Inherited A 40 Gal Tank, Help A Newby Out :)

[ionko]

I inherited a 40 galon tank, and I don't know much about fish care so please bear with me.  
 
I've tried to come up with a list of everything that's in there as best I can, and looked up each type of fish on google but this may not be 100% accurate.
 
9 neon tetras
2 Gold Dojo Loach
2 mollies
2 patties
11 guppies
1 male beta
4 zebra dinios? 
1 placo - of sorts, it's about 1in long sorry too shy for a picture
1 cat fish - of sorts about 1.5 in silver with black spots and really LONG whiskers! Here's a photo:

 
 
Here's what I've observed which seems odd to me, but I'm not sure if it's normal or not.
 
1 - The Dinios seem to chase everything all the time, doesn't look like they are actually biting on anything but will chase ANYTHING that's in sight. Most of the bigger ones like the beta or the Mollys don't seem to mind but I'm concerned about the guppies. 
 
2 - All the Neon tetras huddle together on the bottom left corner of the tank. I've never seen them go anywhere else and even when i put in food they wait until it sins down to them.  It seems their entire living space is a couple of of cubic inches which seems very odd to me.  
 
It seems to me the only "friend" the neons have is the beta which appears to be their big brother against the dinios if they get near that corner of the tank.  
 
I bought a new filter for the tank because the one it had looked ancient and gross. 
 
I also added an air pump, a heater and few plants which the fish didn't have before. The store clerk said to keep the temperature at around 78-80 degrees.
 
The testing kit I got says the water quality is very good. when it comes to Nitrate, Nitrite and Chlorine. The hardness is ( soft 75), alkalinity (moderate 80) and pH (neutral 7.2) and I'm not sure what the last 3 should be.
 
I've had the tank for a week now and I'm wondering if something is wrong and what I should do to make it better.
 
Any thoughts or opinions on this?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Blondielovesfish]

to the forum.
 
The tank is way over stocked
 
I recommend that you rehome the Danios (they need a bigger school and cooler temperatures). I also think you should rehome the Dojo Loaches (they need a minimum tank size of 55 gallons) and some/all the guppies (depending on the sexes, they'll breed lots and also the Betta will most likely nip the Guppies fins) or the Betta (will nip the Guppies fins. You could get a 5-10 gallon in you wanted to keep the Betta).
 
The Danios are probably nipping because they need a bigger school (6+).
 
The Neons sound like they're scared.
 
 
When you changed the filter, did you keep the old media? If not, you will be doing a fish in cycle. Details found here .
 
Do you know the Ammonia reading?
 
If your test kit are the paper type, you will need to get a liquid kit. Paper tests aren't very reliable. If you get a liquid kit, make sure it can measure Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH.
 
For some more reading, have a good read of this

 

[TekFish]

Catfish looks like a Porthole Catfish, just sayin'.
 
Tek oot.

 

[ionko]

Thanks for your reply.  I found some very useful information following your links and skulking some more around the internet.
 
Stopped by the pet store on my way to work this morning and got the "best" testing kit available there and will do a more through test when I get home. Best in quotations since my criteria was price and clerk recommendation...
 
Yes, I did change the entire filter. The old one had mold growing all over it and it looked like the sponge hasn't been ever been changed or cleaned.  The one I got is this: http/www.marineandreef.com/Hagen_Fluval_C4_Power_Filter_p/rhg14003.htm, and the guy at the store said it should compensate for some overcrowding is that true?
 
When i got the tank it was already about 1/3 - 1/4 full and I just added water. I'm thinking that should atleast help with the cycling? Would i be wrong?
 
I also asked them if they can take the dinios and loaches but they wouldn't. I checked with 2 other stores nearby and they can't take them either. Getting another tank isn't really an option for me, any suggestions what I can do with those fishies? 
 
I've been watching the beta very closely and honestly I can't see any signs of him being aggressive.  I was worried since you warned me about the guppies but it doesn't seem like he cares about them at all. Often during feeding they'll "sit" next to each other or even brush against each other with absolutely no aggressive behavior that i can see.  
 
I'm hoping that they can be friends because I think the beta is probably my favorite now and I'd really like to keep him, but again I don't think I can have additional tanks to separate him. 
 
Again thanks for the all the help and information
 
Lastly, and I know this sin't the place for this question but since I already have a long rant going..
I see a lot of aquariums that have some plans growing on the bottom, making it look like an actual grass field. 
Like Here: http/www.aquahobby.com/tanks/img10/12_Planted_Tank_1.jpg
and here: http/www.aquahobby.com/tanks/img/609_Community_Tank_Darrell_1.jpg
 
Is this something I can add? I think it makes the tank look amazing! What are those plans called or are they even real plants or plastic?
 
PS: Turns out the cat fish is a pictus catfish. Came up on one of the photos after a Porthole Catfish search

 

[TekFish]

I the carpet will need high light and co2 injection for full effect, you can but it will be hard...very hard, I'm doing it now in my 5gal and that's hard enough.

In case you wanted to though the plant looks like Eleocharis Acicularis.

Tek oot.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Since you changed all of the filter (I can understand why you would want to) you will be doing a fish in cycle. The filter media contains a lot of the good bacteria that eats the ammonia (that fish produce) and turn the ammonia into nitrite. The filter also contains some more good bacteria that turns the nitrite into nitrate.
If you follow the instructions in the link that I gave you about fish in cycling, the cycle should (hopefully) run alright. The only problem is that the tank is overstocked which means a lot of ammonia will be being produced.
The best way to help your cycle would be to either get some mature filter media (from a friend or a nice LFS) or buy some of Tetras Safe Start or Dr. Tim's One and Only. They will speed up your cycle drastically.
 
I'm not quite sure what you can do with rehoming the fish Maybe you can ask on here and see if anyone in your area will be able to take them?
I'm surprised that the LFS won't take them, most do as it means a free profit for them.
 
Keep an eye on the Betta and Guppies because, although they might seem to get on, the Betta could turn at any moment. You also don't know what goes on when the lights are out.
Some Bettas and Guppies can coexist peacefully though, it just depends on the individual fish.

 

[Ninjouzata]

You can try putting up the fish you want to rehome on craigslist

 

[Blondielovesfish]

You can try putting up the fish you want to rehome on craigslist

 
Good idea!