New Fish Keeper!

[lexilou]

hi, a few months ago i had a 5 gallon tank and i had it for a very short period of time until i upgraded to a ten gallon not much bigger but it is better! i had in it a baby very tiny bala shark a rosey red feeder fish that is soon going to be two years old! i bought 12 of them for a science project not to hurt them but just to build an eco system. and one survived. that fish i now in a goldfish tank with another goldfish. but about a 3 months ago i went into a local pet store with a water sample to see if the water was alright to ad new fish in with a tiny bala shark a baby pleco and a snail. but the water was not ready and for 2 months i kept going back and finally it was done!!! I decided to buy a baby rasbora harlequin, a baby furcata rainbow fish and a dalmatian molly. the rosey red tried to eat the babyfish and that is when i moved him into a new tank and replaced the goldfish with another fish that i already had! a male mickey mouse platy. sadly soon later my dalmatian molly died. and then my platy wouldnt ever come out of his cave (i believe because of depression) so i went to the pet store to get a new platy! since mine was a male they told me to get 2 females so when he chased them one at a time they would get a break! 
 
So my first question is: is it okay to have a baby pleco, a baby bala shark. almost fullygrown rasbora harlequin, still small furcata rainbow fish, and 3 platys and a snail all in the same tank?
 
and my second question is: Since i just got my 2 new female platys almost 2 weeks ago i believe one and maybe the other is pregnant!! the one female is clear and mickey mouse with TONS of little black spots behind her stomach witch is HUGE i may ad and the other one is red with a slightly smaller stomach has a slight patch of black behind her stomach as well!
 
PLEASE HELP I'M SO CONFUSED!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Welcome...
 
 

So my first question is: is it okay to have a baby pleco, a baby bala shark. almost fullygrown rasbora harlequin, still small furcata rainbow fish, and 3 platys and a snail all in the same tank?

 
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but NO!!!!!!!!
 
 
A bala shark should grow to nearly the size of the ten gallon tank, if not stunted by being kept in too small a tank.
 
A common pleco will also outgrow the 10 gallon tank, dramatically, if allowed to grow unfettered.
 
In a sufficiently large tank, if kept together, the harlequin and platies will be food for the bala shark eventually...
 
 
 
http/www.balashark.info/index.htm

For the full grown silver sharks a 125 gallon tank is the minimum you should have. More on Bala Shark care.

 

[techen]

The above is right, bala sharks get well huge? 125 gallon would be a good start for those guys. I would also invest into your own testing kit as some pet shops can give false readings. API masterkit is what you are after. Anyway please!!! For the sake of the fish, do your reasearch before buying fish. I know it's hard not to impulse buy yea.

So what is your stock now and size of tank? The only thing suited for a 10gallon is a betta and shrimp.

 

[leighton_87]

The only thing suited for a 10gallon is a betta and shrimp.

I wouldn't 100% agree with that.

The majority of fish for sale will not be suited to a 10 gallon but you could definitely but something in there either with a Betta or without.

A few examples that night work are:
- Scarlett Badis
- chilli Rasboras
- dwarf puffer (on his own)
- Celestial pearl danios
- peacock gobies
- maybe ember terra
- other micro Rasboras

However, back to the OP - none of the fig you have are suitable for a tank that size but with some rehoming, some research and the help from people on here you could make a fantastic little tank with a ten gallon

 

[CezzaXV]

Also, harlequins need to be in groups.

There are very few fish which like to be kept without any more of their own kind.

The others are right in that the bala shark will get huge, far too big for your tank. You don't say what type of pleco you have, but most types of plec grow massive as well.

 

[lexilou]

okay thanks for all the info!! but what about my play's i really need to find out if they are pregnant?!

 

[CezzaXV]

The rule with livebearers (which include platies) is this:

If it's female, and there's males in the tank, it's probably pregnant.

Platies reproduce like crazy.

 

[leighton_87]

Even if there isn't makes in the tank but there was in the store then they are still probably pregnant

 

[CezzaXV]

Even if there isn't makes in the tank but there was in the store then they are still probably pregnant

This is true as well. It is said that livebearers can store sperm for up to six months!

 

[lexilou]

Okay thank you so much!! I just have one more question what do I do!! the only other tank i can get a hold of right now is a 5 gallon and i could always put the pregnant one in there witch in my opinion would be better than those breeding traps or boxes but would the move stress her out and cause her to hold her fry or even kill her?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Okay thank you so much!! I just have one more question what do I do!! the only other tank i can get a hold of right now is a 5 gallon and i could always put the pregnant one in there witch in my opinion would be better than those breeding traps or boxes but would the move stress her out and cause her to hold her fry or even kill her?

 
 
Speak to your local fish store and ask them, politely, if they would re-home the fish in one of their tanks.
 
Terry.

 

[CezzaXV]

You could always just leave the pregnant one in the tank with the babies when they are born if you don't have a home for the babies. Most of them will end up getting eaten by the other fish.

Seems cruel, but it's nature.

 

[lexilou]

I would like to keep most of the babies alive if possible!! I can easily find new homes for all the babies with different friends and on local classifieds! Also on an average how many babies would be born with one batch of fry? 

 

[fluttermoth]

If you move the pregnant fish to a new tank, you will need to move some of your (hopefully) cycled media along with her.
 
Platies normally have between 30 and 50 fry (although young females might have less), per drop and they drop every 30 days (roughly). They can also store sperm, so even if you separate the sexes, each female can have another 5 or 6 broods with no male present.
 
That's a lot of fry to try and rehome...

 

[lexilou]

thank you so much for all the help ill be sure to take in all the suggestions!!