New tank owner. Went overboard. Help!!

Hello all! I am new to fish keeping. My girlfriend bought me a 20 gallon starter kit acrylic tank. So far I just have gravel and one plastic fake plant. But I didn't really research my fish before buying them. So far and I have:
-powder blue gourami
-red leopard pleco
-African frog
-panda goldfish
-4 zebra danios( one died in the move. When I moved)
-5 tiger barbs
-2 platys
-figure 8 puffer

I think I'm done for now. My main issue is my tiger barbs have demolished my panda goldfish. The kilt him off in a matter of days. And now they are nipping at the gourami. What to do??! Should I get rid of the barbs? Or will they calm down. Thanks for all the input.

 

Welcome to Fishlore! I hope you find the site as helpful as I have

1. Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle? If not, please click on the underlined text and read up on it. It is the most important concept to understand in fishkeeping; without understanding it success will be impossible. As a short summary, when your fish poop and uneaten food falls to the gravel, it decomposes and releases ammonia. Bacteria build up and form a colony; these bacteria consume the ammonia, which is toxic to fish, and produce nitrite. Unfortunately nitrite is also toxic to fish, but fortunately nitrite-consuming bacteria also build a colony, and these produce nitrates. Nitrates are less toxic, but the only way to remove them is either with a heavily planted aquarium (live plants, of course) and water changes. To cycle a tank means to build up a sufficient colony of these bacteria such that they can handle the bioload (IE waste produced by) fish that you add.

2. In order to keep tabs on how your tank cycle is progressing, you should test your water. Do you have a test kit? Don't bother wasting money on the strip kind, they're very inaccurate. A liquid test is much more reliable, such as the API freshwater master test kit (can be bought online or in pet stores). When your ammonia and nitrites are at 0ppm and you have nitrates present, your tank has cycled. You should do enough water changes to keep the nitrates below 20ppm.

3. In regards to your fish specifically: A). African dwarf frogs have very poor vision and it is generally advised that they are kept in a tank by themselves so that they are able to find enough food. B). Tiger barbs are aggressive fish. In a large enough school with enough swimming space they would be fine, but 20 gallons (especially shared with other fish) is not really enough space. C). Danios are also very active and need a lot of room to swim around; these fish combined with the barbs may lead to increased aggression in your tank. D). I am not familiar with red leopard plecos specifically, but most plecos get fairly large, and all produce a lot of poop. They contribute heavily to the bioload, which is why a large tank is often recommended even for the smaller varieties, because they need a lot of water to dilute their waste. E). Again, I am not familiar with panda goldfish specifically, but I do not believe (however this is not from experience) that there are goldfish that prefer warm water. Goldfish are colder-water species (not COLD of course), while the rest are tropical species and prefer warmer water. Generally goldfish are kept in species-only tanks because of this.

In conclusion, you may wish to consider either upgrading to a larger tank or rehoming a few of your fish. Hopefully someone else can comment on your fish that I am not familiar with. Best of luck!

 

Oh boy, where to start... I guess I'll start off by saying welcome to fishlore!

Your tank is WAY overstocked. Let's see...

*gourami- not much experience with these guys, could probably be kept in a 20 with the right stock
*red leopard pleco- needs a much bigger tank; I would suggest rehoming
*african frog- what kind? Most are only kept in species-only tanks
*panda goldfish- needs a 20-30 gallon on its own; I would suggest rehoming
*zebra danios- like schools of at least 6, would be ok in a 20 gallon with the right stock
*tiger barbs- very aggressive, usually only kept in species-only tanks; rehome
*platies- would be ok in the 20 gallon with the right stock
*puffer- requires a much different setup and will take bites out of your fish- rehome

If you could pick the fish from your list that are your favorites, members could work on a stock from there

 

Well yea I'm sorta familiar with the cycling aspect. I made sure the tank was cycled before I started adding the fish. So everything was running fine. I've already done a water change. N everything was fine up until I added the new fish. I was told they should blend well together. But now that I see them in action together I see it is a bit over crowded.

As for the panda he is gone now. They tore him to pieces. Now they have moved on to pester the gourami. The danios are invisible to them. The figure 8 puffer Stays to himself. Hes pretty chill But when the gourami isn't being chased by the barbs. Which it really is only one barb out of the 5 that does most the pestering. He is bothering the platy. But the platy fights back n they leave him alone.

I do plan to get a bigger tank when I get the chance to soon( if my gf allows me) but should I just return the barbs? Even tho I love them? Or let them take over the tank n get other barbs is my Biggest delima. Would adding more things such as rocks or cave like places help with them so they aren't just freely swimming around looking to fight lol

 

return the barbs, the pleco and the F8 puffer for now and you'll be looking much better. Those fish MUST GO.

 

Hi, and welcome to fishlore!

Alas, the tiger barbs are not the only problem you have:

Leopard pleco grows up to be 20 inches in size. There appears to be some discrepancy on the recommended minimum tank size for this guy: some sites say that 100 gallon tank is sufficient, while others recommend a 180 gallon tank.

Figure 8 puffers are also described on care sheets as "aggressive, best kept alone or in species tank only" -- a lot of fish become aggressive as they grow up, even if they are fairly docile as juveniles (and stores sell them as juveniles).

