Gourami and Pleco

[WingedWren]

All right, I've got two tanks now. One with my Gourami, not sure what kind and a pleco, which are both roughly about four inches. They're in a six gallon tank. Now, I'm thinking that's a bit small for them. At first, Alfred, the Gourami poked at Chuck the pleco. Now, they just leave each other alone. We also have a new ten gallon tank with just two black mollies. We plan to add some more. The people at PetsMart said we have a female and male molly so..perhaps some little mollies in the future! Anyway, down to my questions.

1) Is the six gallon tank too small for them?

2) If so, should I move Chuck the Pleco in with the mollies? I'm a real beginner. I know some of the basics on which fish to put with which fish. Like putting cichlids or gouramis with mollies is bad... Betta males with betta males is bad... Anyway, tips on that would be appreciated!

We took water from each tank to be tested at the local pet store and the mollies tank was perfectly fine where the six gallon tank was high in nitrates and ammonia. Chuck and Alfred had been in there for about a week. We bought a vacuum gravel cleaner...or whatever you call it. I've been doing 10% water changes for two days now since we got it tested. I would've moved them to the ten gallon tank, but we'd already gotten the mollies and putting Alfred the Gourami with them might not be the best idea... So! Is the high ammonia just due to lack of cleaning and perhaps over feeding? Or is eight inches of fish just too much for a six gallon tank? All right, that's all for now. Thanks!

Laurie

 

[Alien Anna]

Hi Laurie, welcome.

You have quite a raft of different questions there, so I'll try to unpick your post and work out what you really need to know.

1. You need to find out about cycling a tank. This is the most important thing you can do as a newbie and will save you from much heartache and expense. Please follow the link in my sig for an article on Avoiding New Tank Syndrome.

2. Never believe the people at Petco or any large pet shop of local fish shop (LFS). Always check out everything you are told and double check.

3. I doubt your nitrate levels are high. I strongly suspect the guy said nitrite (with an 'i' not an 'a' as in "nitrate" ) which is a by-produce of ammonia and very toxic (although not as toxic as ammonia). This means your tank is not cycled. Your pleco particularly may not survive unless you take urgent action.

4. If its a common pleco it could grow to 2.5 ft in length and is totally unsuitable for all but the biggest tank. Unless you're planning to buy a 55 gal tank at some point in the near future, I strongly suggest you take him back to the shop. No way is he small enough for a 6 gal tank and cycling with a pleco in usually leads to disaster (they are messy fish that produce a lot of ammonia and can't cope with the poisoning).

5. Your mollies should be fine in the 10 gal tank. If they are a breeding pair you might be just as well to leave that as a species tank. A couple of guppies could be added for colour if you like. If you have bogwood in there you could feasibly fit in a dwarf plec of some kind (grows to 4"). However, mollies do prefer a little salt and plecos can't cope with salt.

Assuming you read my article in my sig, that should answer your other questions. Afterwards, if you are still unclear, come back to us and we'll try to help you out. Good luck and don't worry - most newbie problems can be sorted out with a bit of effort.

 

[WingedWren]

Wow, I definetly needed that! Thank you so much. Too bad I didn't get to read that sooner, else I wouldn't have bout the mollies yet and cycled the tank. I didn't know anything about cycling tanks let alone anything else. Talk about a newbie! I did know, though, that plecos grow to be huge. My husband and I were just thinking, as newbies do, that we would get a big tank in time. We live in a small studio apartment right now but sometime in the near future, as in within the next two years, we're going to get a house. We've decided that we want a large tank when we do. Would keeping Chuck the Pleco in a ten gallon tank for a year be bad? I don't know how fast they grow... Or should we just, to be nice to Chuck, take him back to the lfs? My husband just fell in love with him but he would want what is best for Chuck. We we get our next tank, I know what to do now. Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I'm still a newbie, by all means, but you've opened my eyes to so much. Thanks!

Laurie

 

[Alien Anna]

I don't know how fast common plecos grow but I'm sure someone on the forum can answer that question. Try posting it to the Catfish section.

Don't apologise for being a newbie - we all were, at one time or another. However, if you are going to cycle a tank with a pleco be warned that it can be dangerous. You'd be a lot better to find the pleco a temporary home while you cycle his tank.

 

[fishdude]

I've heard some plec's grow slow. But don't try feeding them special catfish food they'll grow real fast. Don't give them algae discs eather. just feed it regular tropical fish food. As for gouramis it seems the one you have is going to continue to grow maybe to 6 inches which is enough just for your gourami in that tank. so sure put the pleco in the 10 gallon with the mollies. The gourami might stake territories so I don't think it'll appreciate anyone in it's tank with that little room. i also think you shouldn't get more mollies. maybe save your money for a bigger tank or you could just give the gourami back to the ifs. And the petsmart you describe sounds ok. but never trust one completely.

 

[Alien Anna]

I've heard some plec's grow slow. But don't try feeding them special catfish food they'll grow real fast. Don't give them algae discs eather. just feed it regular tropical fish food. As for gouramis it seems the one you have is going to continue to grow maybe to 6 inches which is enough just for your gourami in that tank. so sure put the pleco in the 10 gallon with the mollies. The gourami might stake territories so I don't think it'll appreciate anyone in it's tank with that little room. i also think you shouldn't get more mollies. maybe save your money for a bigger tank or you could just give the gourami back to the ifs. And the petsmart you describe sounds ok. but never trust one completely.

I don't think starving the poor thing to stunt its growth is exactly the right thing to do. I'm actually concerned its not going to make it in an uncycled tank - plecos are incredibly messy fish. I also wouldn't add any more fish - the filter will be overloaded as it is.

 

[WingedWren]

No, we're definitly not adding any more fish for a long while now. And we are saving up for a bigger tank. Although I think my husband tries to go nutta crazy. He wants oscars and wants to put so many things in with them... You know, that sort of thing. Don't worry, I'll try to keep him in line! Anyway, so far so good with putting the pleco in with the mollies. Don't worry, Anna, we feed him well and he seems much more happy than he was with the gourami! We didn't get the gourami from the lfs, though I'm sure we could take him there if we needed to. It was a bit of a...rescue thing. Thank you for the advice and we'll keep a close watch for the ammonia and nitrite levels in the ten gallon. Thanks!

Laurie