New And Want Advice

glenncraneuk

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Hey my girlfriend just bought me a 20 litre fish tank, i currently have 3 neons, 4 guppies, a sucking loach and 2 mollies.

IS this ok.

They are all small fish and are looking happy and well, the people in various shops said between 10--12 should be how many i have in
 
A 20 liter tank is only about 5 gallons; I'm afraid that is much too small for your stock of fish. If you could upgrade to a 30 gallon tank, then you could get away with such a list of fish. Also the neons should ideally be in a much larger group of 6-8, but I wouldn't dare add anything more to your 20 liter. Actually, I would rehome the fish if you cannot get a bigger tank. Sorry. :/
 
I wouldn't go to that lfs as not one of them fish should be in that size tank.
The loach need a bigger tank.
Neons are small fish but need room to shoal nothing less than a 10gal, same with the livebearers.
 
Sucking loach is one of those awkward names that can refer to several totally different fish. It can be a common or sailfin plec, a fish that grows very big and produces a lot of waste, so you would need about a 300 ltr tank. Or it could be a Chinese Algae Eater, a fish that grows fairly big and gets aggressive in old age, so not really a community fish at all.
Either way, the sucking loach needs a new home.
Mollies stay smaller but still grow too big for a 20 ltr tank. They also need totally different water conditions from tetras: tetras like it soft and acid, mollies need hard and alkaline and prefer a bit of salt (which is not good for tetras). Again, I would say rehome them.
Tetras are schooling fish and prefer to be in groups of 6 or more, but stay small. But they are sensitive to new tank conditions, so that is a problem. Don't buy any more now!
Guppies should be ok - but it is important to know what sex they are. Look underneath at the anal fin. Females have an ordinary fan-shaped fin, males have a rod-like thing. All males might be ok, though ideally they should be in greater numbers (but not in that small tank). All females makes for a more peaceful tank but they do grow larger so should really be in a bigger tank. A mixed sex tank should contain at least 2-3 females per male, otherwise the females will get too harrassed by the males- also a mixed tank means getting overrun with babies, and it needs to be bigger for the females to get a chance to get away from the males.
In short, buying "a fish" is like buying "a mammal"- you want to make sure you don't end up with a rhinoceros for that hamster cage ;)

That's the first part. The second part is about providing suitable living conditions. If this tank has only just been set up and had such a heavy fish load added all at once, there is a big risk that the water conditions will crash and make it toxic to its inhabitants. Go to the top and read the pinned topic on cycling a tank. Basically, it takes a time for the tank to build up a colony of beneficial bacteria to deal with the waste of all your fish (and this is counting without the loach and mollies- a 5 gallon could never cope with all those). In the meantime you need to keep a careful eye on water stats. Get yourself a liquid test kit that tests for ammonia and nitrites (and nitrates) and test for those every day. Whenever either goes over 0.5 ppm, do a partial water change of 25% (if the readings are really high, do 40%). At first that will probably mean every day, but eventually you will be able to cut it down gradually to once a week, which is routine maintenance for an established tank.

The tank will only ever be able to house 3 neons and 4 male guppies- or better, a school of 6 neons.
 
Sucking loach is one of those awkward names that can refer to several totally different fish. It can be a common or sailfin plec, a fish that grows very big and produces a lot of waste, so you would need about a 300 ltr tank. Or it could be a Chinese Algae Eater, a fish that grows fairly big and gets aggressive in old age, so not really a community fish at all.
Either way, the sucking loach needs a new home.
Mollies stay smaller but still grow too big for a 20 ltr tank. They also need totally different water conditions from tetras: tetras like it soft and acid, mollies need hard and alkaline and prefer a bit of salt (which is not good for tetras). Again, I would say rehome them.
Tetras are schooling fish and prefer to be in groups of 6 or more, but stay small. But they are sensitive to new tank conditions, so that is a problem. Don't buy any more now!
Guppies should be ok - but it is important to know what sex they are. Look underneath at the anal fin. Females have an ordinary fan-shaped fin, males have a rod-like thing. All males might be ok, though ideally they should be in greater numbers (but not in that small tank). All females makes for a more peaceful tank but they do grow larger so should really be in a bigger tank. A mixed sex tank should contain at least 2-3 females per male, otherwise the females will get too harrassed by the males- also a mixed tank means getting overrun with babies, and it needs to be bigger for the females to get a chance to get away from the males.
In short, buying "a fish" is like buying "a mammal"- you want to make sure you don't end up with a rhinoceros for that hamster cage ;)

That's the first part. The second part is about providing suitable living conditions. If this tank has only just been set up and had such a heavy fish load added all at once, there is a big risk that the water conditions will crash and make it toxic to its inhabitants. Go to the top and read the pinned topic on cycling a tank. Basically, it takes a time for the tank to build up a colony of beneficial bacteria to deal with the waste of all your fish (and this is counting without the loach and mollies- a 5 gallon could never cope with all those). In the meantime you need to keep a careful eye on water stats. Get yourself a liquid test kit that tests for ammonia and nitrites (and nitrates) and test for those every day. Whenever either goes over 0.5 ppm, do a partial water change of 25% (if the readings are really high, do 40%). At first that will probably mean every day, but eventually you will be able to cut it down gradually to once a week, which is routine maintenance for an established tank.

