What kind of fish do I have

[laketravis]

Hello to everyone

I am a complete newbie and just got my second tank (26 gal) a couple of days ago together with some fish.

I got a couple of questions and hopefully you could help me.

1. The owner who sold the tank to me told he wasn't sure what species were 3 of the fishes he got there (he himself got the tahk from his relative who had left).

I made a couple of pictures, could you help me determine what kind of fish is that?

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I got three of these, they are quite active and school all the time.

2. I also got 2 clown loaches, 3 marble loaches and 1 rainbow fish in the same tank.

Marble loaches are very communicative and play outside most of the time, while the clowns are hiding for the whole day and I could only see them in the dark at night.

After reading the Internet, I figured out I should be buying perhaps 2 to 3 more clown loaches so that there're at least 5 clowns. Would that be OK for a tank of this size?

Is it OK to only have 3 marble loaches on the other hand?

Thank you very much!

[robflanker]

I am a complete newbie and just got my second tank (26 gal) a couple of days ago together with some fish.

2. I also got 2 clown loaches, 3 marble loaches and 1 rainbow fish in the same tank. Uhoh

After reading the Internet, I figured out I should be buying perhaps 2 to 3 more clown loaches so that there're at least 5 clowns. Would that be OK for a tank of this size? Absolutely not. Your tank is too small for what you currently have. 5 clown loaches are best kept in 125g+ IIRC. I would recommend either taking them to a LFS and selling them, or getting a massive tank ASAP

Is it OK to only have 3 marble loaches on the other hand? Dont know about them cant help

Thank you very much!

Welcome to the AC! Sorry if it seems like I am ripping you, I dont mean too but we've got some work to do! We've all been in your shoes once, so dont worry about and we'll get you going on the right track

[thrakuarium]

Hard to tell from the pics . A tetra of some sort or maybe a tinfoil barb.

[jaysee]

They are definitely barbs, in the shape of a tiger barb. Looks like a tiger barb color morph to me...

[MonkeyPox]

Absolutely do not add any more clown loaches and seek a new home for the ones you have. They will get much too big for that tank.

Since you mentioned you were new to fish, did you cycle your tank and do you have a test kit?

[laketravis]

Thank you!

Regarding the clown loaches - mine are about 3.5 inch long (with tail) - do you think the tank is already too small for them even now?

Cycling - the previous owner told he had the tank for about 5 years.
I have a test kit; I tested the water and it is OK.
The tank came with the filter etc., so I would assume it is stable now.
I had to change about 50% water during transportation though, so I plan to monitor the water for a while.

[thrakuarium]

I would investigate your options for the loaches soon. 11 inches is about their adult size. Pretty fish but easily stressed so the sooner you find a permanent solution the better.

[MonkeyPox]

Thank you!

Regarding the clown loaches - mine are about 3.5 inch long (with tail) - do you think the tank is already too small for them even now?

Cycling - the previous owner told he had the tank for about 5 years.
I have a test kit; I tested the water and it is OK.
The tank came with the filter etc., so I would assume it is stable now.
I had to change about 50% water during transportation though, so I plan to monitor the water for a while.

Forgive the questions, but a lot of new people miss some steps in the process. There is a nice free e-book on the left that covers the basics here.

What properties did you test for and what were the readings? Did you add anything to the water when you did a water change?

I think the loaches are probably ok for a little bit, but they'll be stressed in small numbers and will have growth problems if they stay too long.

[jaysee]

The clown loaches will be too big too soon. Depending on the species of rainbow, it'll have to go as well. Rainbows are active, tight schooling fish and need several to feel comfortable. In a 26 gallon, I think the dwarf is the only rainbow that is suitable to your tank, allowing you to have 6. They are so much a schooling fish that if there aren't enough of them, they try to school with other fish. A single fish is lost...

I'm not up on my loaches so I can't help with them.

I hope your tank would be stable having been running for 5 years, but you know what happens when you assume.... What kind of filter is it?

[robflanker]

I believe clown loaches grow about an inch a month until they reach 6inches and then they slow down. I remember reading that somewhere, maybe, sort of

[Jacko]

The mystery fish look like stressed green tiger barbs to me...

What were the readings on your tests? When you got the tank from the previous owner, was it set up yet?

As for the loaches... I'd return all of them, the clowns and the marbles, they are both very active and social fish and the clowns get around 16 inches and the marbles get 5... really too big for a 26 gallon tank.

[AABatteries]

The fish you need IDs on, are definitely some type of barb, probably stressed green ones like Alex mentioned.

If you have a strip test kit, your wasting your time and money. Buy a liquid one, its really the only accurate way to get readings.

And the clown has to go and, the the rainbow should too.

Sorry, if it seems like your being blasted with info, questions, and criticizism, but that's one of the parts of learning. So, just hang in there.

[laketravis]

Thanks to everyone for questions and responses!

