New To The Hobby

[Elwood220]

new to the hobby someone gave us a 118 gallon tank.
i did my homework and threw away his filters and thoroughly cleaned and re sealed the tank.
it has been up and running for three months about 6 weeks with fish.
everybody seems healthy . one cherry barb keeps racing up and down the tank side in the air bubbles.
worried about my pleco might have gotten him a little early do not know if there is enough algae.
2 cherry barbs
3 emerald tiger barbs
2 dwarf gouramis
4 mountain minnows
1 red tail shark
1 pleco
water
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates close to zero
ph 7.6-7.4
my  questions 
how many fish can i keep?
i do about 20% water change weekly do i need more or less?
do i have to wait to put live plants in aquarium?
thanks
 

 

[Akasha72]

Hi, I would also be worried about the pleco, firstly they are absolute dirtbags and produce so much mess that any filter in it's infancy will struggle to cope with the load. My best advice is to keep testing Ammonia and Nitrite as these may spike while the filter catches up with bacteria to clear the pleco's mess.
There are other things with the pleco too.
 
1. what type is he/she? is he/she a common or bristlenose (sometimes listed as ancistrus catfish)? If you are unsure see if you can get a photo for us and we can identify it for you.
A common pleco will grow to be around 3ft long and roughly 2ft wide. They don't really belong in home aquariums and we recommend people to leave them in the store. The Bristlenose though will only attain about 6" so that one is fine.
 
2. Pleco's can not survive on algae alone. They need some veggies in their diet. If you don't add some it will turn it's attentions to your plants if you have real ones. Worse case scenario is it starves.
It'll also need it's own pellet food and these are readily available in fish stores. 
 
 
As to the rest of your stocking ...
 
Cherry barbs are a shoaling species and you need to up their number to around 10 - the more you have the better really
 
Tigar barbs are notorious for being nippy and aggressive. Again up their number too. If you have them in a large group they should take their aggression out on each other and leave the gourami alone. At the moment the gourami's are in danger of losing their fins to the barbs.
 
The red tailed shark. These are also aggressive fish once they hit full maturity. They are also fast swimmers and need a large aquarium. I'm not good at converting gallons to litre's but I think your tank may be big enough to get away with it but see what the other's have to say.
 
I know nothing about minnows as I've never kept them but I suspect they will need to be part of a larger group too 
 
 
I hope that's helpful for you
 
Regards
Akasha

 

[SherLar]

Hello, and welcome..
I haven't been a forum member very long, but have already had a lot of useful advice from the very knowledgeable people in the forums.
To answer Akasha's unspoken question, 118G converts to about 445L, roughly.
   IMO, the redtail shark will be far too aggressive for your community tank. I've never had any luck with them in any type of tank; they even bullied my oscars!
   That's a pretty large tank to start out with. You should have plenty of room to add barbs to both schools, and I would probably up the number of mountain minnows as well.
   You can buy a veggie clip at any pet store, with a suction cup to anchor it to the side of your tank. Place it near the bottom. You can also buy seaweed sheets at most pet stores that sell fish, and your pleco will love them. It will also love pieces of blanched zucchini, or spinach leaves.

 

[Elwood220]

thanks for the info guys
have a picture of my pleco
warming my five and three year old up to returning cheese muffin the shark
going to get a feeder
and i do test every day
RTS constantly hounds my cherry barbs leaves my white clouds emerald tigers and dwarf gouramis alone
thanks love this site btw
 

 

[Akasha72]

the pleco looks more like a whiptail catfish than a common plec or a bristlenose. My knowledge of whiptails is very limited so I'll leave the advice to those that know more. I know they don't get big so he/she should be fine in this huge tank (400 litres!! Wow!) 
 
What I would do is to get a few photo's from different angles and post up an I.D question seperately. That way those with more knowledge will see it and be able to I.D him/her. 
If the shark is hounding the barbs already consider that as it ages and reaches full maturity it will become increasingly aggressive. What you are seeing now is nothing to what it could become. I would re-home it now but it has to be up to you, it's your tank after-all

 

[SherLar]

   Looking at the pic full-sized, I think Akasha is likely right, and your "pleco" may be some type of Farlowella. If so, it will appreciate very soft and acidic water, and the company of it's own kind. If you can get better pics and post them in the catfish forum, there are far more knowledgeable people than I (as in, most people on this forum) who can help identify it, and help you solve any problems.

 

[Akasha72]

the guys here www.planetcatfish.com will be able to ID the catfish. They are also the best people for giving advice on catfish. We have some great guys here but some fish need more specific advice