramine.i waited for temps and ph to smooth out and acclimated them all appropriately.all are doing fine together.i just wanna know what to expect? is it going to cycle again?take half or less of the time?
i currently have the 75gl penguin filter and the 15gl filter(will be changed out with an aquaclear 300gph filter on the 17th of this month).
the fish that are in the tank
1 male convict
1pleco
1blue gourami
2gold algae eaters
2redtail tinfoil barb(at least thats what they look like to me,i forgot what he said)
3skirt tetra
2glass fish

would all this work out in a 55gl?
also temperatures drop at night,do i need to keep the water one steady temperature or is a night temp drop acceptable?never below 74degrees f.
thanks to anyone that read through this and more thanks to anyone with wise words.
 
What's the size of the fishes? If they're still babies they'll be fine for now but not for long term. The tinfoils will get big. Not sure if the pleco is common, if it is it will also get huge. And the 2 gold algae eaters could be chinese, not sure though.
 
and one of the chinese algae eaters, as far as a know they get quite aggressive when larger, other than that they should all be fine in the 55g for life, you could add some more skirt tetras or whatever to make it a more proper school

if its a rubber lip pleco than its fine, it wont get big, does it have like a comically large looking rounded mouth area in the front where you can see the "lips" from the top as well? if not then its most likely a common pleco and will need to be rehomed to a larger tank
 
OK, I got a headache already, lolJK, I always liked constant temp, but I guess you could leave it off when its not so cold.
 
oh yeah i forgot about responding to that part, but yeah i would keep a constant temp, large constant temp fluctuations will stress out your fish and they will most likely get ich
 
convict will prolly kill everythi g but the barbs and those def gotta go due to size
 
http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r92/aLeisTeR_bucket/?action=view&current=Afewofthesuspects.mp4
heres a video of the fish.i know nothing of fish and went online to find pics of what looked like what i have. am i wrong as to what species these are?

if those are tinfoils where would i take them to get rid of em LFs?
i think it is a normal plecostomas,and thats what the guy said it was.
he said hes had the pleco for a year.
the only thing i care about in the tank is the convict and pleco.
the gourami tried messing with my convict and the convict let him have it and he pretty much stays clear of the convict and the convict doesnt go seek her out either or anyother fish,sometimes when they get too close he does.the pleco and the convict seem peaceful,they share hiding spots sometimes and adjust for eachother when one needs to move or something.is that strange?
now for the heat,the temp settled at 74degrees...is this a good over all temp for these fish?me personally id think 78 would but hey im a noob.
the tank didnt come with a heater so i would have to get that when i get the other water filter on the 17th.
 
It's hard to see them in the video but I don't believe those are tinfoils. I can see how you can think that as they have the red fins and move like tinfoils but I keep tinfoils myself and those don't look like tinfoils from the vague view of them in the video. Maybe a better still image is necessary for a positive ID.

If I were you I'd just weed out the stock to base it really on which fish you want and bring the rest to a lfs for credit towards a heater. Temp should be between 78-82.

If it's a common pleco he needs to go. They are massive waste generators and will make it quite difficult to maintain nitrates below 20ppm in a 55 gallon.

You stated your mainly interested in the con and pleco so what I'd do (and this is just my opinion) would be

-Get rid of the common pleco. If you really like pleco I'd do something more accommodating to your tank size like a clown or bristlenose pleco.
-keep the con. (he looks nice btw)
-get rid of the gourami
-I don't think those are tinfoils but if they are they definitely need to go.
-The chinese algae eaters imo could stay or go. They aren't going to hurt anything either way. My gf has one in her tankn that gets along fine with a blood parrot and pink con but just like other dude said, I've also heard they get uber aggressive when larger/older.
-I'd keep the glass cats but get like 6 more. A nice school of 9+ would look real nice.
-I'd do the same with the skirt tetras. Add about 6 more and get a nice big school. IMO They really start to look nice in large schools and both the glass cats and skirts stay small so 2 schools of 9 in a 55 should be no problem.

Your center piece fish would obviously be the con and the two schools would add great movement to the tank.

NOTE: When I say get rid of I mean bring them to a lfs and hopefully get some credit for them towards new fish and a heater. ;)
 
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