Ques. on Fancy Guppies

I just got a 5 gallon tank, I know its small but I just wanted something small, and not expensive. i've put in 3 male fancy guppies 2-3 weeks ago, they have a heater at 26 degrees celcius and it has a flurocent light that is safe for tropical fish, as well as an outside filter. In the first week I changed 25% of the water twice because when I was feeding them twice a day the food just dropped to the bottom of the tank and the filter got clogged. now I feed them once a day with dried flake food. They did not seem to like the frozen blood worms, they dropped to the bottom. They look healthy and eat the small amout of flakes once a day, but i'm worried that they're not getting enough because they are scavenging the bottom and they are constantly "sucking" on the fake plants etc.. in the tank. is that a normal behaviour? How often should I be cleaning the filter because its only been a week since the last change and it already looks very dirty, and on the box it says only change every 3-4 weeks. ???? I plan on putting 2 cory catfish in the tank and 2 neons, do you think that's ok for 5 gallons? I put special salt, a balancer in the tank as well. I would appreciat your imput! I don't not want them to die and I also do not have a lot of money to spend on them, the heater and light was expensive enough! :

 

Welcome to fishlore! 5 gallons is a very small tank, that can not hold many fish at all. It may even be too small for the 3 guppies you already have, but someone more experienced will soon chime in, I'm sure. Do not add any more fish, that's for certain as they will be overcrowed, stressed and die. Guppies eat flake food. Only give them a very small amount, it should be gone in two minutes. Overfeeding will clog your filter. It is normal behavior for them to be "scavenging the bottom and they are constantly "sucking" on the fake plants etc.. in the tank." They are fine! Guppies do not need salt in the tank, so stop adding it. Has your tank cycled? Check this link to learn about it. https://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm You will need a test kit to check the chemistry of your water too. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals makes the one most recommended here. Keep asking questions here as there are many experienced fish keepers willing to share their knowledge, for free!

 

if u really wanted a cory u might be able to get one after u hav the tank stable supposabley green corys are only get a inch but I don't think so but definitely don't get any more fish and wat type of filter do u hav??

 

thank you for your responses! I have a whisper filter its outside of the tank

 

Welcome to Fishlore!

Don't worry about feeding them anymore. They are getting enough to eat. It is amazing how little fish need to eat. I had to learn the hard way that their little tummies are only abot the size of a sesame seed if that big. They are not going to starve even though they will ALWAYS try to make you feel like they are starving. It is true that anything they don't eat in 2 minutes should be removed from the tank if possible or it will foul your water. That is why you should start with a VERY small amount and then if they finish that amount of quickly you can always give them a speck more. I only feed mine once a day now.

As far as the extra fish, I think I will let someone with more experience answer that one as I only have one Betta and 2 Ottos in my 5 gallon and that is almost too crowded for me. My Betta did not adjust to the company at all, but I would guess that it would depend on what type of fish you are getting. Someone else can more accurately tell you about your choices.

Again please feel welcome to our group. The people here are some of the finest people I have ever had the priviledge to know.

Rose

 

if ur water levels is normal and u hav no problems for at leastt 1-2 weeks I would say u could get 1 cory but u might be asking for smelling water but I'm not sure if I were u I would probly try it b/c I like doing things tht ppl say u shouldnt do but they work (I guess I get it from my grandpa he had 6 angels and 3 corys in a 30 gallon little crowded huh) but if ur tank was a little bigger I would say get a penguin biowheel bu they don't hav them ttha small but I don't really like whispers and if u hav room u might wana get some live plants and if u do get a cory make sure he has some rocks or plants to hide in they r active but they also lik cover

 

I just got a really nice little filter for my small tank that is good for up to 10 gallons. It is also good for down to goldfish bowls as it has a lot of nice adjustments. It has chemical and biological filtration that can be changed seperately and a sponge filter that is never changed just rinsed whenever the water won't go through anymore (in used tank water than you Butterfly!). The REALLY nice thing is they sell the thing WITH Bio-spira already implanted in the sponge filter or so it says in the instructions. It is put out by Marineland and the name of it is the Duetto Mini. Now I don't know how they do it since I thought Bio-spira had to be frozen, but I just read what it said about not disturbing the Bio-spira bacteria in the sponge filter so I would say it is in there.

It also means it is one of the very few (and believe me I have looked) filters for SMALL tanks that allows for filter media to be changed without changing all of it at once. The only other route is to get a sponge filter, which is also very good but takes a while to cultivate the bacteria without the addition of Bio-spira.

Hope this information helps.

Rose

 

Thank you for your information!

I have a whisper filter that has two parts, the sponge and the cartridge, after only one week the water is overflowing down the sides and not all of it is going through the catridge and sponge, when I change it its fine, but I don't want to be changing my filter every week, I can't afford that! on the box it says only to change it every 3-4 weeks, but at this rate I can't see how that's possible. I thought the first time I changed it was a little soon, but I was overfeeding, but now i'm not overfeeding, and I clean the tank once a week, and there isn't any left over food on the ground, it seems fine. am I doing something wrong? I am going to get a speckled cory, 1 or 2 for the bottom to help keep the tank clean. they told me at the pet store that I can have 5 inches of fish (all together side by side making 5 inches) in a 5 gallon tank. But the bottom feeders don't count if they don't get big and those particular corys only get 1 inch they said. in a week I'll have had the tank for 3 weeks, so I think by then it will be hopefully safe to get a cory.

I did notice the water smells, only when I change it I notice the smell, I live in a small apartment, do you think that if I change the water(25%) once a week, the water will stink up my apartment???

thanks for your advice!

