30 Gallon Tank Advice!

Hello everyone, I recently got a 30 gallon tank. Currently, I have one male Betta, one albino loach, one albino Plecostomus, and two male guppies.
I was wondering what other fish I could put in my tank in order to fill it up.
How many more bottom feeders, or what bottom feeders would be okay with the two I have???

Side note: My Betta is great! He?s never been aggressive, and loves having friends! A little surprising I know, but luckily he?s been really good.

Any and all advice is great! I’m pretty new at this, and just want to have a happy tank!

 

Here is a link to a freshwater fish compatibility chart. https://www.aquariumindustries.com....15/03/Freshwater-Fish-Compatibility-Chart.pdf

 

You have stocking issues that I would address before adding more fish. We can help you with this, if you're interested

 

You have stocking issues that I would address before adding more fish. We can help you with this, if you're interested

I would love any advice you are willing to give. If you would like to message me directly you can. I’m not sure how if there’s not a way I can give u my email?

 

Once you hit 50 posts, you can send/receive PMs. However, we can also discuss it here or on another thread (specifically to address your stocking) so more people can see it and help as well

 

Once you hit 50 posts, you can send/receive PMs. However, we can also discuss it here or on another thread (specifically to address your stocking) so more people can see it and help as well

Okay whatever works! I’m ready to “listen”

 

I would put the betta in his own tank, especially if you have male guppies. They don't tend to get along.

Can you tell us what kind of loach and what kind of pleco you have?

 

I would put the betta in his own tank, especially if you have male guppies. They don't tend to get along.

Can you tell us what kind of loach and what kind of pleco you have?

The Betta and guppies have never not gotten along.
The loach I believe is called a dojo loach (its the albino/yellowish one)
The pleco is a albino bristlenose max size of 2-4in
Hope this helps

 

Dojos loaches are not temp compatible with bettas, and should also be in a larger tank, as they get to 9+". I would rehome him.

Bettas and guppies seem to get along until one day, they don't, and you come home to hurt or dead fish. Bettas are not community fish, and especially should not be kept with guppies.

 

There’s a compatibility chart also posted on this thread and it shows that they are compatible. As I said I’m open to all advice, I have more tanks and I’m going to rehome the loach. My LPS gave me a lot of wrong information on him. Which is my fault for not doing my own research.

 

Male bettas and female guppies are sometimes compatible, assuming you happen to have a male betta that doesn't want to murder everything (some do). Male bettas tend to confuse male guppies with other bettas, and start fights. Or, worse, sometimes the male guppies will harass the betta into attacking them, or nibble the beta's fins, or a dozen other things you don't want. But, it's important to consider that if you have soft water from your tap, your guppies won't do well.

Local pet stores, particularly Petco and Petsmart, tend not to give great advice on fish. Their goal is to get you in there and spending money, not to get you set up right (because if your tank is set up right, you'll be spending less money). And, most of the employees just don't know enough about fish to give good advice.

Dojo loaches get pretty large, and require lower temperatures than your other fish. If it were me, I would rehome the loach or bring him back to the store, and replace him with another albino BN (they are so much fun. just make sure you have some driftwood in the tank because they like to rasp on it and it's really important for their health).

Get a 2.5-10 gallon tank (anywhere in that range is fine) for your betta.

Get a few more male guppies for the 30 gallon, and maybe a group of corydoras catfish (keep in mind their adult size. I would do about 7). This will give you a nice, active tank, with activity on all levels, and will be pretty easy to keep going. I would add the cories last as they are the most sensitive to changes in water parameters.

Make sure you test weekly for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels to ensure your tank is cycled.

And welcome to fishkeeping! Once you get into it, you'll find it's a very rewarding hobby. And it gives you pretty things to look at

 

Wow you were really helpful! Thank you so much.
Do you have any preferences for the cycle kit? I’ve been told a lot of different things.

 

The API master test kit is a great one and will last a really long time.

 

Wow you were really helpful! Thank you so much.
Do you have any preferences for the cycle kit? I’ve been told a lot of different things.

I'll be honest, I don't know what you mean by a cycle kit. The API master kit is suitable for most beginners to test their water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. If you mean something to help cycle your tank faster, nothing beats live plants, but there are two products with good reputations - Seachem Stability and Tetra Safe Start+.

I'm on my first bottle of stability right now as I had a few tanks going through a mini-cycle. My tanks all have live plants, but the big one that I had to restart seems to have stabilized in less than a week. I've never used Tetra Safestart but many on Fishlore have had good results with it. Just know that if you use it, you need to avoid water changes for 14 days and don't test until that period is over. Stability is nice because you can do water changes with it, and you can test the water every day if you want to, and simply re-dose the tank after a water change.