Please help me find the right tankmates... ASAP

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danser75

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
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Ok so a friend of mine called me today and requested I come and pickup her fish. she was cleaning her tank after moving and had it out in the yard and broke her 55 gallon tank. The fish were fine so she requested that I take the fish as she was tired of dealing with the tank and now that its broken she wont replace it. I didn't even know she had fish but I now have her gravel and fish. She wouldn't give me the filter because I guess it was borrowed from another person. I really like the fish but don't have the $ to setup another tank so here is what I have and tell me what to place where please.

I have

1-figure 8 puffer- 3.25"
2- small angelfish- 2" (very tiny)
10- redeyed tetras- 2"
1- blue gourami- 3.5"
3- feeder goldfish- 2.5" (they are healthy and I have had them about 2 months now)(i used them to start my tank BEFORE I found this forum)
3- rainbow sharks- 3.5"
1- large black moor- 5"
2- algae eaters- 2"
1- albino pleco- 3"

I also have the following tanks up and running, and I can use water changes and the bacteria additive to adjust for the changes of fish if needed

1- 75 gallon (with aquatop canister filter for up to 175 gallon tank, 300 watt heater)
1- 20 gallon (with aqueon filter for up to 45 gallon tank, 100 watt heater)
1- 10 gallon (with tetra filter for up to 30 gallon tank, 100 watt heater)

I currently have the puffer, tetras and gourami in the 75

I have the 3 feeder goldfish, 2 algae eaters and the 2 small angelfish in the 10

I have the black moor, albino pleco and rainbow sharks in the 20 gallon

This arrangement does seem to be working out ok.

I am mainly worried for the angelfish getting into it with the goldfish and getting hurt.

I am also worried about the puffer getting aggressive with my gourami.

Now I do have tanks only in a 29 and 35 gallon size (free from craigslist) but not stands, lids, lights, or substrate for them. I can move the filters and heaters to them but still with the cats I have I can't use them without lids and stands and I don't really have the $ to get them right now. I plan to use or sell these eventually but right now they are just chilling in the corner.

Also does anyone have experience with angelfish? I am wondering how fast will they grow from the size of a quarter body they have now to the larger size commonly seen in stores at around 5-6 inches? My friend said she got them a couple weeks ago and didn't know much about them just saw them and liked them. I am wondering how long I have before I will need to get them in a big tank by themselves?
 
My friend gave me some angel fish as he had a problem with his salt water tank and needed to us his other tank to keep them in, they are not as small as yours by the sounds of things, I was told that Angel fish are ment to be put in the tank last but i have got more fish after I put them in & they seem fine with the other fish, I have them in a 30ltr tank and again seem to be fine with that, I will be looking to get a bigger one soon tho.
 
sadly with the 3 tanks you have up and running I don't think you are going to be able to keep all of these fish..

The puffer is a brackish fish and I'm pretty sure as it matures it's not going to survive in a fresh water set up. I'd rehome it

The goldies, feeders and moors, can't be with the tropicals as their temp needs are completely different, but feeders shouldn't be kept with fancies so your feeders and moor would both need their own tanks. I would rehome the fancy or the feeders. The feeders are going to need a huge tank to hold all 3.. probably 50-60 gallons for just them. I would rehome the feeders and keep the moor. It will need a 20 to itself though.

keeping 3 rainbow sharks in a tank together may become an issue as well. Typically they do best as the sole shark in the tank. They may be fine now but as they mature I would expect them to start to bicker.

Honestly I'm not even sure where to start to give recommendations..

The best I have is rehome the puffer and feeders right away

Then the 75 I would put, the gourami, tetras, sharks, algae eaters, pleco and angles
in the 20 I would put the moor on his own

All 3 sharks won't be able to stay in that tank long term I think and may begin to pick on the tetras as they mature but for now I think this should work out ok. There really isn't anything in your tanks that are suitable for a 10 gallon... A school of 10 tetras def over stocks that and everything else is just too big. It sounds like you can't use any of the other bigger tanks without lids, which sucks it would be far more fitting and you have the bigger filters that would help. The lid for the 20 wouldn't fit any of the others would it?

If you were open to rehoming the moor along with the feeders you could put the gourami and tetras in that more long term leaving the sharks, algae eaters and pleco in the 75 and this would buy you more time.

This is just the best I could come up with, hopefully someone else can chime in if I'm missing something important here
 
You have some major overstocking and compatiblity issues. I am not an expert on tropicals but I can address the goldfish. The goldfish and tropicals do not belong together. The moor needs 20g to himself- NO other fish and this will likely need to be upgraded in the future. The feeders need 50g per fish and realistically belong in a pond- I would rehome them. I believe the puffer is brackish and unless you want to setup a seperate tank for him, I would rehome him as well. Putting the rest of this fish in the 75g as Tamtam suggested may work for a bit but Ill let the experts clarify this. All of your fish are going suffer from inappropriate and incompatible environments that they are living in right now so this needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
 
Ok, first off thanks for the advice.

Now when the puffer was bought she was told that he was freshwater and he came from the freshwater section. Does that change anything?

