Hi

[jonnygman]

Hi new to the forum but have kept fish before, I have a fairly new set up about a year old it's a community tank currently stocked with Angel fish, Neon Tetras, Platinum Goramis, Snaketail Guppies and a big sailfin plec, Its fairly well decorated with live plants, I have no major problems since setting it up apart from the water hardness (GH) Its about 7dh I am wondering if this is about right or should I be aiming for softer water and if so how do I achieve this, I had an angel fish die recently first death since setting it up and i am wondering if it was not suited to the water. Pic of my tank below

He is my personal favourite although I think it will not be long before he and the angel fish will need a bigger home

 

[jonnygman]

Could really do with a reply or two from the experience on here

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear about the angel fish death, at a year old I wouldnt think he was unsuited to the water if he didnt like the ph or hardness etc he would have died much sooner than a year. Did you ever notice any aggression from your other angel? Do you have a water test kit and know your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings? Those will help us narrow down what happened.

With the tank size, not sure how big it is as its hard to judge in those pics but guessing around 40 gallons? How tall is the tank? As the grow the angels will need an 18 inch tall tank other than that you should be fine how long is the tank? The plec looks like a common plec to me which will massivly out grow your tank but there are much smaller growing plecs that are easy to find in fish shops now

How many neons do you have? Watch these though as the angel gets bigger as neon tetras are angel fishes natural food. Your gourami look nice and look like an albino morph of the common opaline gourami which look very nice not seen them before usually you see the blue and the gold but not that pinky tone. Watch out for these as they grow multiple males can be an issue and they can sometimes have problems with angels as they grow as well so just an other thing to watch out for.

Youve got a nice looking tank, could maybe do with a few more plants as it does look a bit bare but Im sure the plants you have will fill out soon they look real I think they are anyway?

But yeah if you can let us know your water stats with ammonia, nitrite and nitrate it should make it much easier to work out what happened to your angle and also to help you prevent any other fish deaths etc. Welcome to the forum hope you enjoy it and learn from it here

Wills

 

[jonnygman]

I have more plants ordered and they should be here within the week my plec eats them like nothing on earth apart from the red one in the middle he does not seem to like that, the one on the left below the filter is believe or not what is left of a sword!! Water stats as follows PH 6.8, GH 7, NO2 nitrite 0,tank size is a 28 gallon (36l*12w*18h) My angel seems to be quite placid and was bought along with the neons as very young fish and they have all grown which i think helps the relationship between them, in fact if its any fish thats aggressive its the plec he seems to be quite terratorial. I hope you can help with the chemistry thing because im just not sure what the hardness should be

 

[Wills]

Ah right okay tanks a bit smaller than I thought, thought it might be wider. Tank size is fine for your angels so if you wanted you could possibly add an other adult at some point. But I do think that your angels could have had a fight at some point, with cichlids it can happen at any point sometimes with out any warning. Your water seems fine and with a Ph of 6.8 your water is great for your neons and angels. The hardness is okay as well you can tell it is okay because of the low ph you dont get ph of 6.8 with hard water you would get hard water with ph 8 for example but I think your doing fine at the moment

With the plec I think its time to swap them out for a smaller species of plec like bull dog or bristlenose or one of the smaller L number species, do you know about the L number library? Ultimatley your plec will get to a foot long or even bigger, its not going to be long till he has trouble turning round.

Wills

 

[rdp50734]

for plecs I would recommend flash pleco L204 (emporer pleco)
http/www.tropicalfish4u.co.uk/Fish/Freshwater/Plecos/FlashPleco_L204

 

[jonnygman]

Ah right okay tanks a bit smaller than I thought, thought it might be wider. Tank size is fine for your angels so if you wanted you could possibly add an other adult at some point. But I do think that your angels could have had a fight at some point, with cichlids it can happen at any point sometimes with out any warning. Your water seems fine and with a Ph of 6.8 your water is great for your neons and angels. The hardness is okay as well you can tell it is okay because of the low ph you dont get ph of 6.8 with hard water you would get hard water with ph 8 for example but I think your doing fine at the moment

With the plec I think its time to swap them out for a smaller species of plec like bull dog or bristlenose or one of the smaller L number species, do you know about the L number library? Ultimatley your plec will get to a foot long or even bigger, its not going to be long till he has trouble turning round.

Wills

Thanks for your advice, I did not realise the plecs had numbers I have studied a few fish species books since I posted this and I think he may a leopard pleco which means I am not going to have him much longer as he needs at least 500 litre aquarium

 

[rdp50734]

Thanks for your advice, I did not realise the plecs had numbers I have studied a few fish species books since I posted this and I think he may a leopard pleco which means I am not going to have him much longer as he needs at least 500 litre aquarium
[/quote]

You definitely have a Gibbiceps.

http/www.grosvenor-tropicals.co.uk/Livestock_Pages/Tropical/Gibbiceps.shtml

 

[gremlin]

 

[jonnygman]

Thanks I can see I am going to get a lot of good advice from here