The tank will only ever be able to house 3 neons and 4 male guppies- or better, a school of 6 neons.

Ok thanks, well to be honest 3 neons and the loach have died, however we thought the loach was a bit ill when we got it, and the neons got sucked into the pump :(
I am a beginner so didnt think too much and i know i should of.
The fish seem happy in the tank, and i asked again at a different store and they said that i could have a couple more fish in.

However before i read the reply i did get one mroe fish to replace the neons, and loach so now it stands at

2 male and 2 female guppys
2 mollys
Black shark

Does anyone know a name of a good water tester?

Or a link of somewhere that sells them?

Would be very helpful, i am going to upgrade ASAP to a bigger tank. Thinking about buying a 60 litre.
 
Sorry about your fish losses, glenncraneuk. But how can the fish be happy if some are dying? Please get that water tested ASAP; some LFSs will do this for you. How long has the tank been setup; i.e., is it done cycling? If you have high ammonia (which I think is very likely; with all the fish and such a small tank), then get ammochips to put in your filter. They do work; I've seen the results for myself in a friend's tank.

Also do you know what kinda shark that is? I'm not sure what a black shark is; maybe someone can enlighted me, but I hope they are compatible with your guppies. And finally, there are alot of beginner pinned articles on this website if you haven't checked them out yet, you really should. They have really great info. Anyway, good luck with your tank. :)
 
Is the black shark like this:
http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/aquariu...sophekadion.htm

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...;articleid=2600

Or this?
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_bicolor.php

One (top) grows to over 2ft, the other grows to 6", but I guess either way they're both going to get too big for your tank. The RTBS is also rather agreesive, and will probably either pick on or eat your other fish.

I'd take him back to the LFS along with the mollies, then stick with the tetras and guppies. If you do get a bigger tank and feel the urge for new fish - it's best to research before you buy as although we're all guilty of impulse buying at some point, it can be a real pain in the bum for both fish and owner to bring home a fish and find out it'll grow to twice the size of the tank, or enjoy munching on it's current inhabitants, or needs different conditions and subsequently dies.

Good luck :)
 
Its the bottom one, the redtailed black shark, apparently its a very young one.

My dad has now bought a 60 litre tank for him, which means the mollies will probably be transfered.

Which means that i will have 4 guppys and a shark, is that ok?or should i also transfer the shark?

If i do will i be able to fit another couple of smaller fish, any fish peple recommend.

What about zebra dainos?or orange platys or swordtails (Or are swordtails too big)
 
put the shark in the big tank.
i would leave just guppys in the 20 litre, it really is tiny weeny in fish tank standards, and overstocking it will cause undue stress to the fishies.

platys & swordies need more swimming space than a 20 litre (about 5 US gallons)
and danios are very fast swimming active fish and shouldn't be in anything smaller than 20 US gallons
 
Transfer the shark over as well and just leave the guppies in the 20 litre. Do not put anything else in you cannot fit anything in. You said you have 2 males and 2 females so they may end up breeding as well.
 
Ok cool thanks for all the help.

Gurglar may i ask why you have an empty tank?

You planning on using it?

Also any pics of the gourami, i like them (I know they cant fit in my tank) But in future i want to upgrade and may convince my dad to get one.

Any info about them, are they peacful?Ok with other smaller fish?Active?
 
Ok cool thanks for all the help.

Gurglar may i ask why you have an empty tank?

You planning on using it?

Also any pics of the gourami, i like them (I know they cant fit in my tank) But in future i want to upgrade and may convince my dad to get one.

Any info about them, are they peacful?Ok with other smaller fish?Active?

I'm in the process of buying everything I need for my 35 gallon such as filters, heaters, substrate stuff like that. Once i've got everything I will be using it.

Sorry don't have any pics of my gourami. One dwarf gourami would be able to fit in your tank if there was no other fish in there like mine.

Dwarf gourami's are peaceful fish and can be kept with many different fish such as small tetras and things. If they end up building a bubblenest they may get a little aggressive trying to protect it. Do not put more than one dwarf in a tank though because if there isn't enough room they will be aggressive towards each other.

Hope I helped if there is anything else you wanna know just let me know.
 
Where ever the mollies end up they will need marine salt in their water. They are brackish fish not fresh water. And they are not small fish. Mine are 4 & 5 inches and still growing. Some get quite large.
 
Soo many people say they NEED salt, but alot of fish shops and people on here say they are fine without salt.
Anyone got a definite answer?
 
I don't have a definate answer but someone I know had mollies in with tetras and stuff without salt and they did fine.
 

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