So, the Fish Are Moved

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have a very nice-looking 40 gallon tank in the living room now, it’s been there for a day, and we have not lost a fish. They never even appeared stressed, and most of them seemed pretty happy about checking out the great big new world (which is to say only two reacted by hiding at first).

The water was cloudy at first, from stirring up the substrate, but it cleared up really well-- it cleared up faster on the side with the bigger filter, but it looks pretty even now.

Couple of questions: first, I’m assuming I should not run out any buy a bunch of new fish right away, but how long should I wait? the bacterial bloom cleared up, and all the parameters are good, and consistent. If they remain that way for a week, and I safe, or should a wait a month regardless, or is there some magic formula, or some particular event I should be on the lookout for?

I really want another loach right away, just because I think the current loach needs one, but aside from that, new tank companions are something for which I’m open to suggestions.

Considerations are these: nothing that will be bigger than about four inches, nothing that needs a live diet, and nothing that needs a shoal bigger than five. Since the tank is really for the boychik, he like a good color mix in the tank as a primary consideration, with cute behavior a close second (he loves the corys and the loach). Also, we have the bottom dwellers, and the danios, which hang out at the top a lot, and the guppies, which are everywhere. Some preferential middle dwellers would be good. I know tetras are like this, but they tend to be dull colors (aside from the glo-fish) and sedate, but I am no expert; there are probably some less common tetras that are neon colors, and chase around like puppies.

Someone suggested a female betta might work out. Has anyone every had one in a community tank?

We will probably get a couple more guppies. We have a blue-tailed one, a solid red one, a yellow one with a fringe of orange, a light blue one, and a cobra with an orange tail with black spots. I might get another cobra with some other variation. Boychik, of course, wants a clown fish, but I have explained to him that we are NOT setting up a marine aquarium. I’ve tried to think of things like tiger barbs, that have a similar aesthetic, but it’s not that close, and I have hear they are aggressive. Anyone made a Nemo-happy kid satisfied with a freshwater fish? which one?

Suggestions? what have people had good luck with?

2

Neon or cardinal tetras are easy and peaceful. I find betas boring. No angels or black tetras, they beat up on tank mates. How about small gourami? Sunset and dwarf are pretty, but you don’t want pairs, they will spawn and bring trouble to a community tank.

3

The gouramis are beautiful. Probably no one suggested them before when we just had the 20gal tank. I was thinking about the betta, because they don’t shoal, and the boychick wants another blue fish, and the blue guppy was hard to find. We have some glo-fish without the glo-light, and they actually look nice that way.

Personally, I never liked angelfish.

How many gouramis do I need? do I need a shoal of four or five?

If I do, and I get another loach, plus a couple more guppies, that’ll probably do it. I don’t need the tank to be at capacity. I’d rather keep it low.

Although, I still want suggestions. Who knows? if we move to a house next year, maybe we’ll get a 55 gallon.

I got the fish for the boychik-- I never thought I’d like them, but I really do. I wouldn’t have been heatbroken if I’d lost one in the tank upgrade.

4

I was thinking a single male. I don’t believe they shoal. The male builds a bubble nest and waits for a lady to swim by.

5

Male betta. Really. They do fine in a community tank. I always have one. It’s other bettas that they beat up on. They’re gorgeous and I love to have one really colorful one in the mix.

Neon tetras. They shoal. :slight_smile:

Agree on the one gourami.

You might check out Rainbow Fish as well. They also shoal and come in a few colorful varieties.

6

I heard that male bettas can snip at long-finned fish, like guppies. I looked at bettas today, and there were some very pretty blue females. I’m also having a sinking feeling that I was sold a “male” guppy that isn’t.

I got rewarded for some mild hoarding. The light for the tank wasn’t working-- it would try to come on, but just flash. So I opened it up, and the ballast was totally corroded, like it had been over an open tank, but it wasn’t designed to be that kind of light.

Now, last year, I bought a bit of a white elephant at Goodwill: the top part of a desk, the lights and shelves, without the bottom, and turned it into a headboard for the bed. I had to replace the fluorescent fixture because it was non-standard (I think it was metric-- the lamp it required was 17 & 13/16" I could not squeeze in an 18". So I replaced it, but kept the old one. Today, I removed the ballast from the old one, and put it in the aquarium light. Worked perfectly.

7

I had my male betta in community tank (55 gallon, but 40 should still work) with roughly a gajillion fancy guppies. I did not have this issue with the nipping. YMMV, of course.

I also bred the guppies in the tank, hence the gajillion part. It was fun, in that I mixed and matched types, so I ended up with some unique fish. It was overwhelming after a certain point though. They are enthusiastic breeders. It was like having a fruit tree or something. I was giving them away. :smiley:

8

I’m confused. . . You said it’s been there for a day and the bacterial bloom cleared up? That doesn’t make much sense.

