My Tank And Fish Need Help.

[Luandanielle]

I have inherited the said tank about 40 fish. Garra rufa and chin chins. They were rescued from a spa and were going to come from harm. A friend set this up for me as a temporary aquarium. He is moving away so any advice would be fab. There is about 20 of each. I know I need to get rid of some of the fish as theres to many in there. How would you suggest keeping them. I just want happy stress free fish.

I was trying to attatch a picture and it wouldnt let me. Back to the drawing board x

 

[Staxx]

how big is the tank?

 

[Luandanielle]

Its over 4ft. How do I attatch picture file please x

 

[Man of fish]

Can you get a close up on the chin chins so we can ID them?

 

[Luandanielle]

If you look at my earlier post it explains a little more about them. The tank is going to be topped up later. We have just been treating the water and adding it over a couple of days.

 

[Luandanielle]

I realise these fish are going to grow and that we will need to make allowances for this. We aim to be changing the water by 30% maybe every 2 weeks do you think this is adiquate. Looking at them they are deffo Chin chins tey do seem to get along with the Ruffas well. The chin chins being very active around the tank chasing and digging and the ruffa's like to be at the bottom of the tank when quiet. The chin chins are very dominant and social fish but dont seem to be intimadating the smaller ones or the ruffas although I have read they can eat other fish and smaller ones of their own breed. I just hope the set up is ok for now and they come to no harm my partner will check the amonia levels every day. Temp of tank is about 27- 28 We still have water to add to tank. Any advice would be most appreciated as these fish dont seem to be common as pets.

 

[fluttermoth]

Can you get a close up on the chin chins so we can ID them?

They're almost certainly Oreochromis niloticus, one of the Tilapia family

 

[Luandanielle]

Im getting the feeling my little chin chins arnt the best loved fish in the world from what ive been reading. I like them they are full character. How many fish do you think my tank should contain?

 

[Man of fish]

We aim to be changing the water by 30% maybe every 2 weeks do you think this is adiquate.

No, as fluttermoth said in your other thread you'll need at least 50-75% changes twice per week with the massive overstocking here. I wouldn't keep any of the 'chin chins' if they're a member of the tilapia family and a lot of the garras should also go. I'd completely change this tank if I were you.

 

[fluttermoth]

I don't think it's that people don't like them, as such...it's just that they grow big, are very messy (as most large bodied fish are) and, like most cichlids they can be very aggressive. If you have 20, you'll certainly have pairs, and when they reach sexual maturity all hell is going to break lose, I'm afraid.

I know exactly why you like them; big cichlids have real personalities and make great pets.

In terms of stocking there are all sorts of guidelines bandied about (1" per gallon, 1cm per litre), but they all apply only to small, slim bodied fish, not big ones like yours.

You're, realistically, probably going to be able to keep a mated pair of the 'chin chins', but of course they would breed (and I bet they're great parents who'll have loads of fry too; again, most big cichlids are) or a single 'specimen' fish. Having said that, I've never kept any of the Tilapia family; it might be worth posting in the 'Old World cichlids' forum and see if anyone there could advise you on them better than I can.

As for the Garra, you could probably keep all or most of those, depending on the size of your tank and the amount of water changes you're prepared to do.

 

[Luandanielle]

Thankyou so much for the informative reply. I am going to checkout that forum. I havent been on web much because I have been so busy at work. I will get back in touch when I am on my next day off and let you know what I have found out about my crazy fish.... Thankyou once again your a super star x