my fish keep dying

[kirsty2005xx]

i have a 3 ft aquarium tank and i have 7 fish so far, 2 plecos, 2 silver sharks, 1 black shark and 2 grammys,i recently bought a clown loach and a female swordtail but within a week they were both dead, it looked like they had there fins biten off. i heard from a friend that bright coloured fish do attacked by certain other fish, i am quiet gutted about it actually as i didnt really want plain looking fish in my tank but is there anything i can do about this ? or would i need a seperate tank for colourful fish? i know the fish i already have in my tank are peaceful but i dont want to keep wasting money on fish that will die in a week, any ideas?

[GUYZY]

Obviously your other fish are not that peaceful if your new fish are dying. The new fish are most probaly dying from stress from the other fish or maybe even the water quality. I think this is the case but im not completely sure.

[Jay-Stew]

i have a 3 ft aquarium tank and i have 7 fish so far, 2 plecos, 2 silver sharks, 1 black shark and 2 grammys,i recently bought a clown loach and a female swordtail but within a week they were both dead, it looked like they had there fins biten off. i heard from a friend that bright coloured fish do attacked by certain other fish, i am quiet gutted about it actually as i didnt really want plain looking fish in my tank but is there anything i can do about this ? or would i need a seperate tank for colourful fish? i know the fish i already have in my tank are peaceful but i dont want to keep wasting money on fish that will die in a week, any ideas?

Hi, sounds to me like the sharks are your culprits. i am sure that they are probably to aggresive to be with the others in there. Also are there any places in the tank to hide? A densely planted tank or even some caves give the others a place to hide. i am not sure but I can see the shrks being territorial. the swords too are a very sensitve fish from my understanding. Next, how long has your tank been up? Has it cycled yet? Are you using de-chlorinator and regular water changes? As for the color aggresive fish I am not sure but if you look at my tank you can see it is liiterally a rainbow inside. So by all means you can keep colorful fish but you have to resaerch what breeds can be kept together. Remember start by adding fish slowly but make sure in the end everyone will get along or you will never enjoy your tank. have you ever thought about keeping Cardinal tetra's? they are sensitive to conditions and stress but once you figure that out they make an attractive school in the tank. How many gallons is the tank? sounds like 30+
anyways? Good luck !! :D

[liv2padl]

"black shark" could be Labeo chrysophekadion which grows to two feet and looks like this: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/morulius1.jpg certainly far too large for your tank.

- OR -

the Red-Tailed Black Shark Epalzeorhynchos bicolor. both fish are very territorial and can be aggressive, particularly towards its own species, but also to others, especially similar-looking species.

neither shark species should be in a tank with another shark of any type or 'shark like' species such as Siamese Algae Eaters. the aggressive nature of these species gets worse with age.

if your plecostomus is the common type, it will grow to a foot ... your tank isn't large enough to accomodate this fish.

the clown loach does best in groups of at least five. this fish grows to about a foot and your tank cannot accomodate a group of them.

you've got fish that simply cannot thrive in your size tank ... i'd suggest returning them for smaller fish that will do far better in your tank and with more compatible tank mates.