Need Suggestions for New Tank Mates

[alyssamcdaniel]

I have a 55 gallon fish tank and started out with 2 silver dollars and an angel fish. These fish have been kept for about 2 years and the angel fish previously was very aggressive. Every angel fish we have attempted to add has been killed and many other types. After giving up for a while, we added some more and watched to make sure they got along. 2 months ago we added 4 tiger barbs, 2 gouramis, a leaf fish, and a pleco. All of these fish seemed to be fine and the only problem was one of the gouramis fighting with the other so we took the other out. So now we added a blood parrot cichlid. We also did a water change (or added water that had evaporated). 2 days later 3 of the tiger barbs had died. I'm unsure if the parrot fish was the cause or the water change since that can always happen too. The parrot fish currently also seems to have a small minor nip in his fin so I'm not sure if the tiger barbs were nipping at him and he fought back or what was the cause. I need suggestions of more fish I could add to the tank that have a higher chance of getting along with eachother. The semi agressive fish have seemed to get along better since they both stand their ground instead of letting one hurt them and not fight back to an extent. If anyone has any ideas of maybe more school fish like the tiger barbs or other types let me know!

 

[fluttermoth]

Could you please post;

the dimensions of your tank
exactly what fish you currently have
the results of any water tests you've done, including pH and hardness

Fish should not be dying after a water change. How big and how often are your normal water changes?

 

[Sarah73]

Adding tiger barbs isn't a good idea for angels. Second, no blood parrots as they need their own tank. You have lots of stocking problems. Would you like to discuss them?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What a mess...

Your angelfish is territorial and killing other angels that get put into the tank because they are being introduced into its territory. If you want angelfish, buy 10 young fish and grow them up together and let them pair themselves off. Keep 1 pr per tank and remove the others.

Tiger barbs are fin nippers and cause problems to fish with long flowing fins.

Silver Dollars eat plants and prefer to be kept in groups of 10 or more. However, due to their size they need a big tank for that many fish.

Parrot cichlids are not really community fish when mature and could cause problems to the angelfish.

The leaf fish might struggle to get enough food.

I am unsure of what gouramis you have but they should be ok if they are bigger species. But if they are dwarf gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) they could get bashed.

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Have you checked the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH?
If yes, what were the results in numbers?

How often do you do water changes and gravel clean the substrate, and how much water do you change?
You should be doing 50-75% water changes every few weeks and gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change.

Do you add a dechlorinator to any new water before it is added to the tank?

Do you have buckets used specifically for the fish tank or do you use any bucket from around the house?

Can you post a picture of the sick fish?

 

[fluttermoth]

This thread is over eighteen months old, and the OP hasn't logged in for over a year.

Could members please avoid bumping old threads; it clogs up the front pages where live threads may need attention.

Thanks.

 

[Colin_T]

ah crap, I hate that. Write a response to an old post

Is there any way of locking the old threads to stop this happening?
Make them available to read but prevent people posting on them if they have been inactive for 12 months or more?