water changes?

[freshwaterashley]

I just tranferred my community to a 25? Gallon ( 5 mollies, 2mickey mouse platys,10 ghost sheimp, 1 rainbow shark) howmuch of a water change should i do and how often? Ive never had a tank this big. And i dont want to change too often nd leave nothing for the shark and shrimp to eat... :/

[GNarnian]

The rainbow shark is much too large to be in a 25 gallon tank. They grow fast and are pretty aggressive in my opinion. Do you have a liquid testing kit such as the API master test kit? If not I would suggest investing in one. You will need to be doing AT LEAST a 50% water change or more every week to keep the water healthy.

[freshwaterashley]

Howw is he too big? They get up to 6 inches right?

[GNarnian]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...81&pcatid=1081

Here's a link with basic information in these guys. My rainbow shark got just over 6 inches, but they are very active swimmers and need A LOT of horizontal swimming space. They are also known to be bullies and do better in semi-aggressive tank setups with fish not of their own kind.

[freshwaterashley]

Is there danger of the shark eating my otger fish when he geta bigger? He doesnt eem to likw swimming very fast and he has plenty of caves for if he wants to separate himaelf. Also he has done very well with my otger fish so far. They dont even know he exists really and he sometimes swims and plays with my mollies...

[freshwaterashley]

He mostly just goes around cleaning the tank and floating along around the middle and bottom. Eating the leftovers from my messy molliea

[VOXGM]

Originally Posted by GNarnian

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...81&pcatid=1081

Here's a link with basic information in these guys. My rainbow shark got just over 6 inches, but they are very active swimmers and need A LOT of horizontal swimming space. They are also known to be bullies and do better in semi-aggressive tank setups with fish not of their own kind.

And how does your rainbow shark hit over 6 inches. Their max, key word max, size is only 6 inches? He's a special breed of rainbow shark? An I missing something here?

[VOXGM]

I'd believe it if it was wild caught. Or if I seen a pic aside a tape measure. Not flaming here I'm just going buy general facts on them. Wild ones yes maybe. I'm really interested now. Iv never seen one over 6 yet. I guess I could see it possible. Interesting.

[Sebastienb]

I've had mine for over a year and his hardly grown since but I saw some at a pet store last month that had to be at least 4-5 inches long. Mine might be 2 inches long

[freshwaterashley]

Ive been told that they wont grow biggerthan the space that they have. Idk if thats true but the pwt store owner told me that he shouldnt get much bigger than 5 or 6 inches anyways and he knows the fish i have stocked.

[BBradbury]

Originally Posted by freshwaterashley

I just tranferred my community to a 25? Gallon ( 5 mollies, 2mickey mouse platys,10 ghost sheimp, 1 rainbow shark) howmuch of a water change should i do and how often? Ive never had a tank this big. And i dont want to change too often nd leave nothing for the shark and shrimp to eat... :/

Hello fresh...

The more water you change and the more often you change it, the better. I change half the water in my planted tanks every week. I never have to test the water and only change the filtration a couple of times a month. By changing out so much of the tank water every week, there's no time for toxins to build up in the water and make the fish sick, before the next large change.

IMHO, large, frequent water changes are the most important thing for a healthy tank.

B

[Oohitsae]

Yeah, Max size isn't a rule, it's the MAX AVERAGE size. So lets stop beating down on someone who was tryin to give advice.
I 100% agree, a RTS shouldn't be in anything smaller than a 55, and even that is pushing it.

The "they won't grow bigger than the space given" thing is BS too. It may stunt their growth (which is extremely painful) for a little bit, but they'll eventually grow too big for that tank.
Have you ever seen a goldfish too big for its tank? Pretty much everyone has, and that's what you're going to do to your RTS if you don't rehome him.

And do answer your other question: yes he will eventually become aggressive towards your other fish.

