Help With Fish Selection

[AimeeT]

Hello -
I am new to this forum and am looking for help and advice in buying new fish. I have had a freshwater 18 gallon aquarium for 2 years. I have one black skirt tetra from the original group. My water levels are well within tolerances for freshwater fish. My tank tends to run hot due to location. From 78-82. I currently have 3 Otocinclus catfish, one Upside Down Catfish (who hides all the time), one Spotted Cory, one peppered cory catfish, three black skirt tetras, one phantom tetra and one chinese algae eater. I would like to add some spotted mollys, or balloon mollys, or fancy guppies, or something with color. Unfortunately, I have added the red phantom tetras, fancy red guppy and red baloon molly in the past 2 months and they all died. It is almost like something is eating them, or they do not like the heat, or something. My tank is heavily planted with live plants and the tetras love them. I also have a bubbler stone, a live stone, and a fake stone. I had a red and yellow long finned rosy bard that lasted a year and a half and was best buddies with one of the tetras. he did chase the chinese algae eater, but other than that he was fine. Any suggestions? I scrub the walls and change 1/3 of the water every week. I change all filer materials once a month and I clean the stones once every two months. Any help would be greatly appreciated. THanks.

 

[Lolly123]

Hello -
I am new to this forum and am looking for help and advice in buying new fish. I have had a freshwater 18 gallon aquarium for 2 years. I have one black skirt tetra from the original group. My water levels are well within tolerances for freshwater fish. My tank tends to run hot due to location. From 78-82. I currently have 3 Otocinclus catfish, one Upside Down Catfish (who hides all the time), one Spotted Cory, one peppered cory catfish, three black skirt tetras, one phantom tetra and one chinese algae eater. I would like to add some spotted mollys, or balloon mollys, or fancy guppies, or something with color. Unfortunately, I have added the red phantom tetras, fancy red guppy and red baloon molly in the past 2 months and they all died. It is almost like something is eating them, or they do not like the heat, or something. My tank is heavily planted with live plants and the tetras love them. I also have a bubbler stone, a live stone, and a fake stone. I had a red and yellow long finned rosy bard that lasted a year and a half and was best buddies with one of the tetras. he did chase the chinese algae eater, but other than that he was fine. Any suggestions? I scrub the walls and change 1/3 of the water every week. I change all filer materials once a month and I clean the stones once every two months. Any help would be greatly appreciated. THanks.

Im not an expert and could be a little misguided, but it sounds as if you got quite a few fish in there already for the tank size. Im sure someone more knowledgeable will advise. Also as you've had deaths, have you tested the water and if so with what kit?

What filter do you run? You said you change all media once month, I assume not all at the same time?

TBH I clean my filter pads by washing them in tank water, never ever pure tap water. I've never changed my filter media once a month and dont think you really need to. I change when they are looking a bit scraggy and I do this a bit at a time.

 

[fluttermoth]

I know some people disagree with it, but if you follow the 'one inch of fish per gallon of water' rule, you won't go far wrong. You need to use the eventual adult size of the fish, not the size they are now as they need extra room to grow.

Along with Lolly, I'm a bit worried by your filter maintenance regime. If you really are changing all your filter media every month, it would explain why you've had deaths in your tank, as you'll be in a constant fish-in cycle which is very damaging to your fish.

As Lolly says, you should only ever be washing your filter media in old tank water or you'll be getting rid of all the beneficial bacteria that you want living in your filter to keep your levels of ammonia and nitrite at zero.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, this may be a case of not having full learning information about the beneficial bacteria that need to grow and stay established in the filter media and the related actual test levels of ammonia and nitrite(NO2). The filter and gravel maintenance details should also be reviewed by the members if the OP returns to this thread.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. Welcome to TFF!

 

[AimeeT]

Thank you all for the input. I change my charcoal once a month. I used to get the biomax, but they stopped selling it, so I am not really sure how often to change the ammonia remover, but I do it once every 4-6 weeks, but can stop. on the other filter, i do rinse it in tap water until clean and then keep using it for a couple of months, so that is my bad. i do check my levels with the 5 in 1 and ammonia strips and have never exceeded any of the recommended levels, except for my first 2 months, which is about 2 years ago. so i should be ok on those (nitrate, nitrite, chlorine, hardness, etc; i will check the exact numbers and post those just in case i am missing something on those. so with the 1 inch per gallon, i should be ok. one fish store employee said that since mine were all 1-2" fish, i could have more if i vacuum once a week; sounds like that is not true; regardless, i seem to be ok now with 3 1 inch, 6 1.5", one 2 inch, and one three inch. what i do not know for sure is how big my chinese algae eater and upside down catfish will get. i think they have exceeded the sizes i was told at the fish store already. so, current tally is at 17" for 18 gallons, so i am ok as long as the chinese algae eater or upside down catfish do not get too large. any ideas on how to get the upside down catfish to come out, or are they just reclusive fish? thanks again for the advice; i guess i just need a bigger tank

 

[roadmaster]