As far as the feeders I will try to get them back to the store to be rehomed. Although there is another thing I don't understand. My family didn't have fish really but the whole time I was growing up we had a goldfish in a 1 gallon glass drum with nothing more than an air hose running to it. It wasn't a fancy goldfish but that fish lived for years, literally at least 8 years in that tank. We would change a little of the water about every once in awhile but that was basically it. why is it now that goldfish are requiring 50 gallons each?

Please don't take this as me trying to argue. I came her for advice but I need to understand it. I never liked the feeders but as I said I used them to start the tanks up. Then my wife decided she liked them. So I threw them in a 10 gallon tank. Then I needed a tank that the angels would be safe in so I threw them in with the goldfish since they are non-aggressive.

Also in the next couple weeks I may be able to setup the 30 or 35 gallon. We are looking at getting rid of the 10 gallon and using that space to setup one of the larger tanks. Mainly I don't have the $ right this second to get the tank up and running.
 
Ask Terrance about the puffer- he is the puffer expert. If he doesnt see this thread, you can find him in the members directory and send him a pm.

Ok, I will clarify about the feeders (common goldfish). First, they potentially can grow (when kept appropriately, not in a bowl) up to 12-18inches. For a common goldfish to only live 8yrs is not very long at all. They can 20-40yrs or more. I believe the world record is 45yrs.

Lets try some perspective here- would you keep an oscar or an arowana in a 1g bowl or a 10g tank? Why not? Because they grow into large fish and they need LOTS of room. A 12in or 18in fish of any species needs space and room to grow and you should stock your tanks based on adult size of your fish to prevent stunting & provide a healthy environment rather than subprime one (unless you want to keep upgrading). Your feeder in the bowl did not grow or live long because of its poor environment. If your wife likes the goldfish, build her a pond so she can keep them or rehome them to someone who has a pond- all those fish in a 10g is a recipe for disaster as is the 20g.
 
jlk said:
Ask Terrance about the puffer- he is the puffer expert. If he doesnt see this thread, you can find him in the members directory and send him a pm.

Ok, I will clarify about the feeders (common goldfish). First, they potentially can grow (when kept appropriately, not in a bowl) up to 12-18inches. For a common goldfish to only live 8yrs is not very long at all. They can 20-40yrs or more. I believe the world record is 45yrs.

Lets try some perspective here- would you keep an oscar or an arowana in a 1g bowl or a 10g tank? Why not? Because they grow into large fish and they need LOTS of room. A 12in or 18in fish of any species needs space and room to grow and you should stock your tanks based on adult size of your fish to prevent stunting & provide a healthy environment rather than subprime one (unless you want to keep upgrading). Your feeder in the bowl did not grow or live long because of its poor environment. If your wife likes the goldfish, build her a pond so she can keep them or rehome them to someone who has a pond- all those fish in a 10g is a recipe for disaster as is the 20g.

Yeah most people don't realize how large goldfish can get.
 
I think JLK covered the goldfish issue well and she's more of an expert on them than I am, so I'll go with what she says there. :)

There are freshwater puffers I believe, you just might want to double-check and make sure that's what you have. Even though they are small though they are VERY aggressive and do best alone or with its own species. If you wanted to keep it, you could put it in the 10 gal.

So that leaves the 75. I guess the rest of the fish wouuld need to go in there for now. I"d rehome the sharks though. What kind of "algae eater?" Can you post a pic? The angels may be ok or may not; it'll depend on their genders and whether they pair up (mate); they could become aggressive toward each other or other fish as they mature. The Gourami may be ok and may not; it'll depend on the temperament of the fish. Same with the Tetras; they may be ok with the Gourami (and vice versa) or the angels and they may not. You'll just have to keep an eye on things, especially as the fish mature. Plecos also benefit from real driftwood as they munch on it for digestion.

Good luck!
 
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If it really is a Figure 8 puffer than it could in theory be kept in fresh water BUT they are brackish fish and when kept in fresh water it will shorten their lifespan. A brackish water can really extent their life span. I think they can live to be like 14-15 years. They are one of the more peaceful puffers I've read however and have managed ok in brackish communities with fish like gobies and mollies but it's sort of like a betta, it's hit or miss. A good reason people often think they are fresh water is because they will travel into fresh water(while spawning I think). Since they are often caught in fresh water people often think they live their when really they only travel for brief periods. I think a tank of about 15 gallons is recommended, they I believe max out at 3 inches. To my knowledge the Indian Puffer(dwarf puffer) is the only puffer that is strictly fresh water. I could be wrong on that.

This is just what all the the reading I've done on puffers has told me, hopefully Terrance will see this and confirm or clear up.

JLK covered the goldies perfect. So many goldies lives are shortened by so much because they don't receive the space they need. You know I was shocked to read that when you stunt a fishes growth like that it's body stops growing but their organs actually don't. As the organs grow they will eventually run out of space and shut down. I remember always hearing people say that a goldie will grow as big as it's tank will allow but it never occurred to be that it was actually suppose to grow SO big.
 
hey guys thanks for the advice.

I am going to start another thread for help with setting up the new tanks that I am going to be bringing up. I have a 125 and 55 to get setup. But thats another topic.

But thanks again guys. Only reason you haven't heard from me before now is because I have been sick for about a week now and it sucks!
 
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