Anyone tell me if I am overcrowded ?

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Gooey

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I just added my tank and fish to my signature, (to hopefully hel you answer any problems i may have easier)

Could you tell me if I am overcrowded, or bad choice of fish etc, any problems you can see would be greatly appreciated.

There is a fluval 3 internal filter, and at the opposite end i have a 4" air stone constantly blowing bubbles, lotsa plants, fake ATM soon to be live, a nice piece of mopani wood with hiding places the crabs like, and a cave made with rocks and slate siliconed together(approx 7" square)

There hasn't been any problems as of yet and all the fish seem happy just wanted to know if there may be problems later on

thanks in advance

---Gooey
 
Hello Gooey.

In my opinion you're going to have a few problems with the fish you've got. Firstly Tiger barbs ~ They tend to be aggresive, there supposed to do quite well in big groups and are not so aggressive but I had 5/6 of them and had to move them to there own tank. 2nd Bettas ~ they dont like moving water and aren't suited to tanks with filters as the current flow can tear there fins as well as the get miffed if they cant build bubble nests ( the bubbles just get washed away and the nestes break up) also they're a bad choice to keep with barbs,and crabs.

As for the rest the pleco's going to get quite big but I'm not sure how the rest will get on together I think they should be fine. the only other problem i can see is if you need to add med's to the tank. It may be an idea to have a couple of small tanks on hand to use as hospital ones.

At the moment I cant think of anything else, Maybe the others have different ideas.
 
:) Good thinking putting your info in your signature ;)

Theres a couple of things I'd like to say :look:
First the air stone will not help you plants. And as you've a lot of plants, this will take up more room need for your fish. If you use the old thumb of rule your over stocked. But if your water conditions are fine and everything else seems okay then it's fine. I've got over 100 fish in my 45gal tank.
The Barbs thing :what: I've always found the tiger barbs to be nippy sods. Your fighters long fins should not last in a tank with them :)  
Other than that Looks good.
All doing fine and no fighting
 
Guess what
last night, I dunno who the culprit(s) were, but the betta was none to well
half its fins was gone and a lot of the rest are back at the ends
So I bought a heater, and a mini filter (probably equivalent of a fluval 1 but a bit littler) and transferred it to a 5 gallon, along with the guppies.

The betta is on the brink of death :(, it stays near the top on its side and every once in a while it turns right way up takes a breath and slowly turns back over again.

What else can I do to see if I can save it as I am surprised it isn't dead already.

The tank was filled with gravel and water from the main tank, and the filter media was replaced with a cut of thefilter from the main tank, so i assume it won't get cycle spikes
 
####. n' otherwords I cant say here.
Seen as you've transfered the betta along with the guppies things should improve if it's not to late. Try puttinfg a towel or the likes around the tank for a couple of days. keep the fish in almost darkness. ( it's like us with a migrane the darker the better) the guppies wont give the betta any hassle so tyhat shoukd be alright. if you've the other filter in the tank swithc it off, just do a water change every other day( not a major change though just about or under 1/4.
I'm a bit pi...... drunk just niow so in#gnore the soelling. but that should help .I'll post more for you t'moorow
 
#@!$*% and even more obsenities
betta died to day :(, learned a lesson, don't mix bettas and tiger barbs, the hard way
also I transferred the guppies back to the main tank and when I have just got in, only one is alive, and two tiger barbs are also dead
WTF !!
ammonia = 0
nitrites = 0 or there abouts
nitrates = 18 ppm
ph = 7.2
temp = 78 f
any ideas ?? guess i better change my sig info again
 
Oh Sod! :/
Well you water readings are fine :)
Its weard that the barbs are dead. I know this daft as you prob would have said, but were there any signs to their death.
 
yeah i should've mentioned that, sorry, all the fish were acting normal, no signs of disease on the outside, no strange behaviour, I just went out for a few hours, came back, and they were dead.
BUT
I tested tap water with my test kit, and got EXACTLY the same readings, tested my mates water and exactly the same too, my conclusion, dodgy/bad test kit.
So I got a new one (Dr Wellfish/aquarium pharmaceutrical, start up packfrom pets at home, it has only 4 tablets for testing and other stuff in it (including water conditioner), but at only 7.99 better than paying for a "proper one" to see if the kit was bad)and my readings are now
ammonia = 0.5
nitrites = 1.0
no nitrate test available
pH = 7.2
I know these are not fatal levels, but could this be the cause,
and also i got with it some ammo lock and a bottle of beneficial bacteria, should i add some of this to the water ?
 
Na your waters still fine :) As for your ammolock n stuff I wouldn't use it just now save it for a later date.

With no signs of death It's hard to find the cause :what: But It's not the water, the Barbs are really hardy anyway :) Just keep an eye on things :look:
 
K. I'm Sober so i maight make a bit more sense.
Any Idea of how hard your water is? At the moment I'm fishing for ideas(a bad pun I know ). i do know that some people for some reason cant seem to keep any barbs. a chap three floors bellow me is an example he's been trying for a couple of years of and on, with no luck what so ever. Me I get a few and in a short while I've loads of the sod's any spawns( accidental as I'm not trying to breed any). Mine seem to thrive, I give him a few and within a week his are dead. Anyway, The water's from the same source, he's tried the same additives I use etc, I've even setup a tank for him, tested everything, the results close to my own tanks, Stocked some fish and the same thing happens.
Now I'm not saying give up with barbs, on the contrary keep trying but there must be something that isn't part of the general equation, that we're missing. Short of an electrical feild that all living things generate I cant think of anything else. It could just be Some people have the wrong vibes for certain types of fish. Or the equiptment in the tank gives of a certain magnetic/electrical feild. I do know some people have had better luck after earthing their tanks. I'll try and find out more.

Anyone know anymore on this (electrical discharge) either post it or email me, as i think I'll be delving more into this subject.
 

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