QT for tropical tank?

[Ree]

Hi,

 

I was treating my goldfish under the Koko teams guidance, and I realised that I have not treated any of my tropical fish for anything.  Should I be treating them for ich and with prazi? I bought the tropical the same day I bought the goldfish, and the goldfish had ich.  The tank is cycled, but it was an in fish cycle with comets bought from the same shop as above and they were untreated.

 

I have in my 100L tropical tank:

 

16??? (I cant count them) neon tetras

3 bumble bee gobies

2 bn plecos

6 male sailfin molies

2 male guppies (one very young)

4 female guppies (3 pregnant, maybe 4)

 

Does salt affect any of these fish in concentrations up to 0.3%?

Does prazi affect any of these fish?

 

[goldfishgirl82]

I have done prazi on most all of my non-goldfish without any problems. I would wait for one of the mods to come along to answer for sure about the salt though. I am pretty sure the guppies and mollies would be fine, but I think some plecos are sensitive to salt. 

[Ree]

I have done prazi on most all of my non-goldfish without any problems. I would wait for one of the mods to come along to answer for sure about the salt though. I am pretty sure the guppies and mollies would be fine, but I think some plecos are sensitive to salt. 

 

Thanks for that Goldfishgirl82 :-)

 

I have another problem too.  The sailfin mollies are really badly harassing the guppies.  Should I move the guppies to a separate tank?  I have a little 12L that I can use. 

 

Only thing is I cant get the heater as its in the QT tank with my goldies at the moment.  How low a temperature can guppies tolerate?

[RanchuDressing]

Bumblebee gobies are brackish fish, and need a brackish environment to thrive. They'll be short-lived in freshwater. Please read up on them a little, and note that brackish tanks need the addition of marine salt mix (the kind used for saltwater tanks), not just our regular "aquarium salt." The mollies would do fine in brackish as well, though it's not necessary.

I'm really sorry, but your tank is very drastically overstocked. 100L = 26 US gallons. TWO sailfin mollies alone would be a tight squeeze in there (they're one of the larger molly varieties).

If it were my tank, I'd return/rehome the gobies, guppies and tetras, three of the mollies, and one of the BN plecos. I know that's not what you were asking about, but I just can't help it -- it's like when someone posts that they have five common goldfish in a 10 gallon tank.

[goldfishgirl82]

I think the small tank would be too small for the guppies, especially with pregnant females. They will overpopulate it rather quick. I agree with RD above about possibly re-homing some of the fish as well. I didn't catch how many you had listed when I read through the first time or the tank size. If you want to separate the guppies for now or until you decide what you want to do, you should probably try to make sure their temp doesn't go below 72F. Ideal for them is around 75F - 78F, but I've kept them a little lower for short periods of time and they've been okay. I just wouldn't do it long term. I definitely think if you decide to re-home, the guppies probably would be a good choice though because they will keep making more guppies. But if you like them a lot, maybe the mollies instead. It sounds like they aren't co-existing too good at the moment. 

Edited April 27, 2015 by goldfishgirl82

[Ree]

Bumblebee gobies are brackish fish, and need a brackish environment to thrive. They'll be short-lived in freshwater. Please read up on them a little, and note that brackish tanks need the addition of marine salt mix (the kind used for saltwater tanks), not just our regular "aquarium salt." The mollies would do fine in brackish as well, though it's not necessary.

I'm really sorry, but your tank is very drastically overstocked. 100L = 26 US gallons. TWO sailfin mollies alone would be a tight squeeze in there (they're one of the larger molly varieties).

If it were my tank, I'd return/rehome the gobies, guppies and tetras, three of the mollies, and one of the BN plecos. I know that's not what you were asking about, but I just can't help it -- it's like when someone posts that they have five common goldfish in a 10 gallon tank.

