Help!!

[HavinFun]

I am new to the aquarium life and need some help on two things..

1) I have 2 swordtail fish and i cant seem to get them to eat. I have 6 shrimp and 5 goldfish in the tank with them. I am feeding them the flakes and although the goldfish are eating (of course) the sword's arent. at least i havent seen them eat. am i feeding them the wrong thing or what do i do?? i dont want them to starve.

2) out of the 6 shrimp i have, one of them is bigger then the others and likes to stay to its self. i apologize that i dont remember the exact name on them, but they are the clear ones that are at times hard to see. the one that is bigger also seems to be pregnant. or it looks like it. how can i tell for sure weather its eggs i see or something else. there are several of them.....if it is pregnant, what do i do??

thank you for your help??

[cocoa_pleco]

we have some troubles here-

Goldfish are coldwater, and their only tankmates are loaches and shrimp and white clouds. you have to separate them since the swordtails are tropical.

second, goldfish need 20g for the first, and 10g thereafter, so you need a 60g tank for them alone. what size tank do you have?

welcome to ac!

[cocoa_pleco]

and the shrimp are ghost shrimp. If theres pink under its tail, theyre eggs

[Drumachine09]

and the shrimp are ghost shrimp. If theres pink under its tail, theyre eggs

If its small spots within the shrimps body, its just flecks of color, or internal organs.


Welcome to the A.C.!

[HavinFun]

lol!!! i think i have really goofed up. i admit that i am new to all of this. my tank is ten gallons. i have 2 swords, 5 gold and 6 shrimp....when i bought them, they never told me that the swords are freshwater. they seem to be ok together though..

[Drumachine09]

lol!!! i think i have really goofed up. i admit that i am new to all of this. my tank is ten gallons. i have 2 swords, 5 gold and 6 shrimp....when i bought them, they never told me that the swords are freshwater. they seem to be ok together though..



All of your fish are fresh water. The golds need lower temperatures though, as they are coldwater. Swordtails are tropical, meaning they need a temperuatre of about 78 degrees farenheit.

[HavinFun]

there not pink spots, they are dark round things under the belly on the shrimp

[cocoa_pleco]

the dark things sound odd.


You can keep one goldfish with your current fish if you have a good filter and do 50% weekly water changes. maybe take 4 goldies back for store credit.

i made the exact same mistake you did. my first tank was a 6g, and i had 5 neon tetras, 3 goldfish, 2 plecos, 3 frogs, 4 corys, 2 otto cats, and 3 ghost shimp. talk about overstocking!

[HavinFun]

what do i do about the sword's not eating?? they are active though..:help:

[cocoa_pleco]

theyre active, so thats a good sign. If you have a heater, they may be stressed from high ammonia due to so many goldfish. if you dont have a heater, they are stressed from coldwater, and the ammonia. they shouldnt starve, as fish can go fine for a month without food. do lots of water changes until you can get rid of 4 goldies

[HavinFun]

i thank you for ur help!! i will have to do what i can until i can find a place for the goldies. i dont know if they will take back the 4 goldies but i can try. or find a friend that wants fish. i did kinda regret how many goldies i got after i got them home.. i do have a heater and a good filter.. thank you

[HavinFun]

i thank you for ur help...i will have to do what i can until i find a new home for the other 4. i have a heater and a good filter.... thank you for ur help... any other advice would be appreiciated

[Nick_Pavlovski]

I suppose the excess goldfish could always be a project for an outdoor pond?

Outdoor ponds don't have to be a lot of work, an old bathtub is often a good way to start.
Otherwise, some good pond liner plastic (available from most big hardware/gardening centres) and a hole in the ground you dig is another way to get a pond underway.

However, there are plenty of pond people here, even a whole thread for ponds - check it out!

[cocoa_pleco]

ponds can be pretty easy to set-up.

like nick said, you can just take a bathtub, and hook up a canister filter.

[HavinFun]

well, things got interesting since last night. over night i lost a goldie and one of my swords. the sword had a hole in is belly:brow34: i took the goldies out and so now i have 1 sword and my shrimp. i am going to leave it like that for about a week or so and let everything have a chance to settle down. i wont make that mistake again. oh, good news though, I HAVE A NEW BABY SHRIMP!!!! :19:

[cocoa_pleco]

congrats with the shrimp!

the good thing is that you learnt from your experience. believe me, within a year you will have as many tanks as me!