New from North Carolina

[ItzKyle87]

What’s going on y’all? I’m Kyle. Not only new to the forums, but relatively new to the hobby itself. I’ve had tanks before... classic like goldfish etc lol. But never really learned much about details about aquariums.

Currently have a 75 gallon tank (I’ll send a pic below) with:
1 Pink Kissing Gourami
1 Gold Gourami
3 baby honey gourami (none of them bigger than half a thumb)
5 giant danios
1 Madagascar Rainbow
5 Tigers
1 Denisonii Barb
1 clown locach
1 pleco

 

[LaloJ]

Your tank looks pretty good, personally I'm not a big fan of plastic plants but that definitely looks good, keep in mind that rainbowfishes and denisonii barbs are shoal fish, they work well with 7 or 8 singles, although 75 gallons such once it's not enough for a group of denisoni barbs, for rainbows it will be, just make sure that your denisoni barb does not stress, as long as it eats well I don't think you have any problem, what are you occupying as a filtration?

 

[ItzKyle87]

Yeah I knew they were fish that liked to be in groups.. but the store only had one of each. The Madagascar has actually become one with the group of Danios... it’s funny to watch lol. He was definitely glad when I added them for sure. Petsmart actually had some more when I went back the other day but they stopped all their fish sales for like the last week and a half. Not really sure what that was about, the sign kind of implied company wide?

As far as fake plants... I’m with you. I’m not a huge fan of them but I’m no where near knowledgeable enough to start straight with the real plants. I’m still trying to learn about the fish part of it haha. I don’t mind the fake plants that have a similar look to real ones. But I’m actually going to rescape this weekend I think. Adding some rocks and drift wood to give some more hiding spots

As far as a filter, Fluval FX4. Got a couple air stones in it as well.

 

[ItzKyle87]

Your tank looks pretty good, personally I'm not a big fan of plastic plants but that definitely looks good, keep in mind that rainbowfishes and denisonii barbs are shoal fish, they work well with 7 or 8 singles, although 75 gallons such once it's not enough for a group of denisoni barbs, for rainbows it will be, just make sure that your denisoni barb does not stress, as long as it eats well I don't think you have any problem, what are you occupying as a filtration?

Here’s a question you may have some ideas for... I have 5 tiger barbs in my tank. They’re perfectly healthy, they just seems to be very timid. I’ve always been told they’re somewhat aggressive fish, but I’ve rarely seen that. They pretty much just hang out on the more heavily planted side of the tank all as a group. Is this a stocking issue... too few of them compared to the others in the tank? I’m wondering if the danios in the tank are so active that it startled them? Could it be something else?

 

[LaloJ]

Hi Kyle, sorry for the late reply. The tiger barbs and the danios are quite active species, as for the tigers it may not be aggressive but they tend to annoy other fish because their behavior is curious and sometimes they bite the fins or are so active that they scare other calmer fish. I don't blame you for not knowing about plants, believe me I barely know the basics and my tank has natural plants but with low requirements, only what is necessary for them to be well, I'm a guy with bad luck for plants lol.

 

[ItzKyle87]

Hi Kyle, sorry for the late reply. The tiger barbs and the danios are quite active species, as for the tigers it may not be aggressive but they tend to annoy other fish because their behavior is curious and sometimes they bite the fins or are so active that they scare other calmer fish. I don't blame you for not knowing about plants, believe me I barely know the basics and my tank has natural plants but with low requirements, only what is necessary for them to be well, I'm a guy with bad luck for plants lol.

I think I solved the mystery of why my Barbs would always be in hiding. I believe they were terrified of my Pink Kissing Gourami. I caught my pink Gourami chasing virtually every other fish in the tank last night and this morning, I have since taken him out and re-homed him and now the barbs do come out a bit more. They are still timid, but not constantly just hiding in the plants. I think the aggression of the pink Gourami was the culprit.

 

[LaloJ]

So you have hit the nail on the head, sometimes gouramis are also usually aggressive, I had a pearl gourami that was aggressive with some of my angels, they can also grow to a considerable size.

 

[ItzKyle87]

It’s a little annoying because Petsmart, where I got the Pink Gouramis, sell them as a community fish. I do still have a gold Gourami and 3 baby honey gouramis, they are much more peaceful. Especially the honey gouramis. You can tell the Tiger Barbs are still very unsure/timid. Hopefully in time they will shake that and get back to their active selves

 

[ItzKyle87]

Update- added a small bag of crushed coral yesterday... my Tiger Barbs are now schooling around the tank and out of hiding. But it’s also 24 hours since the bully of the tank has been re homed, so I’m not sure if it’s the crushed coral or the bulky being taken out, but I’m glad the tigers seem to be happier


More of a funny note- I swear my tigers think my clown loach is one of them hahaha. They love to try to swim around with him

 

[DrWho42]

hi kyle! welcome to the community!

 

[ItzKyle87]

General question- finally got my KH and GH test kit and was finally able to test that


PH around a 7.0
KH 2
GH 6

Are those acceptable numbers? My PH was a 6.0 (or lower) before I added the small bag of crushed coral to the filter. They are noticeably happier and more active now.

 

[ItzKyle87]

See below post

 

[ItzKyle87]

Here’s a question, my PH had been hovering right around a 7.4 or so, just did my water check for the week and it’s jumped to 8.4.

I currently have tiger barbs, 1 Gould Gourami, 2 honey Gourami, 1 clown loach, and 5 Giant Danios and a pleco.

Should I bring down that PH level? If so, how

**I should add the fish are acting fine, very active and hungry pigs lol**