opinions on my set-ups please

[meandthetanks]

3 foot long 12 inch wide 15 inch deep tropical fish tanks, both set at 80 degrees, fully cycled, water tests show 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 10-15 nitrates, i do 50% water changes every other week, i use dechlorinator before adding tap water to the tanks on water changes. in one of them i have 5 silver dollars, 3 giant danios and 4 corydorus catfish, and in the other i have 1 big kissing gourami and 1 fairly big angelfish with 4 corydorus catfish. i also have a 4 foot long 11 inch wide 15 inch deep coldwater tank with 6 fantail goldfish in it, 4 ranchus and 2 orandas,all between 4-7inches long, and 3 dojo loaches. the cold tank has gravel on the bottom and the tropical tanks have sand. just wondered what everyone thought of my fish mixes, ive had them for over a year now and i think they look beautiful, the silver dollars i only got just over 1 week ago,but they have settled in nicely. all 3 tanks are running with fluval 4 filters in them. i love my tanks :grinyes:

[krytan]

Sounds good but the kissing gourami will need a much bigger tank.

[Marinemom]

Sounds alright to me. Not sure about the gourami.

Welcome to Aquaria Central.

Marinemom

[kamoton]

Got some pics?

[Lupin]

What kind of silver dollars do you have? I'd ditch the kissing gourami if I were you.

[Dwarf Puffers]

What I really think is that you have to get the extremely active, adult sized 5-6" SDs out, as well as the adult size 12" kissing gourami, and get rid of all but 2 goldies and the dojos. Or get a 100g for the gourami & SDs and another for the goldies.

[meandthetanks]

the kissing gourami has been in a 2foot tank until around a year ago when i took him on from my cousin,and i put him in the 3foot tank,he is about 7 inches long and is 10-12 years old now,he hasnt grown since ive had him. the silver dollars were just listed as silver dollars,they are silver with bright red bottom fins,beautiful fishies,i was told they would be fine in my tank with the giant danios and corys. as for the goldfish,they seem very happy in their 4foot, they have loads of swimming room,and they get pwc at least once every 2weeks, usually 50%,sometimes a bit more with a thorough gravel vac every time, they are all active and happy,eating well and swimming and foraging on the tank bottom. the tank would look very empty with any less i think,and surely if the fish have plenty of swimming room and the water is kept in good conditions the fish should be fine? :confused: i really cant get any bigger tanks, money and space wont allow, and the gourami especially i cannot rehome. i dont see a problem with the stocking of the tanks,yes it would be nice to see the gourami in a bigger tank but he does have lots of swimming room with just him and the angel in there with the 4 corys. i feel bad for them now but they are all healthy happy fishies. im guessing getting a couple more corys for the silver dollar tank is a no-go :headshake2:

[kelly82]

sounds ok to me, then again im no expert! i didnt think gouramis lived that long-he must be healthy i would have thought! as for the adding more corys i would wait for someone a little more knowledgable to answer that for you,good luck with your fish x

[krytan]

You should be doing weekly water changes not fortnightly.

[meandthetanks]

the big kissing gourami has now been rehomed to a friend with a 4foot x 2foot x2foot tank,it looks so much happier in there :grinyes: so now i have the angelfish with the 3 giant danios and 4 corys in one 3foot tank, and the 5 silver dollars with 4 corys in the other 3foot tank :) everyones happy,the silver dollars seem much more relaxed now the danios are out, and the angel is much more relaxed now the gouramis out. oh and ive started to do weekly water changes now on all 3 tanks, and i check the water daily with a liquid test kit. the goldies are all doing well, but the smallest dojo loach escaped the tank 2 days ago, and sadly died :headshake2: have now patched the hole it must have escaped through in the condensation tray,and the other 2 dojos are thriving :grinyes: very active and eating well. tanks parameters are goldie tank- ph 7.5, ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10-15, silver dollar tank p.h 7.5, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 nitrate 10, angelfish tank p.h 7.5 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10.

[Star_Rider]

you are off to a better start. however, a 36" tank like you have is a 30G tank.
you may find you have stocking issues with the set ups you have ..Angels fish are fine in a 29-30 g tank(better in a 29 as it is taller) add in the giant danios and cory's..you may be pushing the stock levels a bit.
the other 36" tank has 5 silver dollars and is definitely pushing the limits. there are some differences within the silver dollars but many will push 4-6" and can be very active.
stay on top of the water changes and hang in there

[meandthetanks]

water levels are still the same 0 ammonia,0 nitrite,10-15 nitrate,same on all 3 tanks,i do 50-60%pwc once a week,fishies still happy x

[meandthetanks]

ok,things have changed a bit,ive swapped things around as the angel seemed stressed and the danios started nipping at her,i now have the angel in one 30g with the 8 corys and 1 sewallia lineolota (sp?) and then in the other 30g i have the 3 giant danios with 3 silver dollars,all seem very happy together and swim in one big school, my friend took 2 for her tank as she only had 1 silver dollar,so i said she could have 2 of mine. so thats all sorted on the tropical tanks,and now in my goldies tank i have 4 fancies,as i took 2 back to the shop,and 2 dojos are still in there,they seem a bit happier with a couple less fishies in with them,and the tank still looks ok,not too empty.

[Rbishop]

Sounds like an all around improvement!

[meandthetanks]

why thank you,im trying my best,i have to admit that 1.the corys are way way happier and more active in the bigger group,even though they arent all the same type, 2.the goldies seem much happier and swim around more now there are less in the tank,and 3.the silver dollars are much less skittish in the tank with the danios than they were in with the angel,plus the tank they are in now is in a more sheltered spot so they havent got people walking past all the time-which may be helping too. much better all round,oh and the kissing gourami which went to my friend is still eating well and is looking much happier in the bigger tank.

[Rbishop]

Absolutely great! Cory are such crazy critters and often are entertaining for hours on end. Good job!

[meandthetanks]

would you think it may be ok to add a couple more corys,its just that i have 3 bronze and 4 albino,but the peppered one is on his lonesome,id like to get a couple more but only if there is enough room. i love my corys more than any other fish i think,they are so cute and always on the move,i really adore panda corys but ivenever had any luck with them in the past, so i tend to stick with the bronze,albino and peppered now.

[SchizotypalVamp]

That's awesome, I'm glad to hear it!

[Rbishop]

If you do, don't make it more than 2 additional, and keep up on your tank maintenance.

[meandthetanks]

i now do a minimum of 50% per week,it usually takes that to vacuum up all the fish poop etc. properly,i will go in search of 2 peppered friends for the lonely guy at the weekend then,it will be nice to see him with friends of his own lol! im just sat watching them all mooching about the tank looking for left overs now,they provide so much movement in a tank,id love a cory only tank with just different schools of different coloured corys,thanks for the info rbishop x