55 gallon newbie

[BobandBecca]

We love our new tank! Its 2 weeks old and we have 21 fish in it already. Does anyone think i might have problems.

[butterfly_koi]

We all have addictions here
What size tank do you have? Fish? We love seeing tank pictures around here! Oh and of course,
~*Welcome to AA*~

[Andrew McFadden]

Na we dont have problems you two have problems lol j/k we all do
to AA

[BobandBecca]

well 55 gallon as you may already know.

1 betta, 6 neons, 2 bala sharks, 3 dwarf gouramis, 4 commet goldfish, 1 silver dollar, 1 angel, 1 black knife ghost.

I did try to upload some photos not sure how i made out.

thanks for any help.

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Originally Posted by BobandBecca

well 55 gallon as you may already know.

1 betta, 6 neons, 2 bala sharks, 3 dwarf gouramis, 4 commet goldfish, 1 silver dollar, 1 angel, 1 black knife ghost.

I did try to upload some photos not sure how i made out.

thanks for any help.

Yes you will definitly have problems.... Bettas are generally agressive tank mates, but you might have a peaceful one.

Bala sharks need bigger tanks

The goldfish will get very large

The silver dollar needs a school and they get huge as well

[Aquatic_Adam]

Originally Posted by BobandBecca

well 55 gallon as you may already know.

1 betta, 6 neons, 2 bala sharks, 3 dwarf gouramis, 4 commet goldfish, 1 silver dollar, 1 angel, 1 black knife ghost.

I did try to upload some photos not sure how i made out.

thanks for any help.

Haha other than a love for fish I see a few problems.

Your Bala Sharks and Silver Dollar are gonna get too large for a 55.

Comets are a cool water species. They like lower temperatures than the rest of the fish in your tank.

Your BGK is ok, but him and your Neons may get to be too close of friends of you know what I mean...(he will eat them sooner or later )

Lastly, which may not happen with a larger tank like you have, but since DG and Bettas are both Anabantoids, you may experience aggression between them.

Sorry to be a Debby-Downer

[Samzter]

Originally Posted by BobandBecca

well 55 gallon as you may already know.

1 betta, 6 neons, 2 bala sharks, 3 dwarf gouramis, 4 commet goldfish, 1 silver dollar, 1 angel, 1 black knife ghost.

I did try to upload some photos not sure how i made out.

thanks for any help.

Welcome to AA! This is what I think
1 betta - could be a potential problem with the Gourami, would do better in it's own 5g
6 neons - will work depending if you take the rest of my advice
2 Bala sharks- rehome. They'll get too big.
3 dwarf Gouramis - probably all males . Rehome 2 of them or rehome all of them if you want to keep the betta
4 comet goldfish- rehome immediately ! They will produce sooo much waste and will foul your water . You need to do 50% daily water changes
1 silver dollar- rehome. Gets big and needs to be in a school
1 angel- could work but it might eat neons when mature.
1 black ghost knife - rehome . It probably will eat the neons and needs a 125g minimum.


I take it you didn't cycle your tank. Cycling is very important , and you've added too many fish too soon. You need to do at least 50-60% per day until you can rehome the stock I've suggested. Hope you like the site so far!

[BobandBecca]

Ok, lets talk about these water changes. First of all no one ever mentioned this cycling to us at all, petstore people or other fish tank owners. We have no idea what we are doing evidently. How are we suposed to do 50% water changes with freezeing cold "city water" with loads of chroline and junk. i will rehome things very quickly, I can get more tanks thats not a problem the problem seems to be the water.

we are clueless! we have tested to water and the amonia is .5 everything else seems ok.

thanks everyone for even looking at this thread and trying to help!!!

[Slade]

Originally Posted by BobandBecca

Ok, lets talk about these water changes. First of all no one ever mentioned this cycling to us at all, petstore people or other fish tank owners. We have no idea what we are doing evidently. How are we suposed to do 50% water changes with freezeing cold "city water" with loads of chroline and junk. i will rehome things very quickly, I can get more tanks thats not a problem the problem seems to be the water.

we are clueless! we have tested to water and the amonia is .5 everything else seems ok.

thanks everyone for even looking at this thread and trying to help!!!

Great first step having a test kit. My guess is "everything else is ok" is because your cycle hasn't started so ammonia hasn't produced nitrate yet. Read up on fish-in cycling. Use seachem prime to treat new water to neutralize chlorine & chloramine. If you can't mix in hot water, then let your new water adjust to room temp before adding.
We all learn not to rely on chain pet store advice, there are lots of people here that know what they are talking about so keep posting questions you have.

IMO the first thing you need to do is separate the goldfish, which are cold water fish. You have some time to decide which of the others to rehome.

Welcome to AA!

[BobandBecca]

Ok the goldfish are gone (my neighbor has a pond) your saying i need to get 30 gallons of water ready with a primer to room temp. Remove 30 from my tank, then add the water i have prepared. How long is someone supposed to do this for?

[Samzter]

Hi again. I think what slade means is empty 50% of the water or 30-40% then fill a bucket with the same amount of water you need to add. Then dose that with prime . Anyways I'll let slade explain the rest! Good luck and good call on the goldfish!

[BobandBecca]

Ok 50% water change done. Goldfish gone. Betta has his own tank. Next?

[BobandBecca]

I have been cycling my tank since you guys helped me out. I have these fish in there still; 1 bala, 1 angel, 2 dwarf gouramis, 1 BGK, 1 silver dollar, 6 noen tettra. For the last 5 days my ammonia is. 5 and nitrite is 0. Nitrate at about 20. Has my cycle stalled or finished or what?