Have A Tank But Am I Doing It Right?

[Amylouise]

Hi, I have a fish tank, not sure on how much water it holds but it is about two foot wide and one foot tall. I currently have 3 mollies, 2 platys, 2 neon tetra, 1 black red tail shark, 1 plec, and a red clawed crab. I did have 6 guppys (not all at once) but they kept dying and I have no clue why. I never knew about the ph level and water cycles and everything else you are talking about on here. So all I have in my tank is a heater, air pump, filter and some fake plants. All my fish are looking fine and eating well. Is there anything I can do to improve my tank so that i am able to keep some guppys? they are one of my favorite fish and would love to keep some, could anyone help me?

I also have a Siamese fighting fish that i had in my tank but he kept attacking my other fish. Although in the pet shop he was with other fish so why is he attacking my fish? anyone able to help with this?

 

[LucyB]

First of all, we need to know how big the tank is - use our online calculator and measure the dimensions of your tank with a measuring tape, then enter the measurements into the boxes and it'll tell you how many litres and gallons your tank is

 

[Amylouise]

My tank is about 30cm in height, 60cm in width and 30cm in width. Using an online calculator it is 14.26 US gallons, 11.88 UK gallons, 54 liters

60cm in length*

 

[vigosh]

The red tail shark can get up to around 6", afraid to say your tank is far too small for it. Also, what type of pleco do you have? If it is anything like a common/sailfin these fellas get very large, very quickly.

Also you say you have a rc crab. These fellas aren't completely aquatic and need to have means to get out of the water. Did you find the bodies of your guppies? Crabs will go after anything that they can catch, fishwise. Most fish are too fast but if it gets the chance, it will happily make a meal of your fish.

 

[Amylouise]

My pleco is a common sailfin, ive had him/her for a few months and hasnt changed size. I would upload pics but my computer wont let me. I did remove the bodies of the guppys and my crab loves to climb up the plants and come out the water for a while so yes he/she is able to get out the water when wanting to.

 

[vigosh]

Ahh good, the crab sounds fine then. Unfortunately sailfins can get to about 20 inches, they are great plecos but huge beasties!

 

[Amylouise]

Okay, well do you have any suggestions on what to do with my tank?

 

[Amylouise]

Okay, well do you have any suggestions on what to do with my tank?

 

[vigosh]

Personally I would try and rehome or take back the sailfin and red tail to wherever you bought them, If it was a fish shop they are a bit naughty selling them to you if they knew you had a 11g tank. Without these in your tank you could get away with a few guppies, just make sure you stay on top of your water changes and keep track of your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels by using a test kit.
Obv it is your call and I don't want to give any pressurizing advice, just thinking of you in the long term as you will have to part with the shark and pleco in the long term when you are even more attached to them. The only other option would be to upgrade the size of your tank, but with the two fish in question it would mean a very large upgrade. Hope this info helps you Amy louise!

Vig

 

[Dazzler666]

+1 about the plec & crab. ive never had crabs (pardon!! Lol) but i thought they need brackish/salt water? Could be wrong though but just thought id put it out there.
Common plec will grow rather large but why not consider a couple of bristle nose plecs as these only grow to around 5" or so?!

 

[vigosh]

The rc crab is a freshwater species so will be fine, but as Dazzler helpfully said, there are other good alternatives to large plecos like the sailfin or common. Bristlenosed plecos are a great smaller pleco, also bulldog plecos stay small (they also remind me of Moomins!).

 

[Tuxyu3]

Not to be that one awkward guy but red clawed crabs are actually brackish............. So uhmmm yea, sorry about my awkwardness

 

[Twinklecaz]

Re the Siamese Fighter - was it the guppies he kept attacking by any chance? As you probably know, male Siamese Fighter's (Bettas) can't live together because they fight (hence their name) but what quite often happens with guppies is that the fighter will mistake them for another fighter due to their colourful tails and attack.

Having said that, all Fighters have individual personalities. Some people keep them in communities of other fish such as small shoaling fish, platys, bottom dwellers etc with no problems but others find they still attack the other fish. In some cases people have trouble keeping siamese fighters with fish such as neons because it's actually they neons that will attack the figher, nipping at their tail. I had my Fighter in a 20l tank with 6 Ember Tetras and I had to move my Embers to my bigger tank in the end because I looked in the tank one day to find he'd attacked one of them and it had an eye missing!!! Said fish is recovered now (obviously half blind though) and my Fighter lives in the 20l on his own.

If you want to try it again with a Fighter with more suitable tank mates, I'd advise putting it in LAST as this lessens the chances a bit of them attacking because they haven't had the chance to claim some/all of the tank as their territory.

 

[coolie]

You have a lot of different species for what I presume is a fairly new setup. My advice to anyone else reading this is to be really patient and get one breed established months before
adding more. Plus research the type of tank and water conditions even down to what plants before you start. Very difficult for such patience if you're new to fish keeping.