Thank you all for the input. I change my charcoal once a month. I used to get the biomax, but they stopped selling it, so I am not really sure how often to change the ammonia remover, but I do it once every 4-6 weeks, but can stop. on the other filter, i do rinse it in tap water until clean and then keep using it for a couple of months, so that is my bad. i do check my levels with the 5 in 1 and ammonia strips and have never exceeded any of the recommended levels, except for my first 2 months, which is about 2 years ago. so i should be ok on those (nitrate, nitrite, chlorine, hardness, etc; i will check the exact numbers and post those just in case i am missing something on those. so with the 1 inch per gallon, i should be ok. one fish store employee said that since mine were all 1-2" fish, i could have more if i vacuum once a week; sounds like that is not true; regardless, i seem to be ok now with 3 1 inch, 6 1.5", one 2 inch, and one three inch. what i do not know for sure is how big my chinese algae eater and upside down catfish will get. i think they have exceeded the sizes i was told at the fish store already. so, current tally is at 17" for 18 gallons, so i am ok as long as the chinese algae eater or upside down catfish do not get too large. any ideas on how to get the upside down catfish to come out, or are they just reclusive fish? thanks again for the advice; i guess i just need a bigger tank

Your eighteen gallon tank is probably closer to fifteen gallons if you account for the water displaced by the substrate.
Many folks have reported that the chinese algae eaters while they may eat algae when small,,are actually very poor algae eaters as they grow larger(six to nine inches), and are reported to become aggressive with other fishes.
A small group of otocinclus would be better choice for your particular tank in my opinion or perhaps pitbull plecos(five or six) if you can find them.
Upside down catfish grow to perhaps five inches and are more active at night and at dawn as are many catfish species. If the tank is not too brightly lit or has plenty of floating plants, the catfish may venture out more but I suspect that it would venture out more if chinese algae eater was not present (just my guess).
If you are using root tabs or fertilizers for the plants then the carbon may have temporary negative effect on the growth of plants for the carbon while active for only a short period,will bind up some of the minerals found in plant fertilizers (metals like iron).
Might consider just stuffing the filter with floss or cutting cartridges open with razor blade and dumping out the carbon.
Agree with rinsing all filter material in old aquarium water you take out during water changes ,or dechlorinated water. If you were to use a dechlorinator such as PRIME that detoxifies Chlorine,Chloramines,and Ammonia,,you could also do away with the ammonia remover you are using = more money for larger tank and more fishes. Plants also help with ammonia by using it for growth along with nitrogen (nitrates) so long as neither are in excess (water changes)
Airstones or bubblers in non CO2 injected planted tanks can also hamper the growth of plants by driving off already low levels of CO2 in the tank. You could put the airstones on a timer and run them at night only ,but during the day You could leave them off.
Anyhow,, hope some of this leads you to do more research rather than taking my word for it. Good Luck!

 

[AimeeT]

Thank you. I have three octinulus catfish. I have been thinking about getting rid of the chinese algae eater. Right now he does not seem to be aggressive and the octinulus have encouraged him to eat the algae. So, are you saying i do not need charcoal? I was a little unclear on the suggestion. thanks,

 

[AimeeT]

So, I have done some research and it seems that I do not need the charcoal or the ammonia remover. I am thinking of removing them one at a time, perhaps the ammonia first. I would like to add another sponge in it's place, can I just double them up? Should I try to find the Biomax, or is the sponge sufficient for the biological balance (bacteria). What are your thoughts on cleaning the filter housing? I tend to give it a good wash with hot water because it tends to get slimy.

I use the 6-in-one quick dips and ammonia strips for water quality. My ammonia levels stay at nothing, i have not seen them go above zero for two years. On the 6-in-1 I have zero nitrate, zero nitrite, 150 hardness, no chlorine, alkalinity of 120, 7.2 PH.

I generally change 1/4-1/3 of the water every week or two. When I go two weeks, i tend to get more silt, I am assuming this is from the plants and excrement. I do not feed the plants, they seem to grow fine. I get a more algae than I would like.

I was told I could clean my rocks by soaking then in 1/4 cup bleach diluter in 1 gallon of water for 1 hour followed by a really good water rinse. I only did this once about 6 months ago. I would like advice on whether to do this again, or just live with the algae, or other options for algae. I did like how the molly's were eating the algae on the rocks that the octinulus and chinese algae eater don't seem to like. Those two prefer the algae on the walls. I even tried scrubbing all the algae off the walls, and they still did not eat the material on the rocks . I know that is lots of questions. I would appreciate any help. Thank you.

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi again, Aimee,

Yes, I'd get rid of the carbon and ammonia remover; they probably aren't doing much and you'd be better off with just sponges. Change them a bit at a time though (no more that 1/3 in a month, as they'll probably have been colonised by some bacteria by now). I wouldn't clean the filter housing too much either; that 'slime' is beneficial bacteria; most of it is in the sponges, but you don't want to get rid of too much!

The 'silt' you're seeing is mostly fish wastes; it won't do too much harm as most of the 'nasties' are in the water, but it is a sign that you should be doing more water changes; every week would be best and it won't hurt to do 50% at a time.

I'd recommend you invest in a liquid test kit if you can (one of the ones with test tubes) as test strips are notoriously inaccurate.

Don't worry about algae; it doesn't bother the fish; don't let it bother you! Don't soak the rocks in bleach or anything like that; just scrubbing them in hot water will do just as good a job. If it's really bad, try turning your lights on for less time, or even off altogether for a few days and see if that reduces the amount.

You may have to think about re-homing your Chinese Algae Eater. They start off small, peaceful and algae eating, but tend to get bigger and bigger (up to 12" long!), eat less and less algae and get more and more aggressive as time goes on

Hope I've helped a bit