Compatibility

[riogal_11]

Can someone let me know if it would be ok to put a guppy with one dalmation mollie, one swordtail, and two tetras. My mom is giving me her tanks for my newest betta, but first i've gotta have someplace to put the guppy? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Annastasia]

It could work. What sex are the Swordtail and Molly?

And also, you technically should have more then 2 Tetras, since they are a schooling fish.... But I won't go into that.

 

[riogal_11]

Female molly and Female Swordtail. I just added the guppy, and they seem to be doing fine, the other fish are kinda going up to him every once in a while, but aren't nipping him or anything. Oh and about the Tetra thing, I got those when I first got my tank and come to find out they were the ones that had been injected with dye to make them colorful. I was so mad I went back to the store and went off on the manager, and she still wouldn't take them back. I figured if I got more to add to it, the tank would be overstocked so i have refrained. With my current stocking do you still think it would be ok to get a couple more to go with them? Thanks for the help

 

[Annastasia]

If they are both female, I think it should work fine.


Hmm....how big do the tetras get?

If you go by the inch per gallon rule, you have:

Molly = 3"
Swordtail = 3"
Guppy = 1 1/2 - 2"

About 8". But if you do frequent water changes, you MAY be able to get more...Not sure you'd want to though, since they are dyed...

 

[riogal_11]

I wouldn't mind getting a couple more, but definitely not getting any more dyed ones, that wasn't my intention in the first place, I was just naive and didn't figure it out until after I bought them. Sorry I must have had a blonde moment. Would any other kind of tetras be ok to put in? and I do frequent water changes, so I think I would be ok.

 

[Mariah]

Can I ask whats wrong with them being dyed? I really have no clue!

 

[riogal_11]

They inject these fish with dye to make them more catchy looking meaning more sales. The means they use to do this are extremley inhumane, and a lot of the fish die in the process. If they do make it through the dye process, they normally don't have very long of a life span. Once I found out about this I was so mad I went straight back to the place. I should have looked them up before hand, but when I went into the shop I wasn't planning on getting anything anyways but they "caught my eye"

 

[Annastasia]

Okay, I'm going to guess you have the ones known as Blueberry Tetra, Strawberry Tetra, etc. Those are just Black Widow Tetras, so you should be able to add some of those and let them get along.

However, since Tetras like to be in groups of at least 6....that may be pushing the stocking limit. But you said you do frequent water changes. So, if you keep that up, I think you should be fine.