Need Advice

[keithk831]

Alright, so about 2 months ago we got a 5 Gallon Hex tank with a few fish (i'm not going to get into the past fishes since it's a long story and things have changed a lot). As of right now, we have 3 Serpae Tetras (the 4th one died today), 2 Green Cory Catfish, and a Ghost Shrimp.

The water seems to get cloudy pretty quickly. It looks yellow-ish and if you look closely you can see the water has a ton of tiny white floaties in it (the size of small air bubbles). The ammonia levels are low, but the pH is high. I am trying to lower the pH level but it's difficult since I put a pH buffer tablet in before I knew I needed to get it right first.

Anyway, with the water dirty, the pH high, and having had 2 fish and 3 shrimp die in the last week, something's wrong. Any tips? I really like the catfish; the serpaes are just territorial and chase each other around. I wouldn't mind getting rid of them and getting more catfish, but I just want a tank setup that's well-balanced, harmonious, and fun to watch (like the catfish).

[TabMorte]

I'm sorry to say your tank is way over stocked and that's likely why you're having such problems. The catfish need at least a 10G, infact if they're emerald catfish (who are often sold as green cories) they'll need a 20. The tetras like wise need more then 5 Gallons.

I would suggest you use your 5G to make a planted shrimp tank (it really is the perfect size for shrimp) and look at a larger set up for your cories (they like to be in shoals of 4 or more, just fyi)

[keithk831]

Originally Posted by TabMorte

I'm sorry to say your tank is way over stocked and that's likely why you're having such problems. The catfish need at least a 10G, infact if they're emerald catfish (who are often sold as green cories) they'll need a 20. The tetras like wise need more then 5 Gallons.

I would suggest you use your 5G to make a planted shrimp tank (it really is the perfect size for shrimp) and look at a larger set up for your cories (they like to be in shoals of 4 or more, just fyi)

Thanks for the response. Petsmart's signing said they only need 1 Gallon and only get 2-3 inches big at most. Are you sure about that? Also we probably won't go with anything bigger since we just spent a bunch of bucks on this one...we'll just have to make this one work. What if we got rid of the serpaes and got a couple more catfish (assuming they really don't get above 2-3 inches at most)? That would be a total of 4 fish in a 5 gallon tank, sticking to the 1" of fish to 1 gallon of water rule (if that still applies).

[joy613]

If your ph is steady the fish will adjust, adjusting the ph causes more problems usually than it solves. When it comes to stocking a nano you don't have a lot of options without overstocking. Figure 5 inches of fish the shrimp bio load doesn't really count because it is so small. Some fish may be small but need a lot of space to swim in, tetras are usually small but they do better is schools and a lot of room to swim in.

[Meghan]

That really is too bad that you've spent so much on your 5g already. The fish that you have really do need a larger tank. If you don't transfer them to a larger tank, you will most likely continue to have problems with your water quality. The most likely reason that your water looks so poor is that there are too many fish in the tank.
Also, did you cycle your tank before adding the fish? The fish deaths may have been due to ammonia or nitrite spikes... both these should be at 0 for healthy living conditions. Nitrate should stay between 10-20, I believe.
Most pet stores are not the best place for reliable information. Typically, they just want to make a sale.
Personally, I would buy a 10g (or larger if you have the budget) and transfer your current fish into the larger one. I definitely don't recommend getting any more fish for your 5g. Getting rid of the tertra's is your choice but still won't help the fact that you are overstocked. The 1" per fish rule goes by adult sizes. I'm not sure about the specific species of emerald cories, but most cories do grow to at least 2-3", I have a peppered cory at home that is 3" now. The 2 cories you have right now will get at least 3" and therefore need at least 10g just for the 2 of them. But, as Tab said, cories really are at their best in groups, as are tetra's.

[TabMorte]

Originally Posted by keithk831

Thanks for the response. Petsmart's signing said they only need 1 Gallon and only get 2-3 inches big at most. Are you sure about that? Also we probably won't go with anything bigger since we just spent a bunch of bucks on this one...we'll just have to make this one work. What if we got rid of the serpaes and got a couple more catfish (assuming they really don't get above 2-3 inches at most)? That would be a total of 4 fish in a 5 gallon tank, sticking to the 1" of fish to 1 gallon of water rule (if that still applies).

Petsmarts signing is wrong. Period.

Cories need a MINIMUM of a 10Gallon tank. As I said if they're Emerald Catfish you're going to need a 20 or larger.

You can buy a 10G tank for 15.00 empty. A decent filter is 20.00 (I recommend an Aquaclear Mini/Aquaclear 20 for a 10G tank). The rest of your stuff could be transported and your fish will live happier and healthier lives. Even in a 10G though, 2 cories is 4 to 6 'inches of fish' as it where. I had to move mine out of my 10 Gallon and into a 29 as they got older because there simply just wasn't enough space/filteration for them in a 10.

In a 5 gallon you'll continue to have crash after crash and fish dying if you try and maintain that many fish in such a small space.

[keithk831]

With my current setup, what would you guys recommend I have in my tank, if I was to start over? Fun, energetic fish, that will keep the tank well-balanced?

I haven't had any problems with ammonia. I haven't tested for nitrite or nitrate, but i'm assuming that since my tank is new, I have the ammonia-nitrite bacteria but maybe not the nitrite-nitrate bacteria quite yet.

[Meghan]

Live plants with a cool species of a group of shrimp would be neat.
I also loves betta's, they are pretty chill fish.
A dwarf puffer fish would go nicely in a 5g also.

If I were you, I would get the test kits and check all the parameters. As I understand it, you should see an ammonia spike, then ammo will drop to 0, after that a nitrite spike, then nitrite will cut to 0 and then you'll see nitrate. This usually takes around 6-8 weeks total though.

[TabMorte]

You could do a dwrf puffer and some ottos. Or a pair of guppies (males only) and some shrimp. Or a male betta (not so active but definitely pretty) and some shrimp or ottos or snails.

I agree plants would be best in such a small tank, they'll help stabalize the environment.

One of the things you're also not considering is oxygen, with such stocking even if your chemistery is alright you might not have enough oxygen in the water to suport your curren stocking, especially as the temperture rises as warm water holds less and less oxygen.

[roark fishies]

If you really have your heart set on some cories you could probably do a couple pygmy cories. They stay really small.