Newbie seeking advice on 55gal

[Ladeia3]

Hello,

Unfortunately I'm a total newbie, and not one of the smart ones who does a lot of research first. I kind of jumped in with only a little research.

I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank. It has 8 zebra danios, 6 platies, 6 tiger barbs, 1 algae eater, 1 plectus catfish and 2 crabs. Is this too much for the tank? And will all these be alright together or should I remove any? They seem to all being doing alright. Can I add any ghost shrimp or any other fish at a later date?

The ph level has stayed at 7.8. Other than adding driftwood or chemicals is there any other method of lowering the ph? The other levels are good according to the master test kit.



What should I add plant wise? I currently have 4 live plants randomly picked at Petco.

Thanks for any help.
LE

 

[sinibotia]

So, your stocking is mostly ok. The only major issues I see are the algae eater and the crabs. Crabs need air and brackish water so they will drown in your tank.

What kind of algae eater do you have? And by plectus do you mean a pictus catfish or a pleco?

I would get better lights rather than more plants. Those lights look very weak, and many plants sold by Petco are actually terrestrial plants that will die and rot underwater.

How long has this tank been set up?

By the way, that looks like a 55 gallon kit setup. If so you're going to need another filter.

Freshwater fish are highly adaptable. 7.8 isn't too extreme so the best thing you can do is to not mess with it.

 

[Exigenn]

Well this depends, What type of "Algae eater" and if it is a common pleco or a bristlenose pleco. Along with if the tank is fully cycled or not, and tiger barbs can be somewhat aggressive. i personally don't know much about the crabs so they could be an issue. Plant wise i like amazon swords, java fern, java moss, anubias, crypts and vals. Java fern is low light and can be a very nice looking plant, I always like java moss in my tanks to help soak up excess nutrients, Amazon swords are just awesome. Crypts are pretty new to me and i haven't had a ton of luck but they look nice, vals are also fairly new for me but they are doing well and i love the look of them, kind of like tall grass. Anubias is a very good looking plant IMO but some can be pricey.

On the note of PH the only ways i can think of lowing it naturally are driftwood and peat. I have a very high PH as well but all my fish have gotten pretty much used to it. Its more about consistency then having the perfect ph for a few hours and then having it change. The only real problem comes when trying to breed certain fish. All of the plains i listed are fairly low light, You have to be careful sometimes buying random plants that look good, some of them need nutrients added and co2 as well as medium/high light. Hope this helped you out some.

Edit: sini beat me to it =/
Edit #2: That looks like a penguin 350 i have one on my 60 sini, should be fine for stocking given the algae eater and the pleco being a bristlenose if it is a BN

 

[sinibotia]

Hey, it's always good to get a second opinion I agree about the tiger barbs being a potential issue but they're such a crapshoot, if they aren't being problematic then not much to worry about. Not a lot for them to nip in there.

Edit: you're right, that filter should be OK. But another filter never hurts; I run two and three filters on both my 55 gallons

 

[Exigenn]

Yea 2 filters never hurts but that one isn't totally inadequate for that sized tank. a second filter would certainly be worth looking into. I was thinking of another one for my 60 as well. To give the OP a few ideas and myself some feedback o) any preference between these 3 sini or experiences, or anyone else for that matter.

Also on the note of penguin 350, im not very happy with it personally. It is fairly noise in general and 3 times sense i got it (black friday) it has gotten extremely loud and began rattling. All because a little piece of plant material got wrapped around the impeller, and i mean a small piece. The one thing i do like on it is how long the intake tube is. Considering i run planted tanks and thats what OP is doing may even consider changing filter. Im thinking about it myself, just a heads up.

Aqueon 55/75 Power Filter

Cascade 300 Power Filter

Whisper EX70 Power Filter

 

[sinibotia]

Y'know, tetra stuff gets a lot of criticism but I've been thrilled with the EX 30.

Aqueon is fine, no experience with the cascade.

OK, staying on topic now

 

[unstopaBULLFish]

Y'know, tetra stuff gets a lot of criticism but I've been thrilled with the EX 30.

Aqueon is fine, no experience with the cascade.

OK, staying on topic now

My first ten gallon was a full set of equipment plus tank for $30, to this day everything has worked perfectly and is performing well...


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[Ladeia3]

Thanks for all the replies. On my phone but I'll try to remember all the questions.

Yes, this is a kit. I plan to purchase a second filter but budget is tight for the next few weeks. I bought the air pump separately. I also plan to purchase a second heater as a back up in case the one in there breaks .

All fish were purchased at Walmart. Yes I know that is the worst place to get fish. Mostly it was convenient and cheap. Not my best idea. The catfish, algae eater, crabs and tiger barbs were all at the rec of my friend who has a tank for the 4 years. She claims they will do fine. I got them and found out after she believes fish will only grow to the size the tank will allow with no problems. Which is why I'm asking about them after the fact. I'm not positive on the species I purchased of catfish and algae eater.

