First Tank Since Childhood

HI all!

Kept fish for a while as a child until the tank cracked unfortunately. Had been talking about getting a tank again for years but don't like to spend money on myself. So my fiancée got it for me as a birthday gift on the understanding that if we're able to maintain it, we can go bigger in a few years - two kids under two and a dog to contend with already!

It's just a cheap starter tank, 54L (14.2 US gallon I believe) and currently stocked with:

6 neon tetra
6 glowlight tetra
2 dwarf gouramis
2 peppered corys
1 guppy
1 plec (picture added for identification)
2 nerite snails (Red racer and sunthorn)
And a few blue dream cherry shrimp.

Been going for two months now. Lost a female guppy due to SBD (was still trying to get my feeding routine established) but other than that had no issues.

Any thoughts/advice? Or anyone who can identify the species of plec?

Cheers!

 

Welcome back to the hobby. Lovely-looking tank. Simple and natural.

As far as stocking, I wouldn't add anymore fish than what you already have. And the species of pleco is a bristlenose.

 

HI all!

Kept fish for a while as a child until the tank cracked unfortunately. Had been talking about getting a tank again for years but don't like to spend money on myself. So my fiancée got it for me as a birthday gift on the understanding that if we're able to maintain it, we can go bigger in a few years - two kids under two and a dog to contend with already!

It's just a cheap starter tank, 54L (14.2 US gallon I believe) and currently stocked with:

6 neon tetra
6 glowlight tetra
2 dwarf gouramis
2 peppered corys
1 guppy
1 plec (picture added for identification)
2 nerite snails (Red racer and sunthorn)
And a few blue dream cherry shrimp.

Been going for two months now. Lost a female guppy due to SBD (was still trying to get my feeding routine established) but other than that had no issues.

Any thoughts/advice? Or anyone who can identify the species of plec?

Cheers!

Hi! Welcome to fishlore! I really like the way you decorated your tank! I do see some stocking issues though. You really shouldn't be keeping that many fish in a 15 gal. I would recommend rehoming your tetras, guppy, pleco, and one of your dwarf gouramis if you want long term success. They all should be in at least a twenty gallon and dwarf gouramis are territorial. They probably aren't appreciating living together! Also, I would up your number of cories to 6. They are schooling fish and need to be in schools!

Can't wait to see what you do with the tank!

 

Welcome. I'm happy to hear it's working well. As long as things are going well I wouldn't worry too much about being overstocked, though I agree that two dwarf gouramis might bear watching. Maybe get rid of one of the groups of tetras if you start having problems?

I also like the tank, and your photography skills are obviously many orders of magnitude better than mine.

 

Hi! Welcome to fishlore! I really like the way you decorated your tank! I do see some stocking issues though. You really shouldn't be keeping that many fish in a 15 gal. I would recommend rehoming your tetras, guppy, pleco, and one of your dwarf gouramis if you want long term success. They all should be in at least a twenty gallon and dwarf gouramis are territorial. They probably aren't appreciating living together! Also, I would up your number of cories to 6. They are schooling fish and need to be in schools!

Can't wait to see what you do with the tank!

HI ahouseofscales!

As I'm just getting back into the hobby I don't have a spare tank to rehome some of the fish, and I'm not in a position financially to go buy another atm.

However all water parameters are perfect, spot on using the filter media that came with the tank along with Seachem Purigen and a weekly water change. So I don't think the fish are being negatively impacted, with the exception of one of the gouramis - I've witnessed the territorial behaviour you mentioned, one is definitely dominant.

I doubt a fish shop would take in the gourami would they? I can put it on Gumtree (UK equivalent to Craigslist) and see if someone can take it off my hands.

Thank you for the advice!

Welcome. I'm happy to hear it's working well. As long as things are going well I wouldn't worry too much about being overstocked, though I agree that two dwarf gouramis might bear watching. Maybe get rid of one of the groups of tetras if you start having problems?

I also like the tank, and your photography skills are obviously many orders of magnitude better than mine.

HI JettsPapa

All water parameters are excellent so I don't think the over stocking is creating a huge issue but I have definitely noticed that one gourami is dominant so I think I'll look into rehoming one via Gumtree.

And thank you, but I put it down to a good phone. I'm certainly no photographer haha!

Cheers!

 

HI ahouseofscales!

As I'm just getting back into the hobby I don't have a spare tank to rehome some of the fish, and I'm not in a position financially to go buy another atm.

However all water parameters are perfect, spot on using the filter media that came with the tank along with Seachem Purigen and a weekly water change. So I don't think the fish are being negatively impacted, with the exception of one of the gouramis - I've witnessed the territorial behaviour you mentioned, one is definitely dominant.

I doubt a fish shop would take in the gourami would they? I can put it on Gumtree (UK equivalent to Craigslist) and see if someone can take it off my hands.

Thank you for the advice!

HI JettsPapa

All water parameters are excellent so I don't think the over stocking is creating a huge issue but I have definitely noticed that one gourami is dominant so I think I'll look into rehoming one via Gumtree.

And thank you, but I put it down to a good phone. I'm certainly no photographer haha!

Cheers!

I've heard of stores taking fish back, but haven't tried it myself. Even if they do they may not give you anything for it; just take it off your hands. If the Gumtree thing doesn't work out it won't hurt to ask.

 

HI ahouseofscales!

As I'm just getting back into the hobby I don't have a spare tank to rehome some of the fish, and I'm not in a position financially to go buy another atm.

However all water parameters are perfect, spot on using the filter media that came with the tank along with Seachem Purigen and a weekly water change. So I don't think the fish are being negatively impacted, with the exception of one of the gouramis - I've witnessed the territorial behaviour you mentioned, one is definitely dominant.

I doubt a fish shop would take in the gourami would they? I can put it on Gumtree (UK equivalent to Craigslist) and see if someone can take it off my hands.

Thank you for the advice!

HI JettsPapa

All water parameters are excellent so I don't think the over stocking is creating a huge issue but I have definitely noticed that one gourami is dominant so I think I'll look into rehoming one via Gumtree.

And thank you, but I put it down to a good phone. I'm certainly no photographer haha!

Cheers!

My LFS's will usually take fish as long as they're in decent health. They see them as more fish to sell and make a profit on. I would highly recommend giving the fish I mentioned to the LFS if you can't find someone to take. Your tank may be doing well now but you'll most likely see issues down the road. It will be better for you and the fish- remember that these are lives you are responsible for!