Fish in my tank

[Plecos4596]

I have recently started this. I have a pleco,two tiger barbs(one died):,two swordtails, and 4 beacon tetra. Any advice on anything would be greatly appreciated(any advice would help wonders).

 

[VOXGM]

What is your question?

 

[Zimmanski]

How big is your tank? How long has it been cycled and how did you cycle? What are your plants for the future of the tank? My first suggestion/tip is: water changes, don't skimp on them, do them regularly, and when in doubt do another water change(within reason).

 

[Plecos4596]

Thank you I'm planning on having fake plants I have one fake plant right now and one rock

 

[Zimmanski]

How big is the tank? For one thing plecos need real wood in their diet to aid in digestion so I would suggest getting a piece of driftwood for yours to rasp on

 

[Plecos4596]

??10 gallon going to upgrade I know he will grow out of it soon the plecos a juvenile.

 

[Plecos4596]

10 gallon oops

 

[Zimmanski]

Well all of the fish you have should have more than a ten gallon really. The tiger barbs are schooling fish and need a lot more space they're also semi-aggressive but aggression outside the school can be minimized by keeping a proper group The swordtails are social fish and are recommended to be kept in groups preferably 1 male for every 2 or 3 females, swordtails also have a higher bioload than you would think for their size. I'm unsure about the exact tetra you have but all tetras are schooling too so a group of 5+ here as well.

How did you cycle your tank? Do you know why your barb died?

 

[Plecos4596]

It used to be worse before I had these fish I had a iridescent shark in my 10 gAllon! The bpeople at the pet store didn't tell me anything about them and I did research and they get huge so I took it back):

 

[Plecos4596]

These are beacon tetra also called head and tail light tetra

 

[Rivercats]

Actually your swords may be small now but male swords can get 5+ inches and have a very high bio-load. Tiger barbs as already stated are also not suitable for a 10g and get to about 3". Also the reason they need to be kept in schools is to help keep aggression down. The Beacon tetras as you call them which I am assuming are Head and Tail light tetras are the only species in there that is truely suitable for that size tank. They really would do better if you could up your school by at least 2. Unless your planning on getting a really large 100g tank or so the pleco really isn't suitable to keep. They get much larger than the shark ever would have. If you would rehome/sell all you fish except the tetras you could get something like some Endlers for top schoolers and get some dwarf or pygmy cories for bottom dwellers. With that stock you could even add in some shrimp.

 

[Plecos4596]

Thanks will change when I can I just don't have the money (I'm 13)

 

[Plecos4596]

Can I have a pic of endlers?

 

[Rivercats]

I understand the money part but now you have correct info so you can change what needs to be down the road. I know the Pet Smarts around here all carry Endler males which are the pretty colored ones and they aren't expensive. They are much smaller than guppies which they look very similar to. Here's some pic's as I don't have pic's of ours... pictures of Endler freshwater fish - Google Search

 

[Plecos4596]

They look awesome I'm gonna get some when I can thanks