Day 2 Platy

[MoodyBlues]

Hello!


First time aquarium owner here!


I conditioned + added bacteria 3 days straight (1 table spoon each day)
I also added plants...


My platy is hiding behind the plants and is glass surfing a lot.. as well as staying at either the top and bottom of the tank. I rarely see her (yes she is female) swimming around in the open space..


My tank is 5 gallons.


Is she lonely? She also came from a 20 gallon tank filled with her other friends as well. Is this a sign of stress/depression?


Thank you,
MoodyBluess

 

[Aiken Drum]

Platys will do better with a few friends, say 3 or more and a 5g tank isnt really big enough to support platys.

Your problems could also be down to an uncycled tank and poor water parameters.

Do you know your water parameters?

What do you understand about the nitrogen cycle?

Do you know how to cycle a tank?

First thing you should always do if you suspect something amiss is change some water.

 

[MoodyBlues]

oh noo... i can't upgrade to a 10 gallon tank because it would not fit.. what should i do with my platy? im so worried.. does the size of the tank matter that much? i do not want to spend more money to get another tank either..


ill do a water test and if anything is not right, ill go and do a water change.


my understanding is that plants will up the nitrite/nitrate and poop, bacteria will up the ammonia. hopefully my nitrate will be at 20ppm or lower!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Plants will take up some ammonia and nitrate, but unless your tank is heavily planted with very low bioload this take up wont be to a noticable degree.

The issue with tank size isnt supporting bioload in your case, but supporting the bioload of a suitable number of platys and giving those fish enough room to live in. You will see issues like you are now doing keeping a platy in too small a tank and keeping it alone. A platy will survive in there, but not thrive.

The best fish for a 5g would be a betta. They are small, so low bioload. Not active swimmers, so dont need the space. They don't need other fish to be happy, so the tank doesn't need to be big enough to support a school. 3 guppies could be another option.

I doubt nitrate will be elevated after 3 days, but you might be seeing some ammonia. Regardless, if the fish looks unhappy, do a water change.

 

[MoodyBlues]

what would you recommend doing since I already have a platy in my 5 gallon tank? i do want to add 2 more friends so she wouldnt be lonely.. but im also afraid that they would not have enough space to thrive.

 

[Aiken Drum]

If you cant get a bigger tank then the best thing would be to return the fish and get something more suitable. If you cant return the fish then go with what you have and just accept it wont be happy in there. Getting 2 more fish will just mean keeping 3 fish in unsuitable conditions rather than 1.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Was the platy kept in a tank with male platys? If so expect babies at some point.

 

[MoodyBlues]

If you cant get a bigger tank then the best thing would be to return the fish and get something more suitable. If you cant return the fish then go with what you have and just accept it wont be happy in there. Getting 2 more fish will just mean keeping 3 fish in unsuitable conditions rather than 1.

Hi there! So I did end up returning the fish and I got a betta instead. However, I did come across another issue.. Algae on my aquarium plants. I am thinking of adding a bottom feeder.. what would you suggest? Keep in mind that I do have a 5 gallon tank!


Thank you
-MoodyBlues

 

[ColdKoi]

Algae is going to be basically unavoidable on a new tank. It will eventually settle out on its own as the tank seasons and the light/nutrient imbalance is sorted out

Nerite snails are a good option as they are generally one of the better tank cleaning snails, don’t get too big and their eggs are not able to hatch in fresh water

 

[gilpi]

A 5 gallon tank should not be hard to keep clean of algae and a little bit of it doesn't hurt anything. Nerite snails have a good reputation for cleaning the tank as well.