[PhilipPhish]

So right now in my 30 gallon, I have 4 female bettas, 3 cory cats, 3 swordtails (who I might give away), 7 feeder guppies, and a pleco.

I'm going to the petstore today to get fish food and maybe buy more fish, but what should I get?

Current list:
2-3 more cories
1-2 new female

Like I said, I might be getting rid of my swords, just because their quite naughty in my tank and they don't play nice with each other or my bettas.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Olympia]

Be sure to follow proper adding of new females (eg rearranging decor).
I'd remove the swords, they tend to be mean, as you said.

Do you know your pH and water hardness?
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[PhilipPhish]

Yes, I've had 2 sororities in the past 3 years and I've added and taken out many over that period of time.

I don't know where to put my swords. I have a friend who likes swords and has a few. But we also have a 75 gallon tank, the only problem is, it has an Oscar in it.... he tends to eat EVERYTHING.

 

[Shirleythebetta]

I never knew they were mean. My husband wanted some of those I think...

 

[Olympia]

They are big and rowdy. Generally they are best in species only.
I'd give them to your friend, unless you want to feed the Oscar.
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[PhilipPhish]

I think I'll give them to my friend.

So what about adding fish to the tank? What kinds can I get?

I have 3 salt and pepper cories, a pleco, and 7-8 feeder guppies that will stay in the tank with my 4 bettas.

 

[Olympia]

That depends on your pH and water hardness.

 

[PhilipPhish]

I don't know any of that stuff.

it seems to be ok though... I haven't had a fish die because of poor water quality in my 13 years of owning fish. My oldest betta fish is 9 years old and my oldest non-betta is my pleco, Goliath, shes about 6 years old. None of my guppies have died in the 2 years I've had them, my cories are doing good and I've only had them for half a year, and my swords are perfectly healthy.

My only sick fish is a female betta who is about 4 years old. We do believe she has swim bladder.

My mom won't let me buy water testing kits or anything like that. She thinks that all the chemicals that people put in their tanks actually kills the fish... her opinion, not mine. I on the other hand am indifferent to them. I've never used one or felt the need to know about that kind of stuff.

 

[Olympia]

Testing kits never go into the water!
Actually hardness/pH is not poor water quality. It is just the state of the water (usually permanent).
Some fish (amazon fish) need soft water and usually low pH. Some fish (livebearers) need hard water and high pH.
The fish you have mentioned are pretty hardy. However things like tetra will not last long in the wrong parameters.

 

[PhilipPhish]

The only tetras I've ever had were silver tipped tetras... they did pretty OK, but they were aggressive towards my pleco and my guppies.

I know that the water straight out of my tap is pretty hard, and thats what I use for my tanks. Other than that, I'm clueless as to numbers and anything else.

 

[copperarabian]

you can use Indian almond leaves and tannins from driftwood to make your water softer.

 

[PhilipPhish]

How do I get those kinds of things?

I can't order things off the internet because my mom won't let me...

 

[Bombalurina]

Local petshops may sell Malaysian driftwood. Here it is almost always sold with plants attached. Malaysian is the dark stuff.

Your local council should be able to tell you the hardness and pH of your water. I got my information from my water authority website, then confirmed it with my test kit.

It is pretty important. Although it isn't going to instantly kill your fish, keeping soft water fish in hard water and vice versa will cause problems with their internal organs and shorten their lifespans. For instance, I can't keep livebearers unless they are locally bred in local water, or add coral to my water to harden it, because it is super soft.

 

[PhilipPhish]

I see... do you think my water hardness could be the reason why my one female betta got swim bladder?

I will definitely try to get my water hardness figured out.

 

[MaisyDawgThirteen]

Bettas usually don't mind how hard their water is - they are pretty hardy. It's more fragile fish like tetras that you need to worry about more.

Isn't a 30 gallon a bit small for a common pleco?

 

[PhilipPhish]

Goliath (my female pleco) has been living in it for about 8 years.... she won't be getting any bigger than the tank allows her to. She is quite content and is doing rather well.

I went to the petstore with about 20 dollars and came back with 2... I am now in possession of a new Sailfin Molly and another cory cat.

I plan on buying a few more sailfin mollies as soon as I get rid of my swords and/or get paid again.

 

[Olympia]

You do realize it's considered cruel by myself and probably most people on here stunting a fish's internal organs as the organs grow and the body doesn't due to not "getting any bigger than the tank allows her to."
Why don't you just rehome her? It can be hard but it's not impossible.

 

[PhilipPhish]

My pleco is fine. I don't have any where to put her, I don't know anyone who has room for her, and there is no way my pet stores would take her. its way to hard to sell a giant pleco... and there is absolutely no way I'd ever send her to a different home.

So far, none of my questions have been answered... I'm getting very disappointed.

 

[Micho]

That's because you haven't given us your water hardness and pH levels. :l

Sorry but without that information we can't really give you any species of fish that would thrive in your tank. We'd be giving bad and careless advice, if your water was very hard and very basic the chances of tetras surviving in the tank is slim, or if they did survive but they'd be unhappy because tetras like soft and acidic water and thrive in those conditions.

So unless you can provide us with those results we can't really advise you on what species of fish you can add to the tank. Water hardness can be easily found by via Googling your town/city and finding a written report on the city's water levels. pH strips are cheap and easily found in pet stores, so you won't have to spend a lot of money on them.

 

[Bombalurina]

We can't give you better advice until we know what your water hardness and pH are.

Olympia is right about the pleco. Fish do not grow to the size of their tank out of choice - ammonia stunts their growth and can cause permanent damage to their internal organs, massively reducing their lifespan. It really would be in your pleco's best interests to rehome her so she can grow to her full length of 18+ inches.
Put an add out on local classifieds. Serious aquarists with monster tanks are generally quite happy to take on big fish like that.