May someone please help me with my aquarium?

Question

I have an 18 gallon aquarium with these fish:
- 3 glowlight tetras
- 3 neon tetras
- 2 algae eaters
- 2 fancy female guppies
- 1 fancy male guppy
- 3 sunset coral dwarf platy

am I overcrowding my tank? the person at petsmart said they grow really slowly when in captivity. is that true? and I have 2 female guppies that have a small black spot on their body and you can see it on the other side too. is this natural or is she pregnant? if i am not overcrowding my tank what other fish can i fit in my tank? thank you very much for your time! :-)

I just got a net breeder. Should I put the guppies in it now because we just got them 2 weeks ago and they had that gravid spot when we got them. It is a 3 way breeder. Thank you! :-)

Answer 1

All of your fish will stay fairly small and pretty much within the inch per gallon rule pet stores will tell you. You have some room left, but i would advise for you not to add any future fish or you will be overcrowding. About the growth it mainly depends on the room they have, if you have a young fish expected to grow then it will grow very slowly if it has no room to grow, but if you provide enough room for them then they will grow more quickly. Also the spot on your guppy should be watched, especially since you have a male. Guppies are know to breed quickly and often, i doubt it is a disease. It is most likely pregnancy, watch for her to grow fatter, slower, and then RIGHT before birth she will sink to the bottom to have them. You should pull the babies out and house them elsewhere, sometimes guppies and other fish eat their young.
Hope my advice helps and you have babies on the way!

Answer 2

It sounds like you are doing just fine.Why not take a little time and not rush things.If they are pregnant,you will find out in a couple weeks,If not,Buy a couple veil tailed males and you will witness so many pretty colors you wont believe.Also invest a small amount in a hatching box.Its a small plastic box that hangs over the edge of the tank that when you see the bellies swell up on the females,you net them and put them in it till they give birth,You must do this because they will gobble up their own babies.leave the babies in the box for a week or two before releasing them into the tank,after a while you won't have to buy anymore guppies for a long time,if you want to keep breeding them,get some new males so they will have new blood lines and you will be very happy with your tank..

Answer 3

Dude way overcrowded. You need too get rid of at least nine fish.

If you're going to talk to anyone at petsmart make sure it's the fish manager, not one of the teeny boppers they hire to bag fish, and even then keep in mind there trying to make money.

As for your female Guppy's seeing a dark spot at their rear end usually means you have babies on the way.

I would suggest keeping the Guppy's, and the neon's. As that is actually about what your tank can hold once the fish are fully mature.

Thanks for trying to get some information to keep your fish happy and healthy.

Good luck.
E.

Answer 4

You might want to keep watching that spot. The usual rule is 1 inch of fish = 1 gallon of water. However, unless you plan on having baby guppies, I wouldn't suggest putting that male in the tank. If your guppy is pregnant, it could have happend before you bought them. Good Luck!!

Answer 5

I would say you have room for 2 more. Shrimp are cool and maybe even a small catfish.