New To This

[VioLencE]

Hey im new to the boards and to this hobby.

i currently have a 15g or 10g tank (i cant remember) that i received from my uncle and i went out and bought the necessities for it. Im just wondering if i can still add more fish and if the fish i have are good for beginers and possibly what else to add. Im thinking mayby some Cories?

i currently have
4x Tiger Barbs
3x Swordtails
1x Pleccy

Thanks for the help.

 

[waterdrop]

Hey, welcome to the forum!

As a person new to the hobby you may want to read the pinned topics at the top of this forum. I particularly suggest "Beginners Resource Center... Cycling Resource Center... and articles by Miss Wiggle and AlienAnna" If you don't yet know about measuring water parameters with liquid-based kits, the nitrogen cycle and the details of why, when and how to do water changes, you may be headed for emergencies with your current fish, not to mention the added trouble of new ones. Apologies if you are already skilled at these things, just thought I'd try to jump-start you if not!

This is a great place to read and learn and skills and knowledge are among the most valuable things you can bring to the hobby.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[gourami_fan]

What kind of pleco is it? Usually people get a fish they don't know much about and end up with a dead fish, or one that grows super large. In your case if it happens to be a common pleco, its going to grow to about 20 inches long.

I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but hopefully your pleco is a bristlenose You might want to check.

 

[pirate monkey]

Hi and to TFF!

I've no personal experience of tiger barbs myself, but I have read a lot of posts on here that suggest they need to be kept in big groups, as they tend to be rather aggressive towards one another. The bigger the group the more the aggression is dispersed.

Hopefully someone who has more experience with them can advise you further!

If you could let us know what size the tank is (even if you just give dimensions) as that will depend on how many and what sort of fish you can have. It maybe that your tank is too small for tiger barbs, but as said, wait for someone else to advise you on those!

Do you know what your plec is? If not could you upload a photo? It is helpful to know what you're dealing with, as gourami fan said, many plec species grow too large for a 15g tank! on the other hand however there are many plecs that stay under 8".

As for your swordtails, they're great beginner fish!

I know cories are schooling fish so you would need to keep them in groups of 5+ so you will be limited to your choice of which ones. It might be worth posting a question in the cories section - these guys will tell you what would be suitable for your tank.

I hope this helps! If you have any questions just post them in the appropriate section, the guys here are all great with fantastic advice!

[edit - spelling]

 

[VioLencE]

i bought the pleco from a fish store that specializes in just fish and reptiles. Its a pleco that will grow very large. They guy who owns the place told me if i do not get a bigger tank to bring the pleco in and he will give me a baby one again.

Another problem
One of my barbs died this morning and its body is no wehre to be found. Acoording to my Amonia chart the amonia level is safe, but i have alkaline and my ph is pretty high. How would i go on lowering this.

 

[pirate monkey]

ok, with regards to having a big fish in a smaller tank, this is a bad thing for the fish. Small tanks stunt the growth of big fish, even if they haven't got so big yet. What happens is, the outside of the fish will be stunted but the insides of the fish will keep growing leading to a very painful death. Yes it will be a while before your plec gets that big, but ideally it needs to be in a tank that is big enough for it's adult size. the other issue is, although the lfs said they'd take it back, there's no guarantee they will, they often just want you to spend money in their shop!

I'm sorry to say, but the nicest thing you can do for your plec is to take it back to the lfs now, and get a species of plec small enough for your tank.

Here is a link to 30 plecos under 8 inches

There are some lovely species perfect for you, and IMHO most of them are better looking than the bigger guys!


Your missing tiger barb might well have been eaten by the others, so no worries about not finding it, just keep an eye on the ammonia for the next few days and water change as necessary.

What is your pH? Mine is 8.0 so really high too! There are ways of lowering it, try searching for other threads as I know there is some tricks you can do with peat in your filter, or you can use RO (reverse osmosis) water to help soften (and lower the pH of) your tank water.

I think the worst thing you can do if you want to lower your pH is add any chemicals, as they tend only to be a temporary measure, will cost a lot of money, and most importantly not keeping the pH stable will seriously stress your fish. Often it is better just to keep you pH as it is. fish do much better in stable water conditions than if they constantly change.

Most fish you buy at your lfs are bred locally and are used to the pH of your local water. Was there any reason in particular why you wanted to lower it?

 

[VioLencE]

My Ph Says It Has Alkaline in It And I Assumed This Was Harmfull To My Fish. As For THe Pleco Tomorow Morning I Will Try To Exchange As I Have To Go To Work In A Half Hour.

 

[vinylman]

Whether it's a 15G or 10G, neither Swordtails or Tiger Barbs are suitable. Both fish need lots of swimming room. As has been said, the number of Tiger Barbs needed to spread the aggression between themselves would mean a much bigger tank. Also, Swordtails can get to over 3'' very quickly. Somewhere, someone has pinned a thread about suitable fish for a 10G tank. Of course, if you have room for a 3 foot tank................

 

[OldMan47]

Let me pile on. You probably have more fish in that small tank than you should. That said, if you cannot re-home the fish, you can do lots of large water changes to keep the water clean enough for the fish.
On the subject of pH, don't worry about it too much. It is easy to measure so lots of people end up stressing about getting it just right for the fish. It is not necessary to adjust any pH that is anywhere between 6.0 and 8.0 for the fish. Fish will adapt pretty well to anything in that range. The danger of changing pH is that although fish can adapt to most pH values that you will find in drinking water, they do not do well having to adapt to frequent changes in pH. If you start trying to move it around the chances are good that you will be chasing the pH and causing considerable stress to your fish.



edited the spelling