Question about campatibilities of fish.

My older brother unfortanutly bought me two silver dollars along with my 30 gallon. (I know Michelle you told me not to. Its not like i was ganna bring the fish back to the store. I just gave it a shot.) I've had tons of fish in there and they are tearing them apart. Do i not have enough hiding spots for the fish or do i need fish that are either bigger than then or same size. I had white cloud tetras and they were eaten, same with bala shark and pleco. It seemed odd that they would do this. I'm pretty sure they were eaten becuase they were gone and had bite marks in them. So give me some tips please and what fish i can put in there that will live well. :roll:

 

So what fish are in there now? Just the 2 silver dollars?

Personally, I'd just leave it at the 2 silver dollars.

-Chelle

 

Yikes! Don't get more bala sharks, they like to be in groups and need at LEAST 75 gallons to swim around in. If your silver dollars are the only fish left, and those are what you want... keep it that way. If you add bigger fish, maybe the silver dollars get hurt, and if you add smaller fish it sounds like they'd only be lunch.

 

yeah i was thinking about doing that anyway. Becuase with all that space and stuff i think they will get sorta big like 5" thats good enough for me. I was also gong to think about getting a pleco. What kind is there that i can have it survive?

Thanks
-Mice

 

I wouldn't put a pleco in there. It will just add lots of waste and you'll encounter overstocking related problems sooner.

If you absolutely want to add something, then maybe 3 cory cats. Most species only get 2" - 3", are peaceful, don't create much waste, and will help clean up the leftovers from the silver dollars.

-Chelle

 

what do you mean when it will create more waste. And by overstocking, are you saying it will get too big? and can you send a pciture of the cory cats.

Thanks mice

 

By waste, I mean poop. Plecos are known as "poop factories." Also most plecos you'll find at LFS's are commons or sailfins. Both can get well over a foot long (I've seen examples of both species that were 18"+) which is WAY too big for your tank. There are some smaller species like bristlenose & bulldog plecos, but they still create a lot of waste.

The more waste the fish produce, the more quickly your nitrAtes will increase and the more often you'll have to do water changes in order to keep your fish healthy. The goal is to keep your nitrAtes below 20 and you should stock your tank so that, ideally, you can keep it below 20 with weekly 20% - 40% water changes. If you have a bunch of large fish in a small tank (especially if some of those fish are large waste producers like plecos), you're not going to be able to do that.

As for cories, you can look at some of the differen't species here (not all of these are readily available)
http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/callicht/G_1.PHP

-Chelle

 

one more question since i've already have a thread up....Since they are related to pirahnas and pirahnas are carnivors too right? and i was wondering if i would be able to feed them like little fish when they get older. And if i can how big do they need to be? I was also thinking about feeding them blood worms. They are only about 2 inches and i've had them for a month. Answer back. Thanks.
-mice

 

silver dollars are herbivores and should be feed greens

 

thanks. Back to the Cory Cats subject. Is there any pleco that would be good for my tank. I really like plecos, how they act, hide, swim, and just their looks. But it really doesn't matter to me as long as i have someone to help me clean my tank just a little bit. Also, since Silver Dollars are Vegetarians and destroy plants, what kind of plants can i get with out them eating them. I like to go with the natural look with drift wood and natural rocks! But I'll survive if there isn't a real plant.

-Mice

 

java fern and java moss

 

Plecos don't generally make tank maintenance any easier. In fact, adding a pleco will create more work because that will be an additional fish in the tank. More fish = more fish waste = more nitrAtes = more water changes.

-Chelle