Replacements

[Fluffybiker]

sorry being a pest again

since a chat with the pet shop we bought our fish from (the supposed 5 females that turned out to be 3 boys and 2 girls)
we were offered to take the 2 girls back and replace with boys.. now we have also lost one of the boys so after
returning the 2 girls we'll be down to 2 male platies (the 14 or so baby guppies are also being rehomed)

I was just wondering what to put into the tank.... should i get a 3rd platy? the 2 boys i have do fight

the tanks 35tlr (the biube tank if this helps) and the pet shop will be testing out water tonight (and i have a shopping
list after reading the maintenance threads and a few others!)

basically we're after pretty fish that remain quite small any suggestions welcome cheers folks

 

[Miss Wiggle]

can you give us a full list of what fish you have in your tank?

 

[Fluffybiker]

can you give us a full list of what fish you have in your tank?

2 male platies

and 14 + baby guppies who are all being removed as soon as poss

 

[orange shark]

Get a small shoal of neon tetras!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the tanks just under 10 us gallons, the general guideline for stocking levels is 1" of fish per us gallon of water.

however the biubes do not have very good filtration systems so you need to work a little under this rule, aim for 8/9" of fish maximum.

the two platys take you to 4"

neon tetra's like a lot of swimming room, they are a bad idea. the only shoaling fish you have room for is something like microrasbora or boraras, one of the nano species basically.

is it a small shoal of fish you want or slightly larger single/pairs of fish?

 

[Fluffybiker]

is it a small shoal of fish you want or slightly larger single/pairs of fish?

singles/ pairs ideally we knew we couldn't have many (expected about 10-12 individual fish) that now seems to be more likely 6-8?

we'd like to have a nice selection of interesting/ pretty/ colourful/ unusual fish

reason we got platies 1st is initial research said they were good in a new tank

 

[Miss Wiggle]

they are hardy fish and good for new tanks

the problem is small fish are almost all shoaling fish, as they are small they go for safety in numbers, meaning you need to keep them in a group of 6 or so, which takes up pretty much all the room yuo have in your tank.

there are some notable exceptions such as betta's or dwarf puffers, however most of these need to be kept alone because they are aggressive so are not suitable for your community tank.

here's a list of fish that are suitable for 10 gallon tanks, best to have a look and see what takes your fancy

http/www.fishforums.net/Reccomendations-...on-t116208.html

 

[Fluffybiker]

Cheers for the link i should ahve spotted that thread really!

looks like likely candidate is Endler's livebearers just how pretty are they!

 

[orange shark]

You could get some fancy tailed guppies

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Cheers for the link i should ahve spotted that thread really!

looks like likely candidate is Endler's livebearers just how pretty are they!

they're gorgeous little fish, you get loads of different varieties too, so you can get the variety that you want without having fish stressed by being in unsuitable groups

unless you've got a spare tank for breeding i'd advise getting all males, the females are much less colourful anyway.

 

[Fluffybiker]

Def sticking with males as the 1 female guppy we had has left us wil more than 14 little guppies!!
(free to good homes lol!)

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol

lesson learnt i take it!

 

[Fluffybiker]

lol

lesson learnt i take it!

just a touch although more along the lines of which pet shop not to use and to read up on my own sex identification 1st
and not trust the shop assistant (sold 3 platies as all girls.... 2 boys 1 girl and 2 guppies as girls both boys, one of which died
and as i thought was a girl replaced with a girl who dropped fry within 24 hours!!!)

I'm amazed we've got soo many fry surviving tbh from what i've read here, have at least 14 all just over 1cm in size now!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol

lesson learnt i take it!

just a touch although more along the lines of which pet shop not to use and to read up on my own sex identification 1st
and not trust the shop assistant (sold 3 platies as all girls.... 2 boys 1 girl and 2 guppies as girls both boys, one of which died
and as i thought was a girl replaced with a girl who dropped fry within 24 hours!!!)

I'm amazed we've got soo many fry surviving tbh from what i've read here, have at least 14 all just over 1cm in size now!

first lesson of fishkeeping - never trust the lfs

second lesson of fishkeeping - do your own research

can't go far wrong if you stick to that!!