What did I do

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I

Istfensarion

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 10, 2011
22
0
0
Belleville, IL
Hello, I used to own a few fish tanks years ago when i was younger and decided since i had some friends getting rid of tanks i would start again. When i had fish before i was quite a bit younger and took what ever the fish guy in wal mart said, i'm a lil smarter now 'little'. so i put the first tank together and let it run then bought the fish, this time i just took what the fish guy at petsmart said as fish 'word' haha bad idea. So my tank at that time consisted of 2 tiger barbs 'she told me 2 was fine' I later learned that they need 5-6 to school or shoal or what ever. 2 rainbow sharks 'she told me 2 was a good number' I later read that rainbow fish are not good to have more then 1 in a tank. 1 tinfoil barb 'she told me yea it is a solitary fish' I later read that these are also schooling fish and get over 10" witch will be way to big as a school for my tank. a pleco, witch is fine and I added a beta to test what would happen with a back up tank in case. They actually got along fine weird enough the tinfoil schooled with the tigers, the 2 rainbows ignored eachother although the 1 is much bigger now then the albino and well the pleco was just that. I was still worried about the tigers nipping if i didn't get a school so i went to petsmart armed with more smarts then last time and new what i wanted to get 2 more tigers and mabe an oto just to clean while the pleco was soo small att this point. well i came home with 2 tigers, a powder blue groumie, 'spelling'. but now the tigers are starting to nip a bit was 4 enough or did changing the layout mess it up how would i go about ending the nipping adding another 2 tigers? that is what i've read but when the tinfoil grows he will deff over stock the tank this is in a 30 gal btw.

p.s. i could not, not get the groumie it was tooo puuurrrty
 
okay if i were you i would bring back the tinfoil barb because hes just a tank buster they are going to get huge and i mean huge and a 30 gal wont do it. Try to exchange it for some more tiger barbs maybe, you could get different color morphs to add something cool to the tank like albinos and greens. i would get rid of the gourami also due to the small group tiger barbs you already have. They are fin nippers even if kept in large shoals i still feel like they are nippers despite what some may lead you to believe. You should get more aggressive fish. I would recommend getting a pair of convicts very social easy to breed, cool to see them rearrange sand or there surroundings. You can also leave your red tailed shark in the tank. if you wanted you could also get a pictus cat for a bottom dweller. They dont get too large.

So if i were in your position i would stock this way.
10x tiger barbs with various color morphs to add color to your tank green albino regular
2x convicts for your show fish. One you want to display the most if not convicts i would get smaller aggressive cichlid
2x red tailed sharks because you already have them and assume you like them
1x pictus or smaller synodontis. If you research on pictus it says they like being in groups but they will be fine alone they like the less competition.
 
Oh yeah and get rid of the Betta they are solitary fish and do not mix well with other tropical fish especially tiger barbs who will nip at the fins regardless. The pleco is fine in the tank. The reason i say add a smaller aggressive cichlid like convicts is because of the tiger barbs and they both get along very well.
 
First you said you filled the tank and let it sit ? If so i doubt that its cycled yet and theres a big chance you will lose all your fish . If you want to do a fish cycle you need to get a test kit and do loooots of water change . Always do research before buying fish , the people at petco petsmart are just there cuz its a job . Is it a common pleco ? if so these things get massive and are crap factories ditch it and get a clown pleco and the tinfoil will outgrow it soon also and are kinda mean . Good luck and happy fishkeeping
 
albyoscar;4876695; said:
First you said you filled the tank and let it sit ? If so i doubt that its cycled yet and theres a big chance you will lose all your fish . If you want to do a fish cycle you need to get a test kit and do loooots of water change . Always do research before buying fish , the people at petco petsmart are just there cuz its a job . Is it a common pleco ? if so these things get massive and are crap factories ditch it and get a clown pleco and the tinfoil will outgrow it soon also and are kinda mean . Good luck and happy fishkeeping
Click to expand...

Yea once again i was "told" to set up the tank and let it sit with no fish and the filter going for 24-48 hours after you add your conditioner i do water changes totally the first fish have been there almost 6mo. Yea common pleco knew they get big didn't know there crap factories in this area there isn't ne thing like clown pleco, they just got bristle nose ones in but i don't trust they are being as they don't have bristles until they get older they say. I am not sure about the return policy on fish at like petco petsmart... i'll have to look into that see what i can change.
 
@ fishfanatic80 thanks for the info i like the idea going to get ahold of petsmart see if i can return for credit or trade i'm sure they will refuse how ever so maybe give them away or what ever i can i need to look up a pictus however i was looking for a oto cat i hear they are great at maintaining the tanks bottom but not sure. would the more colorful cichlids do for the tank vs the convicts? guess first i need to get the fish re arainged first. I am also doing testing on a 1/2 bottomless tank with cheap goldies to test the materials i used to build the 3d backround and the such.
 
The reason i say convicts is a good fit to your tank because they don't get very big which means they dont require that much room and they get along with tiger barbs easily. Maybe you could try a firemouth cichlid if your looking for some more color, but if your thinking of the more colorful cichlids being africans then thats a no go because the water needs to be a higher ph for them and they dont really get along with the tiger barbs and red tailed sharks in there. Or you can get a jewel cichlid only two for your tank. they are african but require a lower ph then all the other africans.
 
Oh almost forgot the oto sucker is great at maintaining the aquarium but i find them to be very fragile and if you plan on going with the idea of having a cichlid it will get eaten or harassed til it dies so i would stick to the pleco. Yes they do produce a lot of waste but they are tough enough to stick it out with cichlids and i enjoy watching them grow. When they get too big for the tank bring it back to petsmart or give him to somebody looking for a pleco. I have twelve exotic plecos in my 125 gal and theyre some of my favs plus they are pretty slow growers takes years for them to get big.
 
So far i have taken out the beta and put him in a solo tank, the GF swears his fins are getting shorter. No prob i took him out and put him in a solo bowl for now although i hope to get rid of my test fish in my tank with the bottomless section. How ever i have left the dwarf groumi for now since petsmart by me will not take it back or exchange it after 14 days and if you do you need a receipt. My GF throws them away every chance she gets ..... wonderful. The tigers have settled down how ever is that normal after a couple of days 5 days i think it has been about. I am also trying to remove the tinfoil barb but not sure where i did how ever just get my new tank it is smaller then i thought it would be it is only 55 gals. but no offence to the tinfoil bard don't want to waist it on him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom