Just Need A Little Advice

[arah]

I'm very new to this hobby. I've got an 84L tank which has been set up for about 4 months now everything seems to be going okay. Have had a bit of a problem with one of my angels but took him back. At the moment i have 3 dwarf gouramis, 1 angelfish, 1 male siamese fighting fish and a pleco they all seem to get along fine no problems at all just wondered if someone could give me some advice on which other fish might go well in my tank. All opinions much appreciated thank you in advance.

 

[waterdrop]

Welcome to the forum,

The experts will be along in a bit to calculate out your total fish load and debate how well your fishes will get along.

Meanwhile, have you happened to have a look at the pinned articles in our "New to the Hobby" forum? A particularly nice way to start is to check out the Beginners Resource Center and have a look for articles by AlienAnna and Miss Wiggle. And if you can find a post by Miss Wiggle, she has nice links of good beginner reading. One of the core learning opportunities of our forum is to get a chance to study up on the Nitrogen Cycle and begin to understand how it works at the core of the hobby.

Good Luck,

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

The Dwarf Gouramis and the fighter are instantly ringging alarm bells, as with the word pleco..... reasons below;

3 dwarf gouramis

Males are very agressive IME, and tend to bully females, often killing them and other males. If you want to keep more than one, then only one male to every 75g (assuming lots of cover) and ensure you have 2 females to every male so that attentions are divided and the females get a break. Most males won't tolerate other Ambanitard type fish (their family, and also the one that fighters fall into) and some males (depending on personality) develop into fin nippers. They grow to about 4 inches each

12 inches of stocking used

1 angelfish

Grow tall and need a relatively tall tank. If your tank is under 18inches tall, you will need to re-home this fish later as it will get too large. Should grow to 8 inches long and a foot tall in the common veriaty Veil tails can have 2ft of fins on them... Nice fish, but one for larger tanks usualy. Can eat small fish, and can also be nippy. Suseptable to fin nipping.

8 inches of stocking used

1 male siamese fighting fish

Some males (but not all) can be agressive to other fish, and they are very prone to fin nipping. Idealy they should be kept alone, or have the rest of the tank's decoration, filtration and stocking planned arround them. Grow to about 4 inches

4 inches of stocking used

pleco

What type. These grow between 4 inches and 6ft depending on species. This fish could be a briliant fish in the tank, or simply too big. These fish vary a lot in behavior, decoration and dietry requirements. Google common plecos, gibesepse plecos and bristle nose plecos to see if it is anything like these.

Stocking we usualy recomend a new tank and or fish keeper stick to one inch of adult fish length per gallon of water. A 84l tank is roughly 22US gallons. This gives you 22 inches of fish to play with. A new tank is one that is under 6 months old. You currently have 24 inches of fish in use ATM excluding the pleco, as I don't know what type you have. IMO for the time being the tank is stocked. Once the tank gets to 6 months old, you could mebe think about adding more fish, but for the moment, I wouldn't add any more fish. A tank can take 2 inches of fish per gallon assuming it is mature and has good filtration

HTH some
Rabbut

 

[arah]

Thanks for that information my pleco i had some really good advice on my friend was over from america and came with me to buy it can't remember the exact name for it but he assured me it would only grow to 6 inches he has been doin this for years so i trust himon that. I have'nt had any problems at all from my gouramis or the fighting fish but will definately keep an eye on them. Thanks for your help.

 

[OldMan47]

The aggression issue that Rabbut warned about is very real. The size I'm not too sure of since I have never seen any fish quite as big as he was saying. 6 inch angels are common but not much bigger. A 2 inch body on a betta splendens is common but to get to 4 inches you need to count the long flowing fins. There are dwarf type plecos so you may have that under control. You are still near fully stocked but migh tpossibly get away with a few of the smaller corydoras. At that point I would say you are done too.