Hello!

[Rachelk]

Hi,
 
I'm new to this form and have a relatively new tank which has only been set up 2 weeks. I am not new to fish keeping but my partner is so we have set up this page for any questions we may have.
 
Here is what we have so far;
 
3ft tank, 3 Platys, 2 Guppies, 2 Angel Fish, 2 Silver Sharks, 2 Silver Tip Tetras, 1 Lonely Neon, 1 Lonely Golden White Cloud Mountain Minnow, 2 Black Neon's, 4 Pencil Tetras, 1 Golden Gourami, 1 Bronze and 1 Albino Cory, 1 Unknown type of Loach, 1 Red marble Pleco, 1 Gold Spot Pleco, 1 Bamboo Shrimp and 2 Kuhli Loaches.

 

[the_lock_man]

That's an awful lot of fish, especially in a 2 week old tank.
 
Your previous knowledge of fishkeeping, did it extend to the nitrogen cycle?

 

[Rachelk]

we had 2 smaller aquariums before this bigger one so we just combined them, the fish seem happy enough. I know a little bit about the nitrogen cycle yes

 

[Skies]

Eeek!
 
Your tank is overstocked, which is not a good thing, and they probably won't be happy for long. Did you at least use the old filter media in the other tanks to cycle this one, or does it have a new filter? If you didn't cycle it, and didn't use old media, expect a lot of deaths... it would fix your overstocking issue though. *tongue in cheek*

 

[Rachelk]

the tank is not overstocked, anything but. i know how to cycle a tank and yes we used the old filter media. The tank has been set up for about 3weeks before we put all of the fish in it. We have not had any deaths so far and the fish are still happy.

 

[NickBFC]

Silver sharks will quickly require a much bigger tank than 3ft IMO.

 

[the_lock_man]

the tank is not overstocked, anything but.

 
As you'll have gathered from my initial comment, I agree with Skies.

 

[Rachelk]

still not lost any fish.... in fact they are thriving  

 

[Skies]

What are your API Master test readings?

 

[Sophie]

3ft tank, 3 Platys, 2 Guppies, 2 Angel Fish, 2 Silver Sharks, 2 Silver Tip Tetras, 1 Lonely Neon, 1 Lonely Golden White Cloud Mountain Minnow, 2 Black Neon's, 4 Pencil Tetras, 1 Golden Gourami, 1 Bronze and 1 Albino Cory, 1 Unknown type of Loach, 1 Red marble Pleco, 1 Gold Spot Pleco, 1 Bamboo Shrimp and 2 Kuhli Loaches.

 
Hello there! Don't feel like we are attacking you straight off the bat, but some of us can come across as a bit strong.
As you can imagine, we are all quite passionate about fish here.
Are there particular reasons to you having 'lonely' fish? As you probably already know, the Neons (all types), Minnows, Cories and actually the Silver Sharks (Bala Sharks) will need more for a happier shoaling group. The Bala Sharks can actually reach to about 40cm in length.. So you can see a shoal of these in your tank might be a bit of a squeeze ha ha!
 
The Angel fish once they start maturing might also start terrorising other members of the tank, and probably eat the Neon Tetra - being Cichlids they can turn very nasty once they hit sexual maturity (trust me, I know!)
 
Could you post a picture of the Loach? Can help identify or at least describe it for us?

 

[Rachelk]

hello, yeah some people just come across a bit to strong, i know what im doing ive been working with fish for over 10years! the reason for the lonely fish where ive had them for a while in my previous tanks and the others died before we put them in the bigger tank we have recently bought some more and are now shoaling, we have recently set up another tropical tank and are just cycling it before moving a couple fish over, we have added 3 glass catfish (not my favourite but my boyfriend loves them) i have identified the loach to be a Zebra loach. All fish are still happy and thriving and no deaths yet  

Skies, all my test readings are perfect.

 

[DerpPH]

hello, yeah some people just come across a bit to strong, i know what im doing ive been working with fish for over 10years! the reason for the lonely fish where ive had them for a while in my previous tanks and the others died before we put them in the bigger tank we have recently bought some more and are now shoaling, we have recently set up another tropical tank and are just cycling it before moving a couple fish over, we have added 3 glass catfish (not my favourite but my boyfriend loves them) i have identified the loach to be a Zebra loach. All fish are still happy and thriving and no deaths yet  
Skies, all my test readings are perfect.

What part of 'schooling do you understand? Neons silver tips and white clouds need bigger schools. They do so in the wild to feel secure. Angels are cichlids and aggresive! Your shrimp will probably be eaten. Trust us. Why go to a forum and not listen to anyone?

 

[the_lock_man]

Calm down, Derp, please remain courteous. The OP has the choice as to whether to heed the advice or ignore it. Whether you or I find that frustrating is immaterial.

 

[mitch70]

I am a relevant new comer but I agree the tank is overstocked and will cause problems later, there is some brilliant advice on here wish I had heeded some earlier on when first starting and wouldnt have lost so many fish. Don't take it personal it is meant to be helpful 

 

[the_lock_man]

hello, yeah some people just come across a bit to strong, i know what im doing ive been working with fish for over 10years!

 
I'm sorry you feel that way - the majority of newcomers to the forum are complete beginners (and many believe they know what they're doing, and say so), so people tend to treat everyone as beginners.