Have I Got The Wrong Sort Of Tank?

[confused fish keeper]

I have a 30 litre tank at the moment which is apparently 6-7 gallons. I've heard from other websites that you need atleast a 20 gallon tank for the amount of fish i have, which is 12, soon to be 13 hopefully. I have been taking advice from the man at the fish shop and he was the one that told me i could have this many. The tank currently consists of 3 Platies, 3 Zebra Danios (was 4 but 1 died), 4 Serpae Tetras and 2 Dwarf Aquatic Frogs. I feed them all flake in the morning, after turning the light on, and frozen bloodworm at night before turning the light off. I am also hoping to get a Rubber Mouth to clean the tank up a bit in a week or so. Do i need a bigger tank and are the fish i have appropriately chosen? Someone please help me.

Thanks




* EDIT * also, i don't want any babies so what should i do if i happen to find a pregnant platy or eggs anywhere? i don't have one of those quarentine tanks or something for births and illnesses. Should i sell the babies or the adults? Please help me.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the general guideline is around 1" of fish per us gallon of water, once the tank is well established (running problem free for around 6 months) and you have a bit more fishkeeping experience then assuming you have a v good filter you can go up to 1.5 or even 2" per US Gallon.

your 30 litre tank is 8 US Gallons so if the tank is newly set up you should be aiming for 8" of fish, you have as follows

3 Platies - 3 x 2" = 6"
3 Zebra Danios - 4 x 1" = 4"
4 Serpae Tetras - 4 x 2" = 8"
2 Dwarf Aquatic Frogs - 2 x 2" = 4"

Total 22" = ideal tank size 22 US Gallons, 20 would be absolutely fine.

So basically the man in the fish shop strung you a line probably to get you to buy more (it is a business after all) and whoever told you 20 gallons is about right.

In addition to the amount of fish the zebra danio's, platies and tetra's are all a bit too big and active for an 8 gallon tank which really is rather small.

It's a nice size for the frogs though and you could add something like a pair of sparkling gourami's for a bit more interest in the tank.

Would definately recommend you either return a lot of your fish to the shop or get a bigger tank. As we've establish dodgy fish shop advice already it's a good idea to check that they've not given dodgy advice in other areas as well, what (if anything) did they tell you about cycling the tank and preparing it before you add fish?

 

[nosoup4you]

Your tank is overstocked as it is, I would try re-homing some of them or getting a larger tank rather than getting more. By "rubber mouth", I assume you mean Rubbernose Plecostomus. This fish is way too large and produces way too much waste for a tank of that size. One of the most important bits of info that a new fishkeeper should know is that you should never take advice from a local fish store without first checking into it yourself. The majority of the time, either the employees really don't have any idea what they are talking about or they just don't care as long as they make a sale.

[EDIT] Argh, I am just too slow in the mornings. MW beat me to it! lol

 

[confused fish keeper]

the general guideline is around 1" of fish per us gallon of water, once the tank is well established (running problem free for around 6 months) and you have a bit more fishkeeping experience then assuming you have a v good filter you can go up to 1.5 or even 2" per US Gallon.

your 30 litre tank is 8 US Gallons so if the tank is newly set up you should be aiming for 8" of fish, you have as follows

3 Platies - 3 x 2" = 6"
3 Zebra Danios - 4 x 1" = 4"
4 Serpae Tetras - 4 x 2" = 8"
2 Dwarf Aquatic Frogs - 2 x 2" = 4"

Total 22" = ideal tank size 22 US Gallons, 20 would be absolutely fine.

So basically the man in the fish shop strung you a line probably to get you to buy more (it is a business after all) and whoever told you 20 gallons is about right.

In addition to the amount of fish the zebra danio's, platies and tetra's are all a bit too big and active for an 8 gallon tank which really is rather small.

It's a nice size for the frogs though and you could add something like a pair of sparkling gourami's for a bit more interest in the tank.

Would definately recommend you either return a lot of your fish to the shop or get a bigger tank. As we've establish dodgy fish shop advice already it's a good idea to check that they've not given dodgy advice in other areas as well, what (if anything) did they tell you about cycling the tank and preparing it before you add fish?

He said that we should set it all up and get it running, leave it for one week and then buy around 3 fish every 2 weeks until the tank has around 12-13 fish in it. He said nothing really about cycling it. He seemed like a nice man and i really believed him but i believe you alot more. You can prove what you're saying. I want to bye alot more fish tanks coz i LOVE fish, they're such beautifully majestic creatures, but there isnt much room. I will see if i can fit some more tanks in as i love the animals so much. Thank you for your advice and i will take your advice.

 

[nosoup4you]

Have a look here in the Beginner's Resource Section under cycling.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes you definately need to read the link in my sig 'whats cycling' because the tank isn't cycled properly either, this is potentially very dangerous, the link explains why and what to do to fix it.

the best salesmen always make you think they're nice and genuine, unfortunately you need to remember that a fish shops is a commerical business designed to make money, not an advice centre! Not to say all fish shop staff are terrible or anything like that, but there's a reasonably large %age of fish shop employee's or owners that give advice tempered by their business model not by the needs of the fish or the customer.

Not your fault though, but now you know you can't take everything the fish shop say's as gospel, always do your own research!