 

That's cool, any input is welcome, more than welcome, I'm glad you mentioned it.  I am a Newbie at all this, and I need to learn!  I wont learn if people don't tell me what to do!  So I appreciate your  

 

Ill see what I can do about reducing the population.  I was not keen on getting the salefin mollies but I was talked into it at the pet shop... DOH!!!!! if only I had listened to my inner gut!  Would the tank be overpopulated if I rehomed all the salefins?  They just seem to be too aggressive for my other fish.  They really guard the food and don't let any one else in for a nibble.  I feed in three locations in the tank at the moment to get around this.

 

Ill ask the pet shop if I can return the bumble bee gobies.  I had no idea they needed brackish water.  I have read about them on a few different sites, but I never noticed that.  My poor little bees!

 

I could move one of the bn to my goldfish tank.  So far they have left all the other fish alone.  One is really timid, the other couldn't care less what was happening and zips around the tank 'singing' (that's what their sucking looks like to me  ) all day.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Ree

[Jim_D]

Sailfin mollies and Neons need completely different requirements.

 

Bumble bee gobies and Neons? The person that sold you these....did they know that they were going into the same tank?????

 

Ree, you need to research each species of fish BEFORE purchasing them.

[Ree]

I think the small tank would be too small for the guppies, especially with pregnant females. They will overpopulate it rather quick. I agree with RD above about possibly re-homing some of the fish as well. I didn't catch how many you had listed when I read through the first time or the tank size. If you want to separate the guppies for now or until you decide what you want to do, you should probably try to make sure their temp doesn't go below 72F. Ideal for them is around 75F - 78F, but I've kept them a little lower for short periods of time and they've been okay. I just wouldn't do it long term. I definitely think if you decide to re-home, the guppies probably would be a good choice though because they will keep making more guppies. But if you like them a lot, maybe the mollies instead. It sounds like they aren't co-existing too good at the moment. 

 

Thanks Goldfishgirl82!   Ive put just the females in the smaller tank for the moment, and once they have had their babies I will pop them back in the 100L tank, and leave the 12L for the small fry.  I will try to see if the petshop will take back some of the babies, and either the males or the females.  Then after a while I wont get more babies? 

[Ree]

Sailfin mollies and Neons need completely different requirements.

 

Bumble bee gobies and Neons? The person that sold you these....did they know that they were going into the same tank?????

 

Ree, you need to research each species of fish BEFORE purchasing them.

 

Hi Jim,

 

I did research as well as I thought I should, but obviously not well enough  .  I used a website that had a species calculator to work out what I could and couldn't have.  Obviously it was not reliable. 

 

The petshop I bought them new they were going in the same tank.  I'm  not trusting petshop store staff any more!!!!!!!!!

 

Will I be able to keep

 

1bn pleco

neon tetras

either male or female guppies

 

I am so sorry, but I really did try hard to research.  I obviously didn't do a good enough job though. 

[Jim_D]

 I'm  not trusting petshop store staff any more!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Don't be turned off all LFS staff, there are some fantastic stores out there and many are managed by knowledge staff.

 

Unfortunately living in a rural area like you do (same as I do) these stores are like Dodo eggs and in the larger towns you'll find places like PetBarn or Petstock like shops staffed by 15 year old casuals and very poor quality and sometimes very unhealthy fish.

 

If you ever travel to Sydney, it's worth going and visiting some first rate aquarium shops. If you've never been in one before, you won't believe just how night and day a shite shop is compared to a good aquarium specialty store.

[Ree]

 

 I'm  not trusting petshop store staff any more!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Don't be turned off all LFS staff, there are some fantastic stores out there and many are managed by knowledge staff.

 

Unfortunately living in a rural area like you do (same as I do) these stores are like Dodo eggs and in the larger towns you'll find places like PetBarn or Petstock like shops staffed by 15 year old casuals and very poor quality and sometimes very unhealthy fish.

 

If you ever travel to Sydney, it's worth going and visiting some first rate aquarium shops. If you've never been in one before, you won't believe just how night and day a shite shop is compared to a good aquarium specialty store.

 

 

Thanks for that Jim.  I just wish that there was some kind of regulation for selling live beings.  That every person in every petshop you deal with SHOULD KNOW about the species they sell, compatibility and tank stocking.  I feel really really bad about my poor fish.  Makes me cry in frustration and sadness! 

