help stock a 30 gallon freshwater tank

J

jennysam

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Feb 26, 2007
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I have a problem with putting stock in my 30 gallon tank. It has been set up for several years and have the levels check regularily and they are all as they should be.

The problem that I have is that every time I put new fish in the tank the others attack and kill them.

I currently have

2 Dwarf Gourami
9 Neon Tetra
1 Common Plec

I am wanting to put quite a few more fish in the tank as it looks quite empty at the moment so any suggestions as to what to put in that won't get killed woud be good.

Also I would quite fancy a Siamese fighting fish, would this be a wise purchase?
 
What kind of fish have you been adding that have been getting killed?
 
I had a Albino cat fish that disappeared, I had a yellow coloured loach (sorry can't remember the name) that the gouramis attacked and left a hole in his stomach so he eventually dies. If they don't get attacked they sit under the filter and die, I had xray tetra and red eyed tetra that also dies or were attacked. so far the ones that are in the tank at the moment have been there for 3 months and they seem quite happy. I did have a red finned shark that I was blaming for all the deaths because he just attacked everything in the tank. I rehomed him thinking that this would stop them from dying but it hasn't.

so any suggestions about which fish to add?
 
When I was young we had a goldfish for years that had to live by himself because he'd kill anything else put into his aquarium. From what I understand he essentially got used to being alone and wouldn't tolerate anyone else in his domain. I think its possible you are experiencing a similar situation in your aquarium. More recently I had a dwarf gourami that had to live by himself because he would kill the cories I was trying to keep in that aquarium. At first I couldn't figure out what was happening, but then one day I saw the gourami turn on his side and chase the cories out from under some driftwood. After seeing that I just figured it was best he be kept alone.
 
jennysam said:
I have a problem with putting stock in my 30 gallon tank. It has been set up for several years and have the levels check regularily and they are all as they should be.

The problem that I have is that every time I put new fish in the tank the others attack and kill them.

I currently have

2 Dwarf Gourami
9 Neon Tetra
1 Common Plec

I am wanting to put quite a few more fish in the tank as it looks quite empty at the moment so any suggestions as to what to put in that won't get killed woud be good.

Also I would quite fancy a Siamese fighting fish, would this be a wise purchase?
Click to expand...

siamese fighting fish..aka betta?

not a good idea with dwarf gouramis..they may see each other as threats.

not sayihng it wouldn't work but.

also a common pleco in a 30?? the smallest of the common plecos is 10-12 "(last I checked) and the largest get closer to 20"

whan you say tha water parameters are as should be..what do you mean by that?
what fish did you add last?
 
The common pleco was only 3 1/2 cm long when I got him, I have had him for 2 years and he has only got to 4 inches and still has plenty of room to move around in. When he gets bigger I will look into getting a new tank for him to swim around in. I may have the size of my tank wrong. Had to get a colleage to convert size for me as I wasn't too sure but it is a 3 foot long tank.

The last fish that I added were the neon tetra. I haven't added anything for a while before that because couldn't face having to spend alot of money on repacing everything.

The dwarf gourami haven't really been on there own, they have had each other, a three spot gourami (he died of natural causes) and the pleco and also one random tetra that had managed to surive throught the last killing spree!!

I had a look in LFS and quite fancy some sword tails but not sure if the gourami would nip their tails?
 
Just a quick converions for yeah:

volume (feet cubed) * 7.4 (roughly) = US Gallons :)

As for your situation, I had a Sepae Tetra "disapear" on me. I have an enclosed tank (Eclipse III) and too wondered if he was eaten, but after 6 hours from the time I left and returned he was 100% gone ??? Also, all of the fish in the tank were there for about 5, maybe 6 days (I added 2 more Sepeas) when this happened. Incidentely, the one to die was by FAR the most aggressive fish and fin-nipper! Maybe the others gained up on the bully?

I just assumed that he was "eaten". I have 2 dwarf neon Gouramis in my 30G...

I'm very interested in the responses to this post as well.

Best of luck!
 
Thank you very much for that ct-death.

I have just done the calculations for that and I am sorry to say that my colleague got it seriosly wrong. althought I think that it may be correct in British Gallons in US Gallons it works out at 67 G.

This has happened to me on a number of occasions ct-death, I have put them in the tank left them for a couple of hours with the light off and when I turn the light back on at least one if not two of them have disappeared completely, without a trace.

Sometimes I know that the other fish have eaten them but other times I have no idea where they have gone.

At the moment they all seem to be living in harmony with each other, the neons swim together and the Gourami swim together. There is one very amusing neon that seems to heard the others around. He will always seperate one from the others and them swim between the two groups so they can't get to each other.

I don't want to upset this harmony by putting some unsuitable fish in with them. I don't like it when they fight and do not have the space to fit another fish tank in my house to seperate them.
 
star_rider said:
siamese fighting fish..aka betta?

not a good idea with dwarf gouramis..they may see each other as threats.

not sayihng it wouldn't work but.

also a common pleco in a 30?? the smallest of the common plecos is 10-12 "(last I checked) and the largest get closer to 20"

whan you say tha water parameters are as should be..what do you mean by that?
what fish did you add last?
Click to expand...

It wouldn't. Gouramis and Bettas are natural contenders in the wild, both being labrinth fishes from similar regions. They show aggression and submission in the same fashion and would attack one another. Especially a pair of gouramis that are settled and have so clearly staked out their turf. You'd end up with a betta that had no fins!! The gouramis would simply tear it apart.

Could the culprit of their deaths simply be inability to adapt to the water pH and hardness in your aquarium? I know my LFS didn't keep her fish in the proper perimeters so when they were introed into my tank, they were weak and easily picked on for a while until they toughened up and adapted. Perhaps a similar 'drama' is being acted out in your tank? Or perhaps your gouramis are simply too territorial? Perhaps rearranging the tank... putting in a new decoration and removing something old and familiar. That'd kinda throw them off and then when you introed your new fish, they'd set up a new territory with the new neighbors in mind. :P Always a clever trick to use on a territorial fishie!!!!
 
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