Question, Help

I am picking up my tank set up tonight. I bought it all up and running from someone local. As I am pretty new to this hobby I have a question regarding the fish he has in the tank. It is a 55 gallon tank with the following :
1-figure eight puffer
2-silver dollars
2-pink tetras
1-clown loach
1-red lamp eye tetra
1-buenos aries tetra
1-red tinfoil tetra
1-pleco
1-dragon goby
1-silver tip shark
3-corey catfish
2-black finned tetras
1-creamsicle molly
1-swordtail molly
1-tuttI fruttI frog
6-assorted plattys
2-dannios
I am wondering, is this to much for 1- 55 gallon tank? Also, he tells me its a freshwater tank, but from what I have been reading, some of these fish might be better suited in a brackish tank? Thanks for any and all opinions !

 

Welcome to the forum.

That stocking is just a hot mess, isn't it......

There are no proper schools. There are incompatible fish. There are fish that need tanks 3 times the size of this one. Lots of problems here.

Let's start with this. What kind of fish do YOU want to have in this tank?

I see a lot of rehoming fish in your near future.

What equipment are you getting with the tank? You'll need filter, heater, API master kit for testing your water parameters.

Before you do anything, click on these words: nitrogen cycle.

It's the cornerstone of fishkeeping and without this valuable information coursing through your brain cells, you're likely to lose every fish.

 

Wow, thank you for the quick reply. I thought that was a lot of fish too for that size tank ! No doubt, I will be re-homing some. I don't have any thought on what to keep or not as of yet, It's all new to me. Here is a list of things it comes with as well as the tank, stand, cover and lights.
it comes with three filters one fluval 5 stage filter ( 300 gph ) and a aqua clear 3 stage filter ( 300 gph ) and a aqua tech dual filter ( 300 gph ) has an undergravel filter with three up tubes. 250 watt heater. I have three air pumps all dual outlets two are top fin 80 gallon pumps that are adjustable rate and a aqua culture 60 gallon pump all work great and are a few months old. comes with lots of decorations and gravel for tank

 

If this tank comes with existing filter media, be sure to keep the media wet in used tank water for the transfer home. Then immediately set the filters back up and get the tank running.

Let's just say I wouldn't want to be you right now. LOL

You're going to have a real crash course in fishkeeping here. I feel for you.

We're here to help, don't be afraid to ask questions. And get yourself a test kit pronto.

 

Hmmmm .... Not sure if I'm doing the right thing then. I was going to purchase all this for 250.00 Which I thought was a great deal but I don't want a lot of headaches, lol ..... Thanks for the advise Lynda.

 

Honestly, you'd be much better off getting yourself a new tank and equipment, get through the nitrogen cycle, and take your time stocking it with only the species you really want. And probably for less money.

If you had tons of fishkeeping experience, maybe go with this deal. But $250 for the biggest case of stress ever? Not so much.

 

Just curious, What do you consider "stress" ? I mean, is it because of the overpopulation and having to re-home some or is it because of all the work involved in maintaining the aquarium? I am just asking so I know what I may be or maybe NOT getting into, lol ... Thanx !

 

Because you're new to the hobby. For example, if I pick up this tank, I already have my test kit, can take water parameters (knowing what they should be), already have the species knowledge to know who needs to be removed from the tank, I already know which species need schools and what size those schools should be. If the water parameters are toxic, I know what steps I need to take to try to save the fish. I already have places I can go to rehome fish that won't work in this tank. I already am familiar with how stressed fish can get disease and how to treat the disease. And much much more.

Don't get me wrong, fishkeeping is a fantastic hobby. But there's a HUGE learning curve at the beginning. If you get your own stuff new or even used (my first tank came from freecycle), you can learn as you go. If you're handed a tank like your proposed one, you have no chance to learn at a reasonable pace.

Make sense?

 

Mostly having to re-home many of the fish, I'd think. There are so. Many. ISSUES. With the stocking of that tank. The original owner clearly had no flippin' idea what was going on... which is the case with many people who get into the hobby without doing research.

Just at a quick glance, I'd say those fish are going to need to be split into 6-8 different tanks, which means you'd have to find either a good owner with lots of tanks or lots of good owners with one or two tanks each.

Some of those tanks are going to need to be quite large; for instance, the pleco (probably a common) will need a huuuuge tank to be healthy.

Do you honestly want the hassle? A local aquarium club, if there is one near you, might be able to help, but personally, I'd run the other way.

EDIT: ninja'd. I was responding to the "what would be stressful" question above.

 

Yes, it does ... Thank you for all the help. Now to convince my wife, lol ...

 

Have her talk to me. It's a girl thing.

It's just a bad deal, plain and simple.

 

Hahaha ... Agreed !

 

Time to hide the check book......

 

MTS.... gets ya every time. I have THREE tanks running right now. True, one is a hospital tank that I frankesteined together with bits from the other two, but still. THREE.

 

I would definitely look for a different tank. I got a great deal on CL for mine. We could've taken the fish or not though. I chose to not ( they were cichlids) because hubs and I wanted to choose our own and they wouldn't be compatible with the fish we already had. Trying to rehome that many fish just isn't worth it IMO. I think that you should be able to find a better deal with less headache. Also for tanks in the 50 gallon and up range, I really like canister filters.
We paid 380 for our 90 gallon with cabinet stand, fluval 405 canister filter( full of good bacteria) , light fixture, gravel and a buch of rocks/decor and a bunch of other fish keeping miscellaneous.

 

josephus's question and the reply has been moved to a thread of it's own.

Here's the link:

 

250 is too high for that setup imo, plus you'll need to figure out what to do with all those fish. I'd pass on this one. Keep an eye on Craigslist and a better deal will come along.

If you do decide to get this setup, I'd honestly just rehome everything and start over. That list is a mess, and includes some dyed fish and a dyed frog.