 

I can only imagine what a good aquarium shop is like!  I have a chronic back condition and cannot travel far.  The furthest I can go is Port Maquarie or Coffs Harbour.  They have petbarn like shops, but like you said, the staff are young.  There is one petshop in Port where the tanks were immaculate and the fish looked healthy, but I don't know about the staff knowledge as I wasn't going to purchase a fish that day.  So far every other shop I have seen are far from quality. 

 

Just spoke to my husband and we are going to see about rehoming the sailfins and the gobies and putting one of the plecos in with the goldfish.  Would that fix the tank stocking problem?  or should I take further measures?

[RanchuDressing]

Will I be able to keep

 

1bn pleco

neon tetras

either male or female guppies

Yes indeed! Now that sounds like an ideal tropical tank for that size!

[Ree]

 

Will I be able to keep

 

1bn pleco

neon tetras

either male or female guppies

Yes indeed! Now that sounds like an ideal tropical tank for that size!

 

 

Thankyou! 

[RanchuDressing]

You could have male AND female guppies, if you wanted to -- there's wiggle room stocking-wise for you to keep a few babies.

[goldfishgirl82]

 

I think the small tank would be too small for the guppies, especially with pregnant females. They will overpopulate it rather quick. I agree with RD above about possibly re-homing some of the fish as well. I didn't catch how many you had listed when I read through the first time or the tank size. If you want to separate the guppies for now or until you decide what you want to do, you should probably try to make sure their temp doesn't go below 72F. Ideal for them is around 75F - 78F, but I've kept them a little lower for short periods of time and they've been okay. I just wouldn't do it long term. I definitely think if you decide to re-home, the guppies probably would be a good choice though because they will keep making more guppies. But if you like them a lot, maybe the mollies instead. It sounds like they aren't co-existing too good at the moment. 

 

Thanks Goldfishgirl82!   Ive put just the females in the smaller tank for the moment, and once they have had their babies I will pop them back in the 100L tank, and leave the 12L for the small fry.  I will try to see if the petshop will take back some of the babies, and either the males or the females.  Then after a while I wont get more babies? 

 

 

With female guppies, they can have babies up to three times without a male even being present. So I would say it might be best if you keep females, maybe don't keep all of them. They can have anywhere up to 30 fry every 28 days or so. Which you may be able to re-home them with pet stores, but sometimes stores won't take them either. It all depends on the stores around you. If you keep both males and females, you will keep having babies. You could just let nature take its course and leave the babies in your main tank and that would keep the population down, just let what survives survive... but some people feel bad about that. Just mentioning these things because they're called the millionsfish for a reason.   I got out of keeping them myself because I had nowhere to put them after a while. 

Edited April 27, 2015 by goldfishgirl82

[Ree]

You could have male AND female guppies, if you wanted to -- there's wiggle room stocking-wise for you to keep a few babies.

 

I did like the idea of a few babies!    

 

 

 

I think the small tank would be too small for the guppies, especially with pregnant females. They will overpopulate it rather quick. I agree with RD above about possibly re-homing some of the fish as well. I didn't catch how many you had listed when I read through the first time or the tank size. If you want to separate the guppies for now or until you decide what you want to do, you should probably try to make sure their temp doesn't go below 72F. Ideal for them is around 75F - 78F, but I've kept them a little lower for short periods of time and they've been okay. I just wouldn't do it long term. I definitely think if you decide to re-home, the guppies probably would be a good choice though because they will keep making more guppies. But if you like them a lot, maybe the mollies instead. It sounds like they aren't co-existing too good at the moment. 

 

Thanks Goldfishgirl82!   Ive put just the females in the smaller tank for the moment, and once they have had their babies I will pop them back in the 100L tank, and leave the 12L for the small fry.  I will try to see if the petshop will take back some of the babies, and either the males or the females.  Then after a while I wont get more babies? 

