new to this hobbey?

Question

Hi everyone i am new to this whole aquarium thing. A friend gave me a tank then we just got another. We have a 55 gallon tank with a filter (the ones that go on the side not under gravel) a heater, and lots of bubbles :) its all natural with natural rocks, big and little and real plants. i have 2 normal gold fish, 2 of buggey eyed one (not the ones with the sacs) and just got 5 danios. I want to possibley get a crab, a frog, and some algee eating shrimp. plus later get some more colorful fish. I need to know what benifits and what negitive things all these little critters have on the aquarium. (i might give a friend one of the goldfish as it is a bulley and she is only going to have goldfish). I have tried finiding what different fish are good with eachother but i cant find any that decribe what all i want to know. So if you have a website it would be great. What other colorful fish do you guys suggest? I want to get some fancy guppys but not sure. thanks for the help.

Answer 1

You're trying to mix some animals here that shouldn't be kept together. I'll get to the fish in a moment, but lets talk about the crab and frog first.

Fiddler and red claw crabs are both brackish, meaning they need to have some salt in their water. They also both need to be able to get completely out of the water at times, and this means having part of the tank (1/3-2/3) as land. That would cut down considerably on the amount of space you have for keeping fish. Also, crabs are great at climbing power cords or airline tubing and escaping from tanks. Since they can survive for some time in the air, you'll probably not find them for a few weeks when they start to smell like dead crabs. Crabs also have an exoskeleton, which they need to molt periodically. When they molt, their "insdie" is soft until the new exoskeleton expands and hardens. During this time, they need rocks as a place to hide, otherwise they become crab dinner for your fish. Until that time, they are capable of catching and eating small fish, or at least shredding their fins in an attempt to capture them. Crabs and fish are best kept apart. http://www.freewebs.com/fiddlercrabcare/
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile101.html

There are two types of frogs that are sold for aquatic tanks. The African dwarf frog is small (about the size of a quarter fully grown) and peaceful, but these need to surface to breathe, and don't do well in deep tanks - they often don't make it to the surface in time and drown. They shouldn't be in tanks more than a foot deep (which your 55 would be). African clawed frogs start out small and cute, but grow to the size of a baseball and eat any fish (or other animals) they can fit into their mouths. These shouldn't be kept in community tanks. http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/mypets/dwarfs.html

Algae eating shrimp are fine, and will help keep the tank clean. They also have an exoskeleton which they molt, so need to have hiding spots, and shouldn't be kept with large fish which would see them as a meal.

As to the fish - goldfish should be kept in cool water - around room temperature is fine (65-72o). Although danios and guppies can survive these temperatures, they would do better in a tank with a heater so the water stays around 76o or higher. So the decision comes down to do you prefer goldfish (which will probably eat the shrimp when they get large enough), or do you want to have a tropical community tank? That's something only you can decide.

If you want to keep goldfish, there are plenty of fancy varieties that have beautiful colors and unique shapes: http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/ftypes.html fantails, orandas, pearlscales and black moors are some of my favorites, and I like mixing solids and calicos for color. Even though a 55 seems like a large size, by the time the goldfish are fully grown, with good filtration you should only have about 5-6 at most in the tank.

If you decide to go with tropicals, you could make it into a beautiful planted tank with driftwood, and use the shrimp, snails, and schools of tetras, barbs, danios, rasboras, rainbowfish, corydoras, etc. Some of these should be kept in groups of at least 6 of the same type, while other are okay in threes. Try to find fish that occupy all levels - corys and loaches prefer the bottom, others may swim more at the top or middle of the tank.

Here are some links to websites about fish, community types, and general tank-keeping:
http://www.fishlore.com/
http://www.firsttankguide.net/
http://www.peteducation.com/index.cfm?cls=16
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/
http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/h701elmers_freshwater_handbook.htm
http://www.fishprofiles.com/
http://www.applesnail.net/
http://www.shrimpcrabsandcrayfish.co.uk/Shrimp.htm?Shrimpfr.htm~mainFrame

Answer 2

okay as for the goldfish they are coldwater fish (about 70 degrees F.) and the only fish I have found to be able to tolerate that temp. and not die are the cory catfish. i don't know how big the goldfish are but if they are small right now then once they get bigger they will try to fit ANYTHING in their mouth; moving or not moving...i.e. small pebbles and any fish smaller than them. so i suggest keeping a goldfish only tank and these goldfish (regular ones) will get about 12 inches in a tank and the (fancy ones - buggey eyed) will get about 10 inches so you only have room for those goldfish and a few cories (about 5) in that 55 gallon. the other fish/frogs/shrimp all need alot warmer water. hope thsi helps :)

Answer 3

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