Inherited tank ideas

[wrestlingfreak7]

My friend who is moving gave me a tank and such for free. He thinks its 30gal
but I measured it and it is 2.3 ft length, 1.5 feet width and 1.25 feet deep. It also came with two gold fish and a small pleco.
I put an albino cory cat and 2 serpae tetra in it for now.

Any suggestions would help.

I also want to figure out how much it will hold by using those measurements.

pics.
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[Adorkable]

I would watch the pleco and the goldfish, since I have heard stories of the plecos sucking on the goldfish and killing them. Sad really.

And also, the cory, tetras, and pleco are tropical fish, which means they need different requirments then the goldfish, like diet, and temperature.

[roark fishies]

I think you should decide if you want the goldfish (coldwater fish-require no heater) or the tropical fish (requires heater). Goldfish are great but they get big and are nasty in terms of waste. You wouldn't be able to add any more fish. Keeping tropicals with goldies would be stressful. A plus on going with tropicals is that you can put more fish in the tank. Goldies actually need like 10G of water per fish.

[nrstype]

Given your measurements in inches... (within a couple inches..)

Width: 28" (71.12cm)
Height: 15" (38.1cm)
Depth: 18" (45.72cm) = 32.73 U.S. gallons

So yes.. it is probably a 30g tank.

Goldfish get BIG, produce much waste that algae thrive on. Plecos, at least most of the more common ones, will be needing a tank larger than 30g. They can get 1 and 1/2 feet in length. I know.. I have two of them. They do not bother any of my fish, they can be kept in a community tank, granted that the tank can house them as they grow. They should not bother your goldfish, or other fish you have. They eat algae wafers.

For this tank, you are now at the limit of the stocking capacity. The filtration looks like a whisper in tank type. I used to have one.. this will be needing upgraded, it is unfortunately inadequate for the bioload of the tank. And your decor cleaned if you do not want the green algae buildup.

Your tropical fish will want to be warmer, as Adorkable & roark fishies stated. Your tropicals may not fair as well as the more hardier pleco and goldfish. A good test kit is essential, strips don't do any good really. If you find your tropicals, after a few days, are fairing badly, their may be too many toxins in the water. Goldfish and Plecos produce massive amounts of waste, and 25%(minimum) to 50% water changes, with good gravel vacuuming is essential, weekly.

You may have to decide what type of fish you want to keep. Goldfish, or tropicals. If you even decide to have plants, fair warning, goldfish love to eat them (after they've ripped them up of course).

Good luck on your new tank, READ READ READ is the best bet, prior to investing in anything else, equipment or livestock wise.

good luck

[TLH]

Get a heater and get rid of the goldies in my opinion. Goldfish are not comfortable over 19°C or thereabouts (although they will tolerate higher for periods) and tropicals are not comfortable much under 24°C as a rule so you are putting stress on one or the other keping both together.

Coldwater fish use more oxygen than tropicals which is another reason you can't have as many in a given space as tropicals which are better adapted to less oxygen.

[wrestlingfreak7]

goldfish are gone sold them about an hour ago. Probably going to lfs to pick up heater and such this week.

[wrestlingfreak7]

so the goldies are gone so now my tank consits of 1 small pleco (ID in the works), 1 ghost shrimp, 2 serpae tetra, 1 albino cory cat.

[ChrisShip]

If you are going to keep the Serpea Tetras I would suggest you buy more of them. They like to be in schools of 5 or more. Same for the Cory Cats, I believe they like to be in schools of at least 3. Then perhaps add another fish like a gourami that has some nice colour to it to complete your tank.

[wrestlingfreak7]

I had five but they were extremely aggressive, sort of like a pack of wolves.... So I kept the two least aggressive ones. I can get more cory cats though.

[ChrisShip]

I've heard they can be aggressive; the ones I have had have not been though. They were very aggressive when feeding, but only to the food. Maybe you just had a few bad apples. I recently got some Emerald Eye Rasboras and they are nice little fish. You could have quite a few in a 30 gallon tank.