 

 

With female guppies, they can have babies up to three times without a male even being present. So I would say it might be best if you keep females, maybe don't keep all of them. They can have anywhere up to 30 fry every 28 days or so. Which you may be able to re-home them with pet stores, but sometimes stores won't take them either. It all depends on the stores around you. If you keep both males and females, you will keep having babies. You could just let nature take its course and leave the babies in your main tank and that would keep the population down, just let what survives survive... but some people feel bad about that. Just mentioning these things because they're called the millionsfish for a reason.   I got out of keeping them myself because I had nowhere to put them after a while. 

 

 

Millionsfish     Ok, females are separate from the males now.  So what has happened has happed  , so to speak  .   I will check with the petshop to see if they will take then on a regular basis. 

 

How many guppies should I be keeping max in my 100L?  along with 16 tetras and the bn pleco?

[RanchuDressing]

If it was me, I'd probably start with about 6 or so (4 females, 2 males) and see how it goes. Definitely make sure there are more females than males, so the boys don't harass the girls too much. The males can get territorial too, so the fewer the better.

[Ree]

If it was me, I'd probably start with about 6 or so (4 females, 2 males) and see how it goes. Definitely make sure there are more females than males, so the boys don't harass the girls too much. The males can get territorial too, so the fewer the better.

 

  That's just what I've got!      but there are more on the way! 

 

I've taken the females out... I have the females in a tank right up against the main tank where the male guppies are (with the tetras and plecos) so he can still see the girls.  But one of the males is agitated.  He was arguing with the sailfin mollies (which have now been rehomed  , as have the bumblebee gobies).  They were taken out of the tank about an hour and a half ago.  Is he just in hyped up mode and will settle once he realises they are not there any more?

 

I've also noticed the tetras have coloured up again.  They lost their colour a little while the sailfins were in there.  Now they are schooling again, and behaving more normally.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Ree

[Ree]

Ok, now I might have  big problem!  I have noticed tonight that my tetras are loosing their fins, are swimming erratically (as though they were fighting) and some have developed really lumpy tummys, almost as though their undersides have split.  Not a uniform bloated look, but more like a well lumpy look.... thought at first it may have been the females, but it is the males too.  What would this be?  Ill upload some photos in a tick.

 

The tank is at 27deg celcius.

 

Can I add salt to the tank?

 

I have realised also that the water ph is too high for them (between 8-8.2).  I have access to rainwater, so am going to do a big water change in a few hours and add some rainwater to reduce the ph somewhat. 

 

I was also about to prazi them (BN plecos & guppys inc).  Is this a good idea or not?

[Ree]

Their red is fading too.... The blue hasn't faded.  The fins started about 36? hours ago, as did the fighting, so I thought these were caused by the fighting. When I say fighting, it was tail to nose spinning and nipping at each other. 

 

They are fed aquaone tropical flakes, and aquaone vege wafers (its supposed to be for the plecos, but they never get it).  They also have a lump of zucchini in the water (for the plecos only left in for 24hours before a water change).  Their water change is not due til Sunday, but I am doing it tomorrow anyway.  It was last changed on Sunday.  Today is Thursday.

 

Their tummys aren't as lumpy as they were an hour ago.  But the red has defiantly faded in the last hour.  The photos are really bad quality.  Sorry.  They are the best I could do.

 

Please help me and be kind.  I know I am still learning, and making mistakes, but I want to fix this and make it work if it can. 

 

Colour fade & fins ragged

 

lumpy tummy

 

lumpy tummy

 

fins & colour fade

[Ree]

This is the only other thing I have changed in the last two days.  I added one of these to the water.  It was rinsed well in primed water, then soaked in clean primed water before adding it to their tank.

 

http://www.aquaticsupplies.com.au/exo-terra-moss-ball-clarity-and-odour-control.html

Edited April 30, 2015 by Ree

[goldfishgirl82]

You might want to start a thread in the Disease and Diagnosis area of the Tropical section. Maybe someone will be able to help with it. You could fill out the form the same way you would in the D&D for goldfish. I think it would be the best way for the mods to help and have the info organized.  Also, more likely for the post to be seen if in a new topic.

 

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/forum/index.php?/forum/181-tropical-fish-disease-diagnosis/

Edited April 30, 2015 by goldfishgirl82