 

[confused fish keeper]

By "rubber mouth", I assume you mean Rubbernose Plecostomus. This fish is way too large and produces way too much waste for a tank of that size.
[/quote]

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info. Haha. That guy at the store jipped us then did he? I'll get him!!
Thanks Again.

 

[confused fish keeper]

Thanks for that i will check out the cycling page. Also, do you have an anwser to my other question.I don't want any babies so what should i do if i happen to find a pregnant platy or eggs anywhere? i don't have one of those quarantine tanks or something for births and illnesses. Should i sell the babies or the adults? I would appreciate a reply to that aswell.

Thanks.

 

[OohFeeshy]

You're fairly unlikely to get any fry surviving, what with the danios and tetras. What sex are the platys?

 

[confused fish keeper]

You're fairly unlikely to get any fry surviving, what with the danios and tetras. What sex are the platys?

I have 2 Males and 1 Female. I know it is supposed to be 2 Females for every one Male and she's probably under alot of stress due to the Male to Female Ratio, but I didn't know that when i bought them. They were the first fish in the tank, followed by the Danios, then the Tetras and the Frogs at the same time. What do you think? If anyone else has any comments i would be open to advice.

Thanks

* EDIT * Oh yeah and the reason i didn't buy more Females or get rid of them all was because they seemed fine after awhile. I had my suspicions that the Female may be pregnant, but i can't find a Gravid Spot. However, she is a Sunset Platy i think, and her body is naturally black, so i can't tell if she has a spot or not. How big are they?

Thanks.

 

[OldMan47]

The female platy is carrying fry. When she drops the fry they will all be eaten and that will take care of the population growth problem. You are done buying fish until you do at least two things. First is to find a lot more water to put fish into. The second is to properly cycle a large tank so that the fish you put into it won't all be in distress the first few weeks. How is the cycle reading coming? Do you have any questions about what you have read?

 

[confused fish keeper]

The female platy is carrying fry. When she drops the fry they will all be eaten and that will take care of the population growth problem. You are done buying fish until you do at least two things. First is to find a lot more water to put fish into. The second is to properly cycle a large tank so that the fish you put into it won't all be in distress the first few weeks. How is the cycle reading coming? Do you have any questions about what you have read?

Thanks for the advice. So far the readings great and i don't have any questions. I will get on it as soon as possible. Thank you everyone. Hope it all turns out well.

Thanks

 

[arobinson1984]

By the sounds of it, you have around 3 times too many fish for the size of the tank (going by the inches per gallon rule)

What sort of filter do you have in the tank because if you bought the tank as a whole package, then the filter supllied would probably struggle with an overstocked tank.

I had a 60 litre tank for my first tank and that was hard enough to keep the water to a high level of quality, the bigger the tank, the easier to maintain the quality required and the more room for error.

If you're looking to get more fish, I'd recommend getting one large tank rather than several small ones.

The 2 females to 1 male ratio only tends to apply to certain fish like guppies, you should be fine with platies

Andy

 

[OldMan47]

A quick way to deal with a short term excess of population its to treat a storage container as if it was a tank. If I have a sudden surplus, I look at my water change buckets and my storage containers and decide which will hold enough water to get me through a pinch. If you have no cycled tank, the filter aspect is immaterial. If you don't have a heater try to keep the container where it will get more than its share of room heat so it won't get too cold. The simple glass tank is a fairly recent invention that is not really needed to keep fish. It has lots of advantages for a hobbyist because it looks nice enough to have in the livingroom but anything that holds water will be OK for short term storage of fish. The 20 to 30 gallon storage tubs are good for more than storing off season sweaters, they are inert and will hold water when filled about 2/3 full. That would make it possible to keep the fish you have alive until you can afford the larger tank that you really need. Do lots of water changes because you are not cycled and don't give up on saving the fish.

 

[confused fish keeper]

By the sounds of it, you have around 3 times too many fish for the size of the tank (going by the inches per gallon rule)

What sort of filter do you have in the tank because if you bought the tank as a whole package, then the filter supllied would probably struggle with an overstocked tank.

I had a 60 litre tank for my first tank and that was hard enough to keep the water to a high level of quality, the bigger the tank, the easier to maintain the quality required and the more room for error.

If you're looking to get more fish, I'd recommend getting one large tank rather than several small ones.

The 2 females to 1 male ratio only tends to apply to certain fish like guppies, you should be fine with platies

Andy

CHEERS!!!!!

A quick way to deal with a short term excess of population its to treat a storage container as if it was a tank. If I have a sudden surplus, I look at my water change buckets and my storage containers and decide which will hold enough water to get me through a pinch. If you have no cycled tank, the filter aspect is immaterial. If you don't have a heater try to keep the container where it will get more than its share of room heat so it won't get too cold. The simple glass tank is a fairly recent invention that is not really needed to keep fish. It has lots of advantages for a hobbyist because it looks nice enough to have in the livingroom but anything that holds water will be OK for short term storage of fish. The 20 to 30 gallon storage tubs are good for more than storing off season sweaters, they are inert and will hold water when filled about 2/3 full. That would make it possible to keep the fish you have alive until you can afford the larger tank that you really need. Do lots of water changes because you are not cycled and don't give up on saving the fish.

Cool. CHHEEEERRRRRSSSS!!!!!