I'm New To Having Fish.. Can Someone Help?

[k_love0x]

Hello all. I am new to this forum as to having a fish tank lol. I am hoping someone can help me.

I have two tanks, a 1 gallon tank with no filter but has an air pump that has a male betta in it. The other is a 20 gallon filtered and heated tank that has a fire mouth and a Kissing Gourami.. we are adding an Oscar fish this weekend to the 20 gallon tank. I really want an Angel fish and i have heard that in some cases female Angels get along with the male bettas. I am wanting to put the Angel in the tank with the Betta until is starts to mature and then put it in the tank with the Oscar, Fire mouth and the Gourami. so that way the Oscar will not automatically attack the Angel since it will be a baby. Any suggestions on what i can do? I really want to have "pretty" fish in the tank lol. I know Oscar's and Fire mouth's are aggressive but the people at the pet shop where I bought the fish will not let me buy an angel fish because they know what fish i have. thanks in advance and I'm sorry if i sound stupid but that's what i would like to do lol.

 

[waterdrop]

Hello and welcome to the beginners section!

It may be a good thing that you've searched and stumbled on TFF and have made an ID and posted! If you're willing to begin to learn about tropical fish there are lots and lots of experienced aquarists and hobbyists here.

Unfortunately, the initial advice may be uncomfortable. I'd say perhaps the kissing gourami is the only fish you have that's being kept in something it will fit and even at that its probably not in an ideal situation itself!

Let's talk about the big ones first. A firemouth will grow too big for a 20g aquarium, so unfortunately it needs to be re-homed. The discus you are thinking about is even more out of the question. Discus are highly specialized fish, usually kept alone in a "species" tank. At a bare minimum they need to be kept in groups of 5 or 6 fish and the very smallest tank they could be kept in would be a 55 US gallon. Angels are too big for this tank also. The minimum height for angels is around 17" and so the starting point for a pair of angels would be perhaps a 29 or 30g tank. A 20 won't work for them.

Its pretty frequent for us to get beginners who are attracted to large beautiful fish like this and sometimes it can be very hard for them to accept that these things won't work out, but its so much better to get a handle on your feelings and realize that its better to accept change than to watch these fish die a slow death. This is a wonderful hobby and the members here can talk you through a lot of basics that will help you learn about other fish that will work for you and about how to prepare the equipment and water to keep these fish alive. Its fun and I hope you'll decide to stick around and give it a try!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Rediahs]

Hello all. I am new to this forum as to having a fish tank lol. I am hoping someone can help me.

I have two tanks, a 1 gallon tank with no filter but has an air pump that has a male betta in it. The other is a 20 gallon filtered and heated tank that has a fire mouth and a Kissing Gourami.. we are adding an Oscar fish this weekend to the 20 gallon tank. I really want an Angel fish and i have heard that in some cases female Angels get along with the male bettas. I am wanting to put the Angel in the tank with the Betta until is starts to mature and then put it in the tank with the Oscar, Fire mouth and the Gourami. so that way the Oscar will not automatically attack the Angel since it will be a baby. Any suggestions on what i can do? I really want to have "pretty" fish in the tank lol. I know Oscar's and Fire mouth's are aggressive but the people at the pet shop where I bought the fish will not let me buy an angel fish because they know what fish i have. thanks in advance and I'm sorry if i sound stupid but that's what i would like to do lol.

Hello! Welcome to TFF. It's good you found us! Especially since we're about to prevent you from a few mistakes...

PLEASE for the love of oscars, don't add an oscar to your 20 gallon tank! If he's a baby he may fit for a little while but I am pretty sure you need a 50 gallon minimum, 75 gallon recommended for an oscar, they simply grow too large. And it's not a good idea to "plan to rehome later" since that never turns out right... and nobody wants to take the fish once it's grown massive.

Angelfish should have an 18 inch tall tank. Not sure how tall your 20 is but I don't think it's common that they're 18 high, even if it was, it would be too short then... so I think that's no good.

Don't put any other fish in the 1 gallon with the betta (not even a baby angelfish), it is not suitable at all. 1 gallon is just the minimum to home 1 betta and nothing else, you can't put another fish in there.

 

[arobinson1984]

Like dont chrissi says, please dont add an oscar to your tank it is WAY WAY WAY too small. You'd need a tank roughlty 4 x bigger than you've got now.

Also your kissing gourami will grow too big for your tank and angel fish need to be kept in a tank that is at least 18" high from the top of the gravel to the top of the water.

Everybody likes pretty fish but please put there needs before your own because you'd be setting yourself up for disaster.

Andy