Questions

[Incisions072185]

I keep trying to get new fish but Everytime I do one of them always has a problem with a different one. Before today's additions I have a dwarf gourami, blue gourami, sunburst Platty, 3 long finned tetras, and a male Dalmatian Molly. They all get along just great. I had a gold gourami but he became to hostile with the other gourami so I had to take him back. Today I got another male Dalmatian Molly, cremesicle Molly, and a small catfish. I was told they should all be fine with what I have but now I see the blue gourami constantly going after the catfish and sometimes see my older Molly go after the new Molly. Anyone have any suggestions or do I have to give them time to adapt to the new surroundings? Thanks

 

[Rivercats]

How big is the tank? Is it planted? A picture would help if possible. Without this information all I can say is often when new tank mates are added, if there aren't enough plants (real or fake), aggression from old dominant members can occur. What often can help is to remove the offenders, rescape the tank making sure there are enough plants and that some are tall enough to break the line of sight from one end of the tank to the other end. After doing this you then re-add the old fish. This tricks them into thinking they are in a new tank and have no established territory. Also what type of catfish as many need a cave or hiding place to stay during the day as they become active at night.

 

[Zimmanski]

I keep trying to get new fish but Everytime I do one of them always has a problem with a different one. Before today's additions I have a dwarf gourami, blue gourami, sunburst Platty, 3 long finned tetras, and a male Dalmatian Molly. They all get along just great. I had a gold gourami but he became to hostile with the other gourami so I had to take him back. Today I got another male Dalmatian Molly, cremesicle Molly, and a small catfish. I was told they should all be fine with what I have but now I see the blue gourami constantly going after the catfish and sometimes see my older Molly go after the new Molly. Anyone have any suggestions or do I have to give them time to adapt to the new surroundings? Thanks

First things first, what size tank do you have them in and what do you have in the tank, decorations/live or fake plants, and what are the water parameters? Gourami like angelfish have a tendency to get the "tank is mine" syndrome. Something that may or may not work is to remove the previous gourami as well as the new and completely rearrange the tank so it looks new to both fish, then they will stake their claims to different territories hopefully correcting the issue. As for the Molly's, are they both male? Male and female? Sometimes they can be aggressive breeders, most live bearers are, they can harass their mates to death trying to reproduce, that's why you get the 1m:2f or 1:3 ratio with them. It distributes the harassment and eases stress on the females.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

How big is this tank? It may be overstocked and the fish that are already in there are taking aggression towards the new fish, because they already have claimed the tank as theirs and if there is not any room for more fish, the new fish will have no choice but to trespass onto the other fish's claimed territory and the other fish will not be so happy about that, if that made any sense lol. You also should only add 3 new fish per week, not load them all in at once. Also turn the lights off in the tank about 2 hours before you add the new fish so the fish already in there will be more calm. Also- fish like mollies should be at a 2 female to 1 make ratio, so if the Dalmatian Molly you already have is a male, the new d. Molly and cremecicle Molly should both be females, and vice versa.

 

[Incisions072185]

I have a 37 gal tank. Should be plenty big enough. Both of my d Molly's are male so that might be one issue and the other might be because I don't have enough tall plants.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

True, it should be big enough, but some fish like the gourami are territorial and think that they are the kind of the tank and any other new fish they will be aggressive towards. I would maybe re arrange the tank as Rivercats said, add more plants etc.

 

[Incisions072185]

I'm pretty sure I have an emerald catfish

 

[Incisions072185]

I'm still very new at this, I've only had a tank and 3 of the fish for about 4 months now. I'm surprised they lasted this long to be honest. But what do you mean when you say parameters?

 

[Rivercats]

Molly males can reach 5+ inches and carry a high bio-load. If you have a cory cat you really need to get at least 2 more but preferably 4 more if possible. Single cory cats can be very spooky.

 

[Incisions072185]

So I'm gonna assume an emerald catfish and a Cory catfish are pretty much similar?

 

[Incisions072185]

I'm pretty sure the new Molly I just added today will be dead by morning. Right now it's laying on bottom not moving at all. Every once and awhile it'll start swimming then go back to the bottom.

 

[Zimmanski]

So I'm gonna assume an emerald catfish and a Cory catfish are pretty much similar?

Emerald corydoras, the dwarf catfish generally sold in stores are Cory's, there's many, many different types of Cory's, all of which are shoaling fish. Meaning the need a social group to be happy. And by parameters I mean ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph. If you don't have one, you really really need to get some sort of liquid test kit for your aquarium. Many issues can be diagnosed and corrected by knowing these levels of toxins in your water.

 

[Incisions072185]

Awesome, thanks for clarifying for me. Ill make sure I get one this week, and some more catfish as well. Everyone here nows a lot more then the ppl at petsmart.

 

[ktomminello]

Lol, darned petsmart!! Did they mention anything about how to cycle your tank?

 

[cmbtengnr43]

They probably didn't I work there and you'd be suprised how many employees don't educate customers they'll come back in while I'm working saying they bought fish and they dies first thing j ask is your water cloudy they say yes so I tell them there tank is cycling and ammonia is most Likley high they always say what's that so then I have to teach them about the nitrogen cycle lol my boss gets mad at me if I spend to much time talking to one customer but I do anyways

 

[ktomminello]

They probably didn't I work there and you'd be suprised how many employees don't educate customers they'll come back in while I'm working saying they bought fish and they dies first thing j ask is your water cloudy they say yes so I tell them there tank is cycling and ammonia is most Likley high they always say what's that so then I have to teach them about the nitrogen cycle lol my boss gets mad at me if I spend to much time talking to one customer but I do anyways

Surprised? No, disappointed. I'm a royal pain in the butt to "negligent aquarium stores" I do make the manager come out and I do point out everything that I'm going to tell PETA lol....

 

[cmbtengnr43]

Oh no not one of those PETA people lol

 

[ktomminello]

I'm not at all, but I get a kick out of the look of horror out of the mention.....

 

[cmbtengnr43]

I will say petsmarts standards of care for animals is very good I've seen them spend hundreds on vet bills for a 20$ rat but for some reason most ppl don't think of fish as deserving the same standards of care I know most ppl say they are just fish but they are Gods creatures too

 

[Incisions072185]

No they never told me anything about cycling my tank. And I prob have never done it. After reading these and other posts I will be getting a test kit soon and start monitoring the tank more closely. The poor Molly I bought yesterday was dead this morning when I got up. That's a bummer