Platy tail

[ArtistGardener]

Oh dear. You need to go to Aqadvisor and put in all of your information: size of tank, filtration, all contents. You will see warnings about your combinations, filtration, etc. Show this to your wife. I know you want a beautiful healthy tank, Kevin, but it is going to be impossible with what you have. You are trying to do what is best for your fish, it is obvious, but this isn't going to work. Here is a direct link to the site. For a very experienced aquarist, they can bend the rules some, but for someone just starting out and still cycling their tank, you really need to follow this advice.

AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

 

[libertybelle]

Oh dear. You need to go to Aqadvisor and put in all of your information: size of tank, filtration, all contents. You will see warnings about your combinations, filtration, etc. Show this to your wife. I know you want a beautiful healthy tank, Kevin, but it is going to be impossible with what you have. You are trying to do what is best for your fish, it is obvious, but this isn't going to work. Here is a direct link to the site. For a very experienced aquarist, they can bend the rules some, but for someone just starting out and still cycling their tank, you really need to follow this advice.

AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

Wow... that's an impressive list...:


Warning: Raphael Catfish is not recommended for your tank - it may eventually outgrow your tank space, potentially reaching up to 7 inches.
Warning: Silver Dollar is not recommended for your tank - it may eventually outgrow your tank space, potentially reaching up to 6 inches.
Warning: At least 5 x Silver Dollar are recommended in a group.
Warning: Silver Dollar will likely to fin nip Angelfish.
Warning: Silver Dollar will likely to fin nip Guppy.
Warning: Silver Dollar will likely to fin nip Fantail Goldfish.
Warning: Ghost Shrimp may become food for Angelfish.
Suggestion: If you want to keep more than 1 Platy, minimum recommend male to female ratio is 1:2 (M:F). You will be less likely to experience problem if you get even more females.
Warning: Platy is not recommended to be with Swordtail due to interbreeding possibilities.
Suggestion: If you want to keep more than 1 Molly, minimum recommend male to female ratio is 1:2 (M:F). You will be less likely to experience problem if you get even more females.
Warning: Molly is not recommended to be with Swordtail due to interbreeding possibilities.
Suggestion: If you want to keep more than 1 Guppy, minimum recommend male to female ratio is 1:2 (M:F). You will be less likely to experience problem if you get even more females.
Warning: Swordtail is not recommended to be with Platy due to interbreeding possibilities.
Warning: Swordtail is not recommended to be with Molly due to interbreeding possibilities.
Warning: At least 5 x Kuhli Loach are recommended in a group.


Warning: Water temperature requirements are not fully compatible between all selected species.
=> 16 - 30C: Apple Snail
=> 15 - 27C: Ghost Shrimp
=> 22 - 28C: Raphael Catfish
=> 24 - 30C: Kuhli Loach
=> 24 - 28C: Silver Dollar
=> 24 - 30C: Angelfish
=> 18 - 24C: Zebra Danio
=> 18 - 24C: Glo Fish
=> 18 - 25C: Platy
=> 18 - 28C: Molly
=> 18 - 28C: Guppy
=> 18 - 27C: Swordtail
=> 19 - 23C: Fantail Goldfish
[Display in Farenheit]
Recommended pH range: 7 - 7.5.
Recommended hardness range: 11 - 15 dH.



Warning: You NEED to add more aquarium filtration capacity!!!

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 28%.Help on Filtration capacity
Recommended water change schedule: 72% per week. (You might want to split this water change schedule to two separate 47% per week)
Your aquarium stocking level is 191%.
Your tank is overstocked. Unless you are an experienced aquarist who can meet the maintenance/biological needs

 

[senorkevin]

I know
Someone said that with 2 filter foams it should be ok.
Looks like I need to rehome the silver dollars

 

[libertybelle]

That will help a bit on the behavioral front at least

 

[ArtistGardener]

Kevin, it is going to take much more than that. The suggestion I made of finding a new home for the silver dollars, raphael cats and goldfish is just the start. Even if you do that, you will be still be doing HUGE water changes to cycle this tank.

You should add another filter to the tank, not just extra foam in the one filter, although that definitely helps. Another Aquaclear 30 or 50 would help, or an Aqueon Quiet Flow 30 or 50 is less expensive.

At the very least, get your wife a 20 or 30 gallon tank and turn over the goldfish care to her (and don't let her add any more fish to that tank either) and rehome the cats and silver dollars.

 

[senorkevin]

I will re home the silver dollars, goldfish and the dalmation Molly. It says that the catfish need a 30 gallon tank

 

[ArtistGardener]

Some of the store websites say 30 gallons is big enough for a raphael, but all experienced aquarists say 55 (or 40 breeder) is the minimum--and you have two fish that will reach 7 inches. I know it is hard to hear things you don't want to hear, but isn't that why you are reaching out for help? In order to get this tank to cycle properly without killing the fish AND have those fish have some quality of life, you need to downsize your stock.

