Unusual Community/slightly Aggressive Fish!

[TheSamman]

Just wanted to know if anyone had any ideas for unusual community or slightly aggressive fish to add to my tank, i have a 120l tank and any input would be much appreciated. I already have 2 kribensis, 2 different plecs, 1 spanner barb, 2 king tetra, 3 rainbows, 2 corys, 5 golden barbs, 5 zebra loaches and for a short time a large clown loach.

 

[soybean]

You're already overstocked - what kinds of plec do you have? How long will the clown loach be in there?

You also have lots of shoaling fish in tiny numbers.

Rather than adding more fish, it might be a good idea to address the needs of those you already have.

 

[Wills]

Not a great stocking for that tank I would look to change it to

2 Kribs
5 King Tetras (depending on what they are, not heard of King Tetras are?)
5 Golden Barbs
5 Zebra Loaches
5 Cories (all the same species)

The spanner barb, plecs (depending on species) and clown loach will all outgrow your tank and the schooling fish need to be in at least 5s if not more but you dont have space to top all of the schools up to that many.

Wills

 

[Mowbz]

i have a 120l tank and any input would be much appreciated. I already have 2 kribensis, 2 different plecs, 1 spanner barb, 2 king tetra, 3 rainbows, 2 corys, 5 golden barbs, 5 zebra loaches and for a short time a large clown loach.

...and ouch..

I know it probably sound horrible, but that's some crazy stocking you got there!

Wills has put you together a great stock list above, but unless you're fairly experienced, i would recommend re-homing the Corys, as they often dont get on with Kribs (Lots of discussion on this over the last few days, take a look over this forum) No sense getting rid of the Kribs while the rest of the stock sits well with them.

How long has your tank been running?

Ben

 

[TheSamman]

To address the plec situation, one is a bulldog plec and one im not sure of it looks like a duller version of a clown plec. The clown loach is only in their temporarily to sort out the snail problem i have been having.

The king tetras i saw at my lfs and havent seen them since, i started off with 6 of them and now only have 2 left, the kings i believe though are the same as emperor tetras.

And although i understand what your saying if you saw the tank i dont think you would say it was overstock if im honest. Because although it is 120l it is quite tall as well as wide.

The tank has been running for a week and i moved these fish from a previous tank. There are plenty of hiding places for the corys and i have always had them in with the kribs and never seen any aggression between them.

 

[Mowbz]

To address the plec situation, one is a bulldog plec and one im not sure of it looks like a duller version of a clown plec. The clown loach is only in their temporarily to sort out the snail problem i have been having.

Where did said clown loach come from, and where is it going once done with your snails? Pests are for us to shift, and that loach should be with 5 or so more, in a very large tank im afraid.

The king tetras i saw at my lfs and havent seen them since, i started off with 6 of them and now only have 2 left, the kings i believe though are the same as emperor tetras.

see last

And although i understand what your saying if you saw the tank i dont think you would say it was overstock if im honest. Because although it is 120l it is quite tall as well as wide.

There are more fish than required water, not tank space, and see last..

The tank has been running for a week and i moved these fish from a previous tank. There are plenty of hiding places for the corys and i have always had them in with the kribs and never seen any aggression between them.

Here is most likely your biggest problem, if the tank isnt cycled.....?

 

[soybean]

Youre slightly missing the point - it's not a visual thing. Corys, barbs, rainbowfish and tetras are shoaling fish, you need a MINIMUM of 6 per group and if you had 6 of each of your shoaling fish, you would definitely be overstocked.

So, to me, talking of adding more fish when your existing stock needs vast improvement is not the best course of action.

Clown loaches are also shoaling fish, need to be in groups HUGE tanks, and are not a solution to a snail problem. Snails take over a tank when you feed too much. Assassin snails are a natural control, but if you stop feeding a tank and remove snails as you see them this will also sort it out.

Where is the clown loach going to after staying with you?

How did you cycle the tank?

 

[Mowbz]

Ha, great minds.... exact same time lol

 

[TheSamman]

Ok i will take on your comments and sort out the problems, obviously you guys no alot more than i do. The Clown loach is going back into my other tank, where there are already 4 clown loaches in (dont worry it is a pretty big tank).

The tank has been standing for a week, i put in the filter start that came with the tank, and added filter media from my old filter into the new one to help with the bacteria and i only added the fish on monday and they have been doing fine.

 

[Mowbz]

Ok i will take on your comments and sort out the problems, obviously you guys no alot more than i do. The Clown loach is going back into my other tank, where there are already 4 clown loaches in (dont worry it is a pretty big tank).

The tank has been standing for a week, i put in the filter start that came with the tank, and added filter media from my old filter into the new one to help with the bacteria and i only added the fish on monday and they have been doing fine.

Have you tested the water at all? And what are the readings?

How long has the other tank bee running? And how big is it as a measurement? I have a 4ft 340ltr tank, and dont consider it big enough to house a healthy shoal of Clown Loaches.

Ben

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Kribs (especially a pair, but even a single one) + Corydoras= Disaster

 

[TheSamman]

Readings are coming out fine for the tank, nothing is out of the ordinary with it. I'm a shame to say the other tank is 350l, but i'll probably have to get rid of it fairly soon anyways, the clown loaches at the moment are probabaly about 5 inches at the moment and its been running for just over 2 years.

And again the kribs have shown absolutly no aggression at all to the corys, i have never seen them interact with each other at all.

 

[Mowbz]

Readings are coming out fine for the tank, nothing is out of the ordinary with it. I'm a shame to say the other tank is 350l, but i'll probably have to get rid of it fairly soon anyways, the clown loaches at the moment are probabaly about 5 inches at the moment and its been running for just over 2 years.

And again the kribs have shown absolutly no aggression at all to the corys, i have never seen them interact with each other at all.

Clowns (in my opinion) need at least 5ft really. At up to a foot fully grown, they need a huge amount of space to have the recommended 6 minimum

What are the exact readings from todays tests?

As for the Kribs, wait til they start breeding

 

[TheSamman]

I used one of the tetra 6 in 1 test strips so it wasnt any proper test kit, but everything looked ok, i especially checked the ph which looked to be great.

 

[Mowbz]

Im really sorry but "ok" and "fine" are not helpful to help you fix things. We need numerical values to give any decent advice.


And as you evidently already know, strips are not famed for their accuracy, but in an emergency like this its better than nothing!