This tank was set up this week. No it was not cycled properly. I listened to the friend and did my research after the fact. I used api quick start and stress and let it be for a few hours before adding fish. None of them have died.... yet. I would like to keep it that way.

I have added the fluval ammonia remover filter and also added my friends tank filter to help with the bacteria.

Has anyone used the eco-bio stone? I have one soaking right but wondering if it will be a good idea.

I can't see the algae eater. He's hiding in the rock deal but here is a pic of the catfish. Hopefully it is clear enough to see.

 

[sinibotia]

Ah ok, your catfish is a pictus catfish. They like groups but otherwise should be ok in a 55.

I worry about the algae eater because the most common species of algae eater are common plecos which get absolutely enormous, and chinese algae eaters which are kleptoparasites who eat slime off of fish's sides as they grow (often leading to infection), as well as sometimes fins and eyes. Neither eat algae and both produce a lot of waste.

I would carefully monitor the water every day. You may end up having to do a lot of water changes with the amount of fish you added so soon. By master test kit do you mean the API freshwater master test kit?

 

[Exigenn]

yea i agree with sini here, i would do 50% daily to be on the safe side, a big on the algae eater would help us ID it.

 

[Ladeia3]

When I can get a pic I will post it. Looking at online pictures I'm pretty sure it is the common pleco.

 

[unstopaBULLFish]

When I can get a pic I will post it. Looking at online pictures I'm pretty sure it is the common pleco.

Rehome it if it is the Common pleco or CAE, but definitely make sure to send us a pic because you never know you could have a actual algae eating pleco such as BN's


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[sinibotia]

Yeah, if you want a cool algae eater bristlenose and rubbernose plecos are both cool options.

 

[Ladeia3]

Best pic I could get of it. Water is a little cloudy. Not sure why it is showing upside down when it is fine on my pc.

 

[sinibotia]

That's a common pleco. See if you can take it back. They can get 18"+

 

[Ladeia3]

Ok, I will see if I can do that. If I can't for some reason, how long do I have to rehome it before it outgrows the current accommodations?

Also, it was mentioned that the crabs might drown. How do I tell if they are having issues? The male crab has been hanging out on the rock decoration waving his claw around and the female has been hanging out by the air stone. I only got them because my friend recommended them and haven't had the time yet to do any research on them.

Do I need to add aquarium salt? I've seen it mentioned I should and then I've seen it mentioned that I shouldn't because certain species (I'm pretty sure Corys were one of those mentioned) are over sensitive to even a little salt. None of the others have I found anything on whether adding salt would be beneficial or harmful.

Other than frequent 25-50% water changes to control the harmful stuff, is there anything else I should be doing to help keep the tank healthy?

Yes, it is the API Freshwater Master test kit. I got it from Petco when I got the plants and gravel for the tank. I've been testing 2-3 times a day. They were normal other than the high ph this morning. It looks like the ammonia spiked. Here is a pic of the four tests I just did.



Is there something I should do or should I just leave it for now and keep an eye on it?

Thanks

 

[Exigenn]

Well that ammonia level is scary, i would feed the fish once a day or every other day to help reduce the bio-load a bit. Im not sure about aquarium salt, i don't ever use that stuff personally. On re homing are you asking how long until it is to big, because i would try and take it back now. Most stored have a policy where you can return fish within X amount of time. A fully cycles tank should have .0 ammonia, might be my eyes but that looks more like .5-1.

 

[sinibotia]

I once had a common pleco hit 8 inches in around a year. But the bigger they get the harder they are to rehome. As Exigenn suggested, do it now while you still can.

Aquarium salt is snake oil. It's useful as a treatment for certain diseases and as a prophylactic in quarantine, but you can buy canning/pickling salt which is the exact same thing but much cheaper.

With that level of ammonia, definitely keep up the water changes. Try to keep it around .25, never above .5 or so.

 

[Ladeia3]

Just an update.

I went and got an Aqueon filter for 55/75 tank. I added a decorative bubbler and two horned nerite snails (at someone else's recommendation), another decorative hiding place and more plants that were also recommended. The ammonia level was down a level from earlier when I just retested. I will do a partial water change and add Prime as soon as I get my kid to bed.

So far the fish are all still alive and appear to be doing ok.

As far as the pleco, I lost the receipt so don't know if they will take it back. I didn't get a chance to check today. I wanted to know in case they refused to take it and I had to find a new home on my own.

 

[Exigenn]

The horned nerites are a good idea but it might be a bit early, you will likely have to supplement them considering how new the tank is. if they don't take it back i would try to re-home it asap Via on craigslist or facebook or whatever. If it was a big box store and you payed with a credit/debit card or have an account with them they may be able to pull the receipt up on the computer.