[freshwaterashley]

Well **** that sucks. Guess they didnt tell me all of thus bc they wanted to make that extra 6 bucks. I dont have a bigger tank to put him in so i guess i will just have to return him

[Fresh N Salt guy]

Originally Posted by freshwaterashley

Well **** that sucks. Guess they didnt tell me all of thus bc they wanted to make that extra 6 bucks. I dont have a bigger tank to put him in so i guess i will just have to return him

Ashley,
Take these pointers as suggestions and come to your own conclusion with your specific tank with other people's experiences in mind. If you are having no issues with your shark and your other fish yet, wait it out. My brother rainbow shark in his 36g tank is 2 years old and barely 4 in and is a low energy shark like yours and doesn't pester his other fish. If the shark does get too big, the LFS always give you more in return for a bigger fish and they can turn around and get more for it as well. Though in general the sharks are semi aggressive and do grow to a larger size, this is not specifically your fish in your tank.
Water change wise will depend on your tank and equipment. Getting a bigger filter that moves more gph will make water change frequency less often. I have 2 discus, 5 plecos, 4 tetras, 2 guppies, 3 Japanese algae shrimp, 5 Cory cats and a horseface loach in my 60g and only do a 10-15% water change a week. And my filter pushes 400gph an hour.
I would get that API master test kit to monitor your water quality and you can determine how frequent your water changes need to be and at what percentage.
A lot of people know a lot of info about general tank care and fish specifics on her, but you are the only one who knows your tank. I have seen numerous tanks that aren't supposed to work that are healthy and flourish. Don't jump to any conclusions because someone says your doing it wrong, you can determine that on your own

Good luck!!!

[Jantaris]

Originally Posted by freshwaterashley

Well **** that sucks. Guess they didnt tell me all of thus bc they wanted to make that extra 6 bucks. I dont have a bigger tank to put him in so i guess i will just have to return him

Hi Ashley. Very best thing you can do is go to the LFS after you've done your research. That way, whatever they say, you have some info beforehand. I'm quite new to the forum and find that people happily will help with stocking concerns. Get an idea of what you'd like, do some research, and then ask questions on the forum and it'll help a lot when dealing with the stores
Good luck.

[freshwaterashley]

Originally Posted by Fresh N Salt guy

Ashley,
Take these pointers as suggestions and come to your own conclusion with your specific tank with other people's experiences in mind. If you are having no issues with your shark and your other fish yet, wait it out. My brother rainbow shark in his 36g tank is 2 years old and barely 4 in and is a low energy shark like yours and doesn't pester his other fish. If the shark does get too big, the LFS always give you more in return for a bigger fish and they can turn around and get more for it as well. Though in general the sharks are semi aggressive and do grow to a larger size, this is not specifically your fish in your tank.
Water change wise will depend on your tank and equipment. Getting a bigger filter that moves more gph will make water change frequency less often. I have 2 discus, 5 plecos, 4 tetras, 2 guppies, 3 Japanese algae shrimp, 5 Cory cats and a horseface loach in my 60g and only do a 10-15% water change a week. And my filter pushes 400gph an hour.
I would get that API master test kit to monitor your water quality and you can determine how frequent your water changes need to be and at what percentage.
A lot of people know a lot of info about general tank care and fish specifics on her, but you are the only one who knows your tank. I have seen numerous tanks that aren't supposed to work that are healthy and flourish. Don't jump to any conclusions because someone says your doing it wrong, you can determine that on your own

Good luck!!!

Thanks alot yes he is very low level nergy doesnt zip around he just meanders lol and he seems to be making friends with the other fish. He has plenty of opportunities to be aline if he wants and plenty of room to swim around

[freshwaterashley]

Some pics for reference

[Fresh N Salt guy]

Tank looks good and not too overly crowded. Just keep an eye on the shark and if he starts zipping around and herding your fish into corners then it might be time to consider moving or losing him. From what your saying, he seems like he is fine. Not sure which marine land filter that is bit it looks like 1 of their 3 stage and moves a good amount of water. Guessing a 10-20% pwc a week would be fine. Look up the specs on your model and if it pushes 4-5 tank loads an hour then that water change regiment should be good. Test your water just to be safe. Mollies are big dumpers. Good job on the tank though. Looks good . Here's some of mine in return