I once knew a woman who loved horses and she kept adopting more and more of them until her pasture couldn't support them and it turned to hard-packed dirt. Then she spent lots of money and time feeding them hay--until she couldn't afford it anymore. Then her horses began to starve. She ended up being forced to give them all away. I know this isn't the same exact thing, but lessons can be learned from it. Start small--add slowly. Since you are already in a difficult situation, help yourself (and the fish) by getting rid of half of the bioload. Best of luck. You know what you need to do.

 

[senorkevin]

I do what needs to be done. It's just a shame I never knew before hand

 

[ArtistGardener]

You aren't the first and you won't be the last. Seeing all those cool fish in the stores is so tempting--and the employees often don't know anything and their "advice" often hurts the beginner more than helps. I made a mistake with my first goldfish tank (not to this extreme, luckily!) but was able to remedy it quickly because I got awesome advice from this forum. Good luck!!!

 

[senorkevin]

re homing done.
This is the best I can do without getting a new tank:
1 fintail goldfish
2 rapheal catfish
1 hillstream loach
2 angels
5 danios
3 molly
5 platy
2 ghost shrimp
2 apple snails

 

[Fibsog]

Sadly my platy just died with clamped fins today but i think she had a swim bladder problem.

 

[ArtistGardener]

Those are what you are keeping? Yikes. I have given you my advice, and I would bet you would get the same or similar advice from many on the forum. Looks like I can't help you any further.

Once again, good luck with your tank.

 

[senorkevin]

I added a small 306 l/h filter. I hope that will help

 

[libertybelle]

When it comes down to it you have more issues than just overstocking at the moment. You have fish that live in all different conditions thrown together in the same tank. Most obviously...Your tank water is either too warm for the goldfish or too cold for the angels (and most everything else.) It is great that you have made a start at improving conditions, but really the final step has to be dealing with the goldfish.

If you really can't get rid of it for sentimental reasons, than it should be relevant that the water is not the right temperature and in that tank it will be stunted and die much earlier than it should.

It's not just for your fishes sake that we tell you all this. This is going to be a pain to take care of and the fish will not flourish in these conditions. Dealing with sick fish is not what most people sign up for when they start a fish tank and no one likes putting so much effort into a tank and still having fish die on them.

Additional filtration is a good step though... Is that the Hagen Fluval 306?

If the filter you added is the Hagen one than you at least are approaching reasonable levels of filtration even though the tank is still very overstocked:
AqadvisorCurrentStocking

 

[senorkevin]

The filter is called aquajet 300. It has 2 foam inserts and biomax type of material inside. I will rehome the goldfish today I promise. The goldfish doesnt bother me but my wife loves it

 

[senorkevin]

I dont think the filter is anything special but it is better tgan nothing! Just got home and im off the my lfs to re home the goldfish before the wife gets home

 

[libertybelle]

The filter is called aquajet 300. It has 2 foam inserts and biomax type of material inside. I will rehome the goldfish today I promise. The goldfish doesnt bother me but my wife loves it

I know. We do get so attached, I did the same thing when I first started. I had no idea how long goldfish were supposed to live and was so proud of myself when my goldfish lived for 2 years in a 5 gallon. In retrospect I cringe and I definitely wish someone had told me about that back then!

It will obviously be a lot better without the goldfish and that will better your other fishes chance of staying healthy and active too.

I'm not sure what filter that is... but sure it is better than nothing.

Uh oh... are we going to get in trouble with the wife? I suggest

 

[senorkevin]

Yep it's all your fault! You all told me to do it! I feel more relaxed now that things are better and I know that my temp needs to be at 24. I must be honest though, the tank looks empty now!

 

[libertybelle]

Yep it's all your fault! You all told me to do it! I feel more relaxed now that things are better and I know that my temp needs to be at 24. I must be honest though, the tank looks empty now!

Good thing you don't know where we live

A fish tank, when it is balanced, is quite relaxing. It's when things get overstocked and fish start to act funny and get sick that it becomes a stressful experience. It's better for all involved to keep things healthy.

I bet it does look empty by contrast, but I bet the fish will start acting more relaxed and natural when they have a bit more room! Mine is a bit understocked and planted because I don't like stress, and it's like a zen aqua-garden!

The tank is still under filtered and a bit overstocked so getting an additional filter should still be on the list when you can. Whatever filter you are considering you can plug it into that website and it will tell you if it combined with what you currently have will give you the filtration you need. Another good idea is to add some fast growing easy plants (things like water wisteria, java moss or vals) Live plants will put some oxygen in the water during the day when most of the fish are active and naturally filter out some of the bad nitrogenous compounds (ammonia nitrite and nitrate.)

Just make sure whatever you get is a true aquatic plant - there are some semi-aquatics available at pet stores. And that it will do ok with low light which is probably what you have on your tank.

 

[senorkevin]

My light is a 20w 10000k. Also I have 3 plants, elodea, amamazon sword (melon I think) and a red plant but I cant remember the name but the snails like eating it! Also I have 2 lava rocks and a piece of drift wood that im soaking and boiling as it turned my water dark