Panda goldfish need at least a 30 gallon tank, and I think they are like other goldfish cold water fish, as opposed to the other fish you have which are tropical. Goldfish produce lots of waste, but need very clean water making them harder to maintain.

I will let others address the tiger barbs issue. Since I do not know much about them, though I have read that they can "terrorize their tank mates", which seems to be like your experience. They might kill your African dwarf frog too.

I read that African dwarf frogs should not be kept with fast moving fish, since the frogs are slow eaters and may not find the food before the other fish do. Both the tiger barbs and the danios move fast.

I heartily recommend that you look up minimum tank size and compatible tank mates for all your fish. The best solution to your current dilemma may be to find out if your store will take these fish back, then do some research, and buy a set of fish that are compatible with each other and can work in a tank of this size. Alternatively, you could get more fish tanks.

 

Thanks so much for the replies. U guys are awesome. I was told I can take the barbs back so I may return them until I can get a bigger tank. Which will hopefully be soon cuz I wanna deck it out real nice. The barbs are cool must say. But I was told they were semI aggressive. I guess the smaller tanks size made them super aggressive specially with all the other bodies In there. As for the frog he eats pretty well. When I put the food in. He also swims around generally un bothered. He actually has never been bothered throughout the process.

 

Welcome to fishlore! I am so glad you came here to ask your questions. We will as you can see be happy to help. I also will be the bearer of unfortunate news for your current stock. Never fear, it just means you can get more tanks and really get to enjoy this hobby.

For your tank, I would either return, sell, or rehome, the Pleco and that gold fish, both will be unhappy in the mix that there is in the tank.

The puffer if you think he is a cool fish I would recommend a 10gal for and let him have the tank to himself.

I would also recommend that the Frog be given a different home, Most do not recommend frogs like that in tanks bigger than 10gal unless it is a 20 long, they need to get to the water surface and with most tanks they are just too tall for the frogs to get there.

The rest of the tank mates might be ok. The Dwarf Grouami is best kept as the ONLY gourami in the tank so your ok there. He will be fine in a 20 gal. The tiger barbs can be aggressive but if kept in a school of I would say at bare minimum 4 they will tend to leave most other fish alone. That said, they will get big and take up a lot of room in that tank, if you find that you really like these fish I would rehome the remaining and up the school by a couple. The platys and danios will be fine in that tank for life, the danios may be a little cramped for style but they get over it and will be fine, I have 5 in my 20gal that live very happy lives.

Sorry as I said to be the bearer of bad news for your current list however we all make mistakes and learning from them is key.

 

Yea the poor little Goldie never stood a chance. Like they were cool. But over night when I would wake up to feed them I would notice more n more of his fins being chipped away. Untill I left for the whole day to come back n his whole fin was chewed away. Then he was just floating in a corner n I had to lay him to rest

 

Sorry for your loss.

 

Yea it was sad to see. I thought it was just because he was new to the tank. But they wouldn't leave the little guy alone. Whenever I have the light on they would terrorize him. But its been a learning experience non the less. Gonna be sad to see the barbs go because they are fun to watch. Will get more once I get a bigger tank. Want to get 60-70 gal. SiZe

 

I'm planning a large barb community in a 40 gal if it is a species only tank you can actually pack in a fair amount of them.

 

Oh and I just remembered. It's not the red leopard it's just a common pleco. I had the red one at first. But I exchanged it because it was already pretty big

 

As for the panda he is gone now. They tore him to pieces.

Ugh. That is terrible. I am glad you are here asking questions and doing research, but I sure wish you would have done it before that poor goldie had that happen to him.

 

Well what species can I have with them? They actually were pretty fine until the goldfish came in.. I'll show pics when I get home so u can see them. If I can figure out how to post them from my iPhone lol

 

what species of what with what else? The gold fish can tolerate a lot of things, its more of what won't go after their fins. A 20 gal really isn't going to house much of anything for goldfish, It would work as a QT tank for them but that's about it. If you want a nice goldie tank over filter the heck out of a 55 and put a bunch in that.

 

Oh and I just remembered. It's not the red leopard it's just a common pleco. I had the red one at first. But I exchanged it because it was already pretty big

Common plecos still need at least 55 gallons- preferably much bigger

 

Ugh. That is terrible. I am glad you are here asking questions and doing research, but I sure wish you would have done it before that poor goldie had that happen to him.

I know I am still sad

What can I keep with the barbs. Or do they have to be solo

 

Do you plan on keeping the barbs in this tank, or move them to their own? Generally, it's best to keep them in a species only tank

 

Lets focus at the fish at hand. So your getting rid of the barbs, that's good. the Pleco should go with them as a free return if nothing else. I don't think 55 gallons would work TBH a 75 MAYBE but these guys get much much bigger then 20". As for the F8 puffer, it doesn't matter what size tank hes in, he will eventually tear chunks from the other fish, effectively killing them.

 

+1 to the above. I say get a handle on what you have now. Return what doesn't work (barbs, pleco, puffer, frog). Once they're gone I'd wait a few weeks for the tank to set itself straight. During that time you can RESEARCH all types of fish and make well informed decisions and purchases. Impulse buying livestock almost always leads to headaches and dead fish. I know this from first hand experience.