i have a 55 gallon tropical freshwater community aquarium.......?

Question

i was wondering, i just put some aquatic plants in it, they are plant's from a friend's pond. i'm not sure what type of plant it is, but it grow's and spread's at a very fast pase. how important is it that you have live plant's in a fresh water tropical community aquarium? the fish that are in there are: 1 sliver dollar, 1 golden gorami, 1 blue gorami, 1 pink kissing fish (or gorami), 1 (male) black molly, 1 red eye tetra,1 barb fish. 1 pelico, 1 up-side down cat fish, 1 chinese- alge eater, and 3 golden mystery snails. it sound's like alot but there is not relly that many fish in there, but there are a few "bottom dewlers" and i was thinking about adding a "black knife ghost fish" and maby a few angle fish,, some neon's and guppy's. and i know i need a female molly for the male one, but i guss you could say that he was a rescue fish, i saved him from wal-mart when they were getting rid of there fish! lol. but adding the plant's is okay, right? and how does the my tank sound? healthy??

Answer 1

You don't have much more room. The Plecostomus will get about 2 feet long and will eventually eat most of the plants in your tank. The Gouramis each have the ability to reach a foot long, the Tetras and the "Barb fish" should be kept in groups of the same species. Angelfish will not work because they will fight with the Gouramis and they will eat Neons and Guppies. The Black Ghost Knife gets about 2 feet, so it, along with the Pleco, are completely out of the question. Your tank is completely off balance right now, and plants are not going to change that in any way. By the way, you don't need a female Molly for the male, it is fine alone. You need to do some research to figure out how you are going to fix this mess.

Nosoop4u

Answer 2

Live plants are not as important as good stocking. You seem to have "one of everything" in your tank, which is not very healthy for your fish. Each of your fish has different needs and many, such as the barbs, the tetras, and the silver dollars, should be kept in schools of 6 or more. Your tank is not big enough to support that with all of the different species you have in there. Also, your gouramis will probably eventually have territorial disputes and may end up killing each other. Your chinese algae eater will end up sucking the slime coat off your silver dollar as it matures, eventually killing the silver dollar. And if you get neon tetras or guppys, they will be eaten. I am not trying to be harsh, I know that there isn't much information about fish compatibility readily available, and the people who work in pet stores often get bad advice. But if you research for a while, you can get a feel for what fish will live well together and how they should be kept so that they will thrive. So my advice is, do some research, and figure out what kinds of fish you really want in your tank. and keep them in the proper conditions. Take the others back to the store or give them away to friends. Oh, and please don't get a black ghost knife...you do not have a big enough tank.

Answer 3

Well it sounds like you have a mixed bag there! And no, you do not have too many fish.

As long as your friend's pond is healthy and maintained and the plant appears to be healthy I think it will be ok. Just keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

You do not have to have live plants in an aquarium but they do have alot of benefits. They help break down nitrates and waste in the tank acting as a sort of second filtration and they usually reduce algae as they compete with it and win, as long as you don't provide too much lighting but still provide enough. There are many nice looking aquatic plants available for pretty cheep, say 2.95 on average at fish stores that are healthy and safe for your aquarium. Also even if you only buy a couple they will grow on their own over time and fill out your tank. They are really a matter of personal preferance though, whether you want to keep them or not.

My only real recomendation to you on future tank mates is to get some more of the same tetra varieties that you already have as tetras are generaly like to be in groups. The smae goes for your barbs. Your silver dollar could stand to have a buddy or two as these guys also school together. I would then stop there. I personaly think that a larger group of one species looks better than a whole random bunch of single fish.

I don't want to suggest angels or ghost knives for a variety of reasons, but one is that they are finiky and hard to keep happy and ultra sensitive to water conditions (angels that is) and I don't think they will get along with your gouramis real well, and knife fish need a diet of pretty much all live foods which is just something you would need to be prepared for and they do get very large. They are not considered a beginner's fish but if you are set on keeping one, and you do all of your research on the species and do what it takes, I don't really see why not. I don't know how safe your molly will be then though, or for that matter your tetras.

Oh and mystery snails do not eat plants, it's the apple snails you gotta worry about.

Answer 4

It might be ok that you put the plants in, but watch your fish very careful
And no you don't need a female for your mollie, only if you want to breed them
Other recommendations though:
tetras are schooling fish, at least 6 of them
kissing fish should also be kept in a group like 4
you could put a couple more up side down catfish
if you are planning on getting angelfish, stay away from guppies
stay away from the ghost knife as well (is extremly aggressive)
I guess you have a tiger barb? they also should be in a group of at least 4-6

Otherwise your tank sounds healthy to me


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

Answer 5

I'd be careful about adding some of the fish you're planning on into a tank containing plants. First and foremost, snails will eat the plants for sure, but seeing as mystery snails are small, it may not make much of an impact. Angel fish, on the other hand, are big time plant eaters. Even if your plants grow super fast angel's will eat them as quickly as they come in. Also, angels are semi-aggressive fish so there will be a lot of fin nipping and chasing going on in your tank if you add them. Good luck, it sounds like your tank has a really cool set up. Just remember, 1-inch of fish per gallon of water, so keep an eye on the ones that are going to contiue to grow!

Answer 6

that sounds like a good amount of fish. It kinda seems like you have one of everything. my fish do alot better if there are like 4-5 of each kind.

having live plants is not really that important. the only thing that plants are for is hiding places so the plastic ones do nicely.

Black Knife Gost Fish are very shy and would not do well in a tank with that many fast zippy fish. Angelfish on the other hand would do very well. getting about 3 quarter sized (3-4 monthes old) would do very nicely in there. Guppies i would not suggest because of the barbs (they tend to pick at fancy fish...the long tales and things are tempting) but Neons woud do nicely... mabey 5-7 of them. might i suggest Hatchet fish. i really like them and they add some fish to the top of the tank. I would only add plants from the store because you dont know what kind of bacteria could be in your friends pond.

your tank sound very healthy and Happy. good luck.

Answer 7

you need to be very careful when introducing anything from a pond or other aquarium incase of infection you could end up lossing all your fish quickly anything should have time of quarantine in seperate tank