What To Add Now? (no Guppies)

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Tech-Frog

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Recently ive had no succsess(cannot spell) with guppies i was just wondering what to keep now.
I have....

40 x 20 x 46.5 (in CM)

1x Rainbowshark

1x Male Guppy <---- he is a loner and will probaly go soon, he is abit flopsy

4x Albino corys

What to add now?
Thanks in advance.


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well u can't go wrong w/ mollies...if u want them multiplying like crazy...but do u no the size of the tank? like 20 gallon...10 gallon...sorry to heer about your losses. how long have u had the tank? that could be why all ur fish are dieing
 
Well, the rainbow shark is gonna get big, you may wanna get rid of him. Though, maybe some platies, swordies, neons, cardinals, any other types of tetras. Maybe a dwarf gouarmi.
 
That tank sounds like it's about 10 gallons. Which IMO excludes not only the rainbow shark, but also mollies and (definitely) swordtails. If you are looking for something hardier than guppies, I'm not sure either dwarf gouramis or neons are the way to go either.

Platies are a good choice, or some hardier tetras, like glowlights.

But first we need to calculate the tank size for you, to make sure that your problems are not caused by overstocking. And before you add more fish, you need to know that there is nothing wrong with the tank causing the death of the guppies. So what are your water stats (ammonia and nitrites in particular)?
 
I've just been running your figures through the calculator, and I make that a 9 gallon tank (9.7 to be exact).

So your problem is not that necessarily that there is something wrong with the breed of guppies as such, but that you are overstocked. If you go by the inch per gallon rule (just to give an idea), the cories and the one remaining guppy count for at least 9 inches, so they will fill the tank on their own (some albino cories, particularly females, grow to 3 inches).

The rainbow shark will grow big and is not covered by the inch/gallon rule anyway; because of his needs to be active and establish a territory, he'll need more like 50-60 gallons. So you will need to find him a good home.

Then you need to concentrate very hard on maintaining the present tank. If you have not already got a liquid test kit, buy one and test every day for ammonia and nitrites. Whenever these go over 0.5 ppm, you should do a partial water change (say 25%- or more if the readings are really high), replacing with dechlorinated water. Cories tend to be hardier than guppies, but they can easily get bacterial infections if their water quality deteriorates.

What symptoms is your remaining guppy showing? Give us an update and we'll see if there's anything we can do for him.
 
From what your telling me, my LFS is a dirty lieing scamming place...
I was sold that tank as"Ideal" for 10-15 guppy sized fish, also, i hear people buying 10gs for less than £50 and i payed £80+ for this tank!
+ with the Inch per gallon rule, it makes my tank seem so bare <=(
 
It may seem a bit bare now, but take into consideration that your fish will grow, and the corys in particular will reach 2-3 inches, which is pretty big for a tank that size.

You just need to be patient and wait for your fish to grow into it. :)
 
My corys are full grown, the only new'ish fish is the shark.
When i have to rehome him, where can i take him?
 
Try asking the lfs if they will take your shark. If not advertise him in the buy and sell section. You may not actually get any money for him, but at least you are keeping your other fish safe.

One of the hardest things when starting in the hobby is training your eye to accept the relative bareness of a healthily stocked tank. This is because we see the tanks in the lfs which are choc-a-bloc with fish.

The first thing to remember is that shops have super-massive filtration systems that we just can't emulate in the home, so the stocking levels in a shop would kill the fish in a home aquarium in no time.

Secondly, the fish are only in there for a short transit period when they are still too shellshocked for aggression problems etc to become apparent. I like to think of fish in a shop as passengers on a packed commuter train. It doesn't kill them, they cope with the conditions on the Woking train with reasonable cheerfulness, but it would be mistaken to believe that human beings could cope with conditions like that for weeks on end without pandemonium breaking loose!

Thirdly, the fish sold in the shops are almost invariably juveniles, so they don't have to cope with problems that arise later in life, whether because of growth or sexual maturity=aggression.

And fourthly- a lot of fish do actually die in fish shops, many more than we would consider acceptable at home.

If you are not in a position to get a bigger tank (and lots of us aren't), then there are ways of making the present tank with its current inhabitants more interesting.

First of all, decorate it. Your guppy may appreciate plants (whether real or artificial). Your cories will certainly appreciate some sort of hiding place, amybe a cave, or a piece of bogwood.

Secondly, read up on the species you have. Makes them a lot more interesting if you understand about their behaviour.

Thirdly, feed them a good and varied diet (but don't overfeed, particularly not while the tank is cycling).

But most important, work on maintaining your water stats!

It is a little hard on your only guppy, as they shouldn't really be alone, it's not good for them. But then you can't add more fish at the moment, and as male guppies can be a bit funny with each other in an all-boys group, you would have to add 4 of them, which you won't have room for. If this guppy does pass on, I would wait for several months, until the tank stats are absolutely stable, and then add a small group of some small fish like endlers or glowlight tetras or dwarf rasboras (if you can get them).
 
Unfortunately, i fount mister guppy lieing on the bottom of the aquarium, dead. :-(
Ive got a big bit of coral which has caves in it but the shark has taken up residence in there. :*)
All the caves i see in my LFS are either ugly or too big <=( any place to get some small nice-looking caves suitable for corys.
I have seen some tutorials for coconut caves... all i need is coconuts and the permission to boil them.
 
Unfortunately, i fount mister guppy lieing on the bottom of the aquarium, dead. :-(
Ive got a big bit of coral which has caves in it but the shark has taken up residence in there. :*)
All the caves i see in my LFS are either ugly or too big <=( any place to get some small nice-looking caves suitable for corys.
I have seen some tutorials for coconut caves... all i need is coconuts and the permission to boil them.


Sorry to hear about the guppy :(

Is your coral fake or the real thing (as real coral can affect water stats- but whether this is a problem would depend on your local water)?

I use a piece bogwood for my cories; it doesn't have to be a proper cave as long as they can hide behind it or under it. Coconut will be fine too. Some people use a (new) small flowerpot.
 
I think its real <=) its kinda like creamy stripey shells stuck together.
 
Don't worry, your not the only one with a bare tank, I have a 2G with a betta (VT) in it and it looks very bare, but if you adapt to the fish and you make the tank more interesting with hiding places, some good ornaments and make it more interesting by adding a trough, and putting holes in the bottom, this is used for a purpose to lower the current, but I also think they are fascinating! :)
 
I dont have a test kit for ph/ hardness. Too expensive.
 

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