yes i know having to many fish needs to be address and yes i know common pleco's cus my brothers that he got for his turtle tank is about to out grow his tank so im aware they grow really fast i just got to get rid of all the algae in my tank cus i had to out put to it under a window which is one of the reasons it got out of control in my tank and where i live and where i got my cory cat it wasnt expensive plecos are more expensive than cory cats where i get mine at and
i havent had any problems with my fish other than when i lost my original five fish last week but that was only because i didnt let the water sit for a couple days, sorry if i sound rude but ik i made a little mistake we all do once in a while i grew up on fish and my dad knows a whole lot bout fish if my fish were that bad he would tell me to get rid of my fish and im getting a 30g for christmas so in a couple weeks there moving up from a 15 to a 30
I hope that you will receive this in the manner in which it is intended and not be angry about it, but some things really need to be said.
Please use punctuation and capitalization. This post is nearly impossible to read.
And while your dad may very well know a whole lot about fish, the collective experience of this forum would know vastly more. This is not to belittle your dad, but he is just one person with just one perspective. This forum has fishkeepers from all over the world, with a wide array of backgrounds and experience. And if everyone says one thing, but dad says another maybe there are a few things dad could learn too.
I'm glad to hear that you're getting a new, bigger tank. But that alone won't cure all the issues that are actually going on with this stocking list. First, you should never buy an unsuitable fish for your tank, regardless of how bad the algae is. You could have gotten an oto (or more correctly a shoal of 3-6) for the algae instead of the one pleco that will outgrow your tank. Second, you have a bunch of shoaling fish in pairs. That's just not good for them. More than likely they are all stressed about being separated from the shoal. If you bumped up all the shoals to the proper level of 6 plus, you'd once again be vastly overstocked in BOTH tanks.
Next, tiger barbs are notoriously mean little buggers who nip the fins of other fish in their shoal and outside it as well, especially when not kept in proper numbers. Perhaps you are lucky to have found a couple of the more laid back members of the shoal. But, if you were to add others to the tank to get proper stocking levels, you'd be introducing some little terrors. Serpae tetras are also a notoriously nippy bunch as well, as are black skirts if not kept in proper numbers. More than likely they are not nipping much right now because of the cramped quarters in a 15 gallon tank.
Zebra danios are extremely active swimmers who need long stretches of tank space to swim. I am going to make a recommendation on what I would do with your stocking list, and you can heed the advice or ignore it. Ultimately, you have the final decision, but I think it would be worth considering.
2 tiger barbs -
return these, because they will become a nightmare sooner or later with these other fish
2 zebra danios -
return these as they don't have the room to swim that they need
2 serpae -
return these as they too can be a problem with much more peaceful fish
2 black skirt tetra's
get at least 4 more of these fish, preferably more to keep them from being nippy.
2 red eye
get 4 more of these to ensure that they have security in numbers that they need
2 glow tetras
get at least 4 more of these as well
3 white clouds
personally, I'd return these as they are widely considered subtropical, living in cooler mountain streams, and are highly active swimmers, as well.
1 cory cat
these need to be in groups, not alone. try to get 5 more of the same species.
1 pleco
return immediately. This fish is being harmed by not being kept in the proper size tank, even though right now it may seem "fine".
4 neon tertas
you'll need at least 2 more of these little guys for them to feel at all secure, although more would be better for them.
In the 15 Gallon tank:
6+ neon tetras
Consider adding another larger fish that will be safe around the neons, like a honey gourami or two, a single dwarf gourami, or a betta.
In the 30 Gallon tank:
6+ black skirt tetra
6+ red eye tetra
6+ glowlight tetra
6+ corycats
With this stocking, the 30 gallon would be a bit overstocked, so you'd need to do frequent and large water changes. But to be quite honest, I'd probably drop another of the shoals from the 30 gallon. It's just too many fish occupying the same swimming level. The red eyes would probably be the group I would look to remove, since they are the biggest of these fish.
