Totally New, Need Advice!

[EllieRocks:)]

Hey, Ive had my 3 fish for 5 days, 2 male dwarf gourami's and 1 siamese fighter. My tank is 35L (9 gallons) and well planted.
Im planning on putting some more fish in next month at some point and would love some advice on what breeds would go well with my 3 others. I think cardinal and rummy nose tetras would be great additions but am worried about the siamese fighters fins being nipped, would they be okay with him? Would the rummy nose and cardinal tetras shoal together?
I'd really appreciate some advice

 

[K-Holed]

I'd be a little worried having a fighter in with dwarf gouramis.

 

[EllieRocks:)]

I asked if it would be okay at the aquatic centre and they said it should be fine, although I have noticed the gourami's nip at him but not very often. There is plenty coverage for him to hide but is there anything else i can do to make sure he is okay?

 

[K-Holed]

If they have to stay together, I think you've made the best start you can by ensuring plenty of hiding places. Just keep a close eye on things, because it's not unusual for dwarf Gouramis to harass fighers relentlessly. You might get lucky, but be aware of the potential and possibly fatal situation. (Sorry didn't mean for that to sound quite so dramatic!)

 

[EllieRocks:)]

Lol thanks thats great, he seems lively and healthy. They generally all avoid each other but I'll definitely keep an eye on them, as they are in my bedroom I'll be there alot of the time anyway. Unfortunately this is my first tank and have nowhere else to separate them. Would tetras be okay with the fish i have in the tank at the moment?

 

[rabbut]

Two male dwarf Gouramis and a fighter is not a great mix. male gouramis are aggressive to each other. They are also aggressive to other amanitodes, their parent family, and the one to which fighters belong. the fact it is currently working makes me wonder

a) if you do have dwarf goruramis, or a species that just stays small like Honey gouramis
b) if the gouramis are mature.

If you do have DG's, you will go down to one fish before long. One thing is for certain, you have proven that that member of staff at the LFS does not know their mixings

Do you have a test kit? If so, what are your water stats and how did you cycle the tank before you added fish?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[EllieRocks:)]

I'm going to sound really ignorant but i don't really know about the fish cycle or the water stats, i read the manual with the fish tank thoroughly and got advice from the aquatic centre but obviously I didn't do my research properly. It would be really great if you could explain it all to me. When i bought the gourami's there was a big tank full of them. I am quite concerned for the safety of my fish now, is there anything i can do? The 2 gourami's seem so be chasing eachother more then the fighter, since they are quite new to the tank do you think they will settle down?

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, you're in a "Fish-In" cycling situation then and I'm sure rabbut and the other experts here will help you out, they're great! Meanwhile, you can start reading the Fish-In cycling article (I'm sure there is one...) in our Beginners Resource Center. Most urgently its going to involve you getting the right test kit and even changing water prior to that as well as after you get the kit. It takes roughly a month to fish-in cycle.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

Forgive me, I'm feeling lazy and cannot be bothered to type out a full explanation, so I'll just use some links instead

Fish-in cycling

That's probably quite important to you at this stage.

The Nitrogen Cycle, what's going on chemically in the tank

Unfortunately, the fighting will get worse between the Gouramis as they settle. The stronger one will kill the weaker one sooner or later unless you intervene, and then the stronger male will turn on the fighter At this point, I'd advise you to choose between one Gourami or the fighter, and return the other two to the shop Better still, if you haven't fishless cycled with liquid ammonia, return them all and do a fishless cycle before re-stocking the tank with a good stocking mix later on after it's cycled

On a side note though, there is no such thing as an expert in this hobby. theories and practice change change quickly. An expert has learnt all there is to know and has stopped learning. The second you stop learning, a new discovery comes along and you are no longer an expert. Most people IMO are arrogant in this hobby if they call themselves and expert and in many cases I find they don't actually know what they are doing, they just are good at convincing others that they are...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[K-Holed]

I'd have to completely agree with the above. There are things I did in my past that I thought were completely acceptable and the general community consenus echoed this. Times change though and practices change or die out.

Keeping fish really isn't all that hard once you get things right. For the most part, you're not even taking care of the fish, you're taking care of the water. I may be being presumptious, but I think a fish can look after itself without having it's fin held.. What a fish can't do, is control it's environment.

Lots of the science behind fish keeping can look a bit daunting when you first read it, but it's really fairly simple once you get used to it and shouldn't be something to put you off. There are lots of people who like to get bogged down in the nitty gritty of fish keeping, but if all you're wanting to do is keep a little community tank, with some intersting and colourful fish, there's not too much you need to know.

That said, the things you do need to know about are:

The nitrogen cycle - Dead easy once you strip out all the scientific words. Fish poops, various bacteria in your tank make poop safer so your fish don't poison themselves with their own excrement. (Okay you might want a slightly better understanding of it than that )

Water Changes - These get done every 1-2 weeks (Unless you're in a fish-in-cycle). Basically, once all the bacteria in your tank has broken down the waste there's still some stuff left behind (that can be harmful in large amounts) byt changing a small amount of water every week or so, this just dilutes this and stops it becoming a problem.

Feeding - Generally, less is more. That is to say, it's better to underfeed than over feed. Fish don't need nearly as much food as people seem to think they do.

There are other useful things to know, but unless you live in an area with really crappy water those three things are where I'd read up on.

Sorry for rambling on

kind regards

Jimi

 

[fatheadminnow]

The nitrogen cycle - Dead easy once you strip out all the scientific words. Fish poops, various bacteria in your tank make poop safer so your fish don't poison themselves with their own excrement. (Okay you might want a slightly better understanding of it than that )

This is an easy explanation. lol

However, fish produce Ammonia when water passes through their gills.

But yes, the fishes waste, and left over fish food in the tank along with other things as well, will eventually start to produce Ammonia.

But more or less it is from the fish as the water passes through their gills.

-FHM

 

[EllieRocks:)]

Thankyou so much for all the help, its been really useful. I'll definitely start reading up on all those things and what fish are compatible with each other before i go and buy them!

 

[cor2008]

just a quick bit of advice - 35l is way way too small for rummy nose tetras, they require a large tank as they are extremely active.

also as it appears that you are now in a fish in cycle i would strongly recommend not adding any fish for 2 months until your tank is fully cycled (or better still re-home your current fish and then do a fishless cycle) and then choose any fish very carefully as 35l is a really small space

 

[craig855s]

are u taking ur 3 fish back to the shop? i hope so. and after u have done a fishless cycle may i recomend stocking it lightly with very small fish (no more than 2" each fully grown) and only a handful of them (u could add shrimps too for an intresting sight)

 

[drobbyb]

However, fish produce Ammonia when water passes through their gills.

But yes, the fishes waste, and left over fish food in the tank along with other things as well, will eventually start to produce Ammonia.

But more or less it is from the fish as the water passes through their gills.

-FHM

Not everyone knows this and it is 100% correct. Thanks FHM for reminding me of that