 

you can rinse the filter media out in the fish water you take out of your tank when you do a water change (NOT tap water or new water) and then put it back in the filter unit like a new cartridge AND keep as much as you can of the good bacteria that have built up on your media. In your Whisper filter there should be a black piece of sponge in a small plastic frame. That should never be washed unless the water absolutely will NOT go through it as it is where the biological filtration process takes place for the most part. There is always some water flowing around and over the top of a submersible Whisper filter as that just seems to be the way they operate. Since the water is pulled in from the bottom and filtered as it rises to the top, it may look like it has not gone through the process, but it has.
If you are talking about another type other than the SUBMERSIBLE Whisper then I haven't had any experience with them.

Have a good day.
Rose

 

This whisper filter is not a submersable it is outside of the tank and it sucks the water into the filter and it flows out and back into the tank like a water fall

thanks for responding!

I have another question, my one fake plant under the "waterfall" from the filter has a white cotton like fungus flowing off of it, and none of the other plants or fish have this, should I just clean it off? and how should I do this? I heard that vinegar in water can be used. I clean the tank once a week, and have no bottom feeders which I will be getting one in a few days since i've had the tank since christmas now and everything is going good, my fish(guppies) have grown and are more colorful and seem happy.

 

I don't have a lot of experience, but everything I've read and been told regarding stocking a tank is as a general rule, 1" of fish per gallon of water and be prepared to go up or down from that number. This is due to fish growth, loss, breeding, etc.

When they say 1" of fish it means LENGTH, from end to end and do not count the tail, just the body of the fish. The larger the fish, the more oxygen they consume within the water.

As for the corys, the dwarf reaches about 2" in length and other varieties can reach anywhere from 2 -1/2" - 3". In my opinion, getting 3 corys in your 5 gal. tank with the guppies may be a lot.

Right now we've got a 15 gallon tank with a Whisper 30 BioPower outside filter. We've got 1 male two and famale Green Swordtails who just gave birth to 6 fry and two Emerald Cory Cats. Needless to say, we won't be adding any new species anytime soon until the younglings are ready to be moved out of the breeding net.

Another thing I've read and been told is that in order to keep guppies happy, similar to swordtails and mollies is that you should mix females and males and to make sure that the females out number the males. Otherwise, the males will constantly chase the outnumbered females and they'll get no rest.

 

Five gallons is just about right for those three male guppys, anymore and your tank would be overstocked
I was told that a fishes stomach is the same size as it's eye, and you notice the bigger the fish the bigger it's eye and so I guess it's stomach Since a guppys eye isn't very big it's stomach wouldn't be either. So just a pinch please
Most fish will continue to eat and gorge themselves even thought ehy don't need it. Also more goes in more comes out soooo that would contribute to a messy tank.
The salt is absolutely not necessary.
Carol

 

Hello :

I was wondering everyone is telling me no salt needs to be added. They told me at the pet store, and numerous ones I called that you should add Freshwater Aquarium salt to protect and heal your fish, so I bought it and it says its for tropical fish and does not contain harmful trace elements of regular salt. it says to put one tablesppon for every five gallons. so I did that, and once a week when I do my water change I add 1/4 of a tablespoon to the new water( I change 25-30%) and I add Aqua Plus (tap water conditioner to the new water, and I let it sit for few hours, sometimes overnight if I had time and I check the temp. is this good??? I also add weekly EASY BALANCE (tetra aqua) to keep water biologically balanced. It contains Nitraban. do you think these things are the right thing to do?

ps I have 3 guppies (males) whidch seem happy, i've had them for a month, tonight i'm adding 2 speckled cories to help with keepign the tank clean. and that's all i'm going to add, except maybe a little crab in a couple of months (5 gallon tank) they said this is okay at the pet store. what do you think?

also i'm letting them sit in the bag floating in the water, is this good to get them used to the temp??? how much of this water fromt he pet store should I let go into my tank, should I take them out with a net or poor all the water. also it will fill my tankI too high, i'd have to take a bit out of my water, to add all of there's in the bag? ???? waht should I do???

 

I do know u aren't supposed to poor the fish stores water into ur tank. u never know wats in there water Hope that helps a little

Joe

 

You need to put a little of your tank water into the bag while you are floating it and add more about every 5 minutes until you have about half tank water and half store water. Then you take the fish out without the water. You don't want to put any more of that water in than you can possible help. Joe is right You don't know what it contains.

Technically those fish should be quarantined by themselves for at LEAST two weeks before they go in with your fish. If this is possible, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Hope this helps.

Rose

 

thank you!

what do cory's need to eat? I have blood worms and flakes??????

 

Help! white fuzz!

HI everybody

should I be worried that my plants get this weird cotton like fugus or something growing off them???? should I be cleaning my things in the tank regularly?? the fish do not have any of it on them and seem happy.

as well will cory's die from that salt I was talking about earlier, I read that in one of the other messages.

thanks for your help I really appreciate it and need it! I am enjoying my fish alot! ;D

 

That's probably Algae of some kind growing on your plants. Check this out and see.

Carol

 

I feed my corys shrimp pellets. I have 3 emerald corys and give 2 pellets (total) each day. You 'float' them on the top of the water and they break down and sink to the bottom of the tank. They love them and will also eat whatever flake food falls to the bottom of the tank that the swords and neons don't eat. By morning, the pellets are gone! Also, as a treat once a week, I give the fish an algae wafer. Both the swords and corys love them and it gives them some other vitamins and another source of algae other then the minimal amount growing in the tank.

Never pour store water into your tank, but rather just the opposite. Add your water to the bag a little at a time and allow the fish to acclimate for at least 20-30 minutes. Then gently scoop them up in your net and transfer them to your tank. As for the salt, AVOID THIS if adding corys. They, as like most catfish, cannot tollerate the sodium.......