First of all, there's nowhere to 'return' the fish unless I wanted to trade it to someone else or to a shop :-)

I got a fully set up tank from a previous owner who said they had the tank as it is for about 6 years, but now they started to camp and travel too often to take proper care of the fish so he was pretty much giving the whole thing away.

The tank came complete with fish, decorations, filter, lighting, heater, air compressor as well as a lot of miscellaneous stuff like food and test kits.

To transport the tank, I drained 50% water and then over the next 2 days, I gradually added 50% new water (about 3 gallons at once) which was mechanically filtered and dechlorinated tap water that was let sit for some 6 hours and heated to the tank temperature before being added.

Together with about 13 gallons of water, I added about 3 teaspoonfuls of freshwater aquarium salt (which also came with aquarium).

At the moment, water parameters (tested with liquid test kit) are as follows:

Ammonium 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates not tested
KH 4
GH not tested
PH 7.4

The filter that I got is AquaClear 300, and the heater is some regularly looking 75 W heater.

The size of fish as of now is as follows:

- 3 x marble loaches are about 4 inch each
- 2 x clown loaches about 3.5 inch each
- Rainbowfish (not sure about the specific type) no more than 3 inch long
- 3 x 'mysterious barbs' each about 1.25 inch long

I would really like to keep the fish and I would consider getting a bigger tank at some point - but do you think the tank is small for the fish I have in there now? Apparently I'm novice and I totally understand the concept of growing - but as of now, do I already need to get a bigger tank?

Thank you very much! And of course, all questions and advice are absolutely appreciated as I understand the importance of proper care!

[robflanker]

First of all, there's nowhere to 'return' the fish unless I wanted to trade it to someone else or to a shop :-) Thats what we mean - take them to a shop, put them Craigslist, whatever you need to do

The tank came complete with fish, decorations, filter, lighting, heater, air compressor as well as a lot of miscellaneous stuff like food and test kits. What kind of filter? What kind of test kit - strips or liquid?

Together with about 13 gallons of water, I added about 3 teaspoonfuls of freshwater aquarium salt (which also came with aquarium). Don't add salt! It'll kill your clown loaches in high enough quantities. CL are very sensitive to salt

At the moment, water parameters are as follows:

Ammonium 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates not tested This is a hugely important factor - it must be checked
KH 4
GH not tested
PH 7.4

The size of fish as of now is as follows:

- 3 x marble loaches are about 4 inch each
- 2 x clown loaches about 3.5 inch each
- Rainbowfish (not sure about the specific type) no more than 3 inch long
- 3 x 'mysterious barbs' each about 1.25 inch long

I would really like to keep the fish and I would consider getting a bigger tank at some point - but do you think the tank is small for the fish I have in there now? Apparently I'm novice and I totally understand the concept of growing - but as of now, do I already need to get a bigger tank? If you wish to keep your stocking, you need a bigger tank yesterday. IMO, you need to offload some fish, and plan out a 26g effectively - so yes I think your tank is too small


Hope this helps...

[laketravis]

Thank you very much!

The filter is AquaClear 300, and the tests are from liquid test kit.

Unfortunately I do not have a nitrate test among them.

[robflanker]

Thank you very much!

The filter is AquaClear 300, and the tests are from liquid test kit.

Unfortunately I do not have a nitrate test among them.

Is that Aquaclear 30g or Aquaclear 300gph (70g)?

You ought to get a test kit with nitrate testing ability

[laketravis]

It's a 300 gph filter.

[robflanker]

It's a 300 gph filter.

Ok awesome. Thats a good filter you have for the setup. Its typically referred to as an Aquaclear 70 (AC70) just so you know. That should be fine for your setup, once we get the stocking sorted lol

[laketravis]

:-) yes i realized that i have some work to do

thanks again for tons of useful info!

[thrakuarium]

I kinda thought you "inherited" fish along with the tank. Do what ya can as far as the loaches are concerned. You basically got someone elses problem. I would say dont add any fish until you find your loaches a new home. Rob is right about the salt. Loaches,corys and any other skinned fish (no scales) are very sensitive to salt and any other substances present in a tank, including meds if you have to use them. Their bodies absorb larger quantities than scaled fish, so salt that would help build a scaled fishes slime coat actually is bad for a skinned fish. I have corys in both of my community tanks so I don't touch aquarium salt.

[jaysee]

Ok awesome. Thats a good filter you have for the setup. Its typically referred to as an Aquaclear 70 (AC70) just so you know. That should be fine for your setup, once we get the stocking sorted lol

Old models were named by their flow rate, like penguins.

[invadertoast]

I just skimmed through so I don't know if anyeone mentioned it - that does not look like a stressted green tiger barb. It most definately looks like a platinum green tiger barb, I had one in with my school of tigers and they are MUCH lighter than the green barbs. I've only seen them once in a store and think they are beautiful!

[laketravis]

Thanks everyone once again.

I googled the pics for 'platinum green tiger barb' and i think that indeed this is what i have.