If you’re testing for Nitrates, Nitrites and Ammonia, over the course of a month or so you should see a rise and decline in Ammonia, and a rise and decline in Nitrites as the bacterial colonies build-up. And you should see steadily rising Nitrates. You can safely add a few more fish after the tank has gone through this cycle and Nitrites are back down to 0. If you haven’t gone through this cycle then you’re not close to ready.

Oh, but if you’re just moving the tank then you might be alright. I assume you’re using all of your old (exiting) filter materials, etc and substrate, rocks and water?

9

I had a bacterial bloom in the old tank, so I gave it some time to clear up before I made the move. The new tank is about 120% new water, and about half the substrate is the substrate from the old tank (had to add new, because it’s bigger). Moved all decorations and live plants as well. Have two filters, the old one, which is for a 10-20 gallon tank, with the old filter media, etc., and a new one for “up to 40 gallons,” which is brand new. The guy I got the tank from gave me his filter, but he hadn’t even wiped it out when he took the filter down, and there was mold in it. Besides, it wasn’t the best kind, and I’m happier with what I consider a slightly better brand.

Everything got so stirred up, the filters got clogged after the first day, so I rinsed them, and banged them out, and put them back. I’m going to change one of them later today, and try to wait at least two days before changing the other. The one in the old filter was a few weeks old, but the one in the new filter was brand new, so there really was some crap in the tank. But I was advised not to rinse the substrate or plants so as not to rinse off the bacteria.

I’m getting good readings. Absent nitrite/nitrates, some ammonia, so I did the test that differentiates between ammonia and ammonium (only ammonia is dangerous to the fish), and the actual ammonia reaction was nil. The ammonium is probably from the old tank water, and the couple of gallons of tap water I had to use, because I under-bought bottled water. it looks very clear.

The pH is high, but it’s been running high. I put some buffer in the water, but I don’t want the fish to go into pH shock, so I’m adding 20 drops a day (I could be adding 80). The test water is still turning blue, but it’s no longer scary dark blue, it’s paler. I think I’m going to skip adding the buffer tomorrow, and do it every other day until the next water change, then use a gallon of RO water instead of some of the spring water I usually use.

With the 20 gallon tank, I changed 4 gallons a week. So I’m planning on doing 8/week now. I used to add 3 gallons of spring water, a one distilled water. I’m going to try 2 distilled, 4 spring, and 2 RO, with dechlorinator.

10

Can you recap your current fish population?

In the other thread it sounded like you were using a ‘hang over the back’ type filter. As you go up in size you may want to consider a canister filter. You can also combine that with a reverse flow undergravel filter which is great for messy fresh water fish.

11

Current pop is

**4 corys **(all about 2.25 inches, which is their max length)
**4 guppies **(who were all sold as boys, but I have a sinking feeling one might be a girl)
5 danios
1 yoyo (botia) loach (he is only about 1.5" right now, but can get up to 4"). Had a desperate nuisance snail problem, which is why I got the first one. Tried assassin snails first, and they got the problem under control, then promptly died, and the nuisance snails came back, so I decided I had to go with a snail eating fish. The yoyo loach is a very cool fish, as it turned out, though.

I absolutely want to add another yoyo loach, and I just looked at the dwarf gouramis in the store-- very cool, and I think the boychik would like one. I might like another guppy or two, different from the ones I already have.

12

My Wife is fond of Botia, has about half a dozen. Snails I drop in from other tanks live a matter of seconds.

13

I would recommend getting two more yoyo loaches, and then maybe one more fish.

I can’t emphasize enough the value of keeping your bioload low. You are already pretty well stocked for a 40 gallon, especially with establishing a new filter. Get the two yoyo’s to prevent stress on your current one, and then let it sit for a while.

For the long term, it sounds like a dwarf powder blue gourami would be a good fit. You might also consider a group of cherry shrimp. They are very colorful and highly entertaining. They don’t live long, so if you don’t like them it’s not a huge commitment.

14

I like fancy guppies. Nice to look at, not very bothersome. Glassfish can be kind of cool in contrast to more colorful ones. Are they still injecting dye in those guys? Zebras of the right size might work.

15

I agree, save that I wouldn’t trust Botias around cherries. Of course even corys will eat baby cherries. :slight_smile:

16

I never liked dyes in fish.
I liked Zebra dianios when I was a kid, and White Cloud Mountain fish. :slight_smile:

But I agree with TruCelt on keeping the fish load down.
And I can make you a great deal on some daffodil pulchers!
:slight_smile:

17

I don’t either. I thought there was some movement to try and ban the practice, at least getting stores not to sell them that way. I don’t remember hearing any more about it.

18

Keeping the bioload down is why we have a 40 gallon tank now. Son had trouble grasping why he couldn’t just have one of each kind he liked, and why, if we wanted a cory, we had to get four corys (at least with the corys, we can mix kinds, and they still shoal).