Tropical Fish

[Shotokan-kez]

Hi guys! I have just set up my first tropical fish tank. I have a Cichlid, 3 platties, a black phantom tetra and two Gourami's so far. I was just wondering if anybody on here has got or had a tropical set-up because i am having some teething problems.

One of my platties seems withdrawn and he has red sore patches on his skin. He just stays by the filter in the corner by himself. I have tried looking on the net to see what the red sore patches could be but i cant find anything.

Anyone any idea's?

[DWx]

We've had a tank for a couple of years. From experience, we avoid platties. They nearly always die! And they ate all of our guppies & guppy babies.

Tetra also seem to be happier in a group if you can buy them. They like to go around in a school (or whatever you call it).

As for the red patches, ask at the place where you bough them. They should be able to point you to a treatment. If not, and you've recently just bough the fish, you could claim a refund providing that its not the water in your tank that's causing the problem.

If its contagious and you can't get the fish treated though you may end up having to kill it. Its not nice to have to do this but if not it'll spread to the rest of the fish and they will all suffer.

Good luck with the tank

[Shotokan-kez]

Thanks DWx. I didn't buy the platties i had them from my sisters tank, but it really was ok before it's happened since being in my tank, all the other fish are fine so far. I did have another black phantom tetra but she died and so i'm left with one.

What fish do you have and what size tank, i have a three foot tank..oh and i forgot to mention i have an apple snail, it's great!

[DWx]

Apple snail? Awesome. Those things get pretty big don't they? This place near us sells frogs & lobsters but I've yet to convince the parents to let me have one.

We have two tanks, a 2ft x 1ft and a 5ft x 2ft.

In the smaller one we've got 2 cherry barbs, 2 lemon tetra, a chinese algae eater, & about 5ish guppies. (The guppies tend to breed a lot so I have no idea how many).

The larger tank has another algae eater, 4 clown loach, 2 albino catfish, 4 glowlight tetra & about 25 guppies.

As for your platty, it still might be worth going to a local dealer to ask what the sores could be. Generally though you want to ensure that the gravel is kept clean, the water is clean and the temperature just right. Also might be worth raising the salinity of tank slightly and adding some bacteria to improve your filter.

[Shotokan-kez]

Hey DWX, thanks for talking to me about it. The sick platty seems to be getting better, i have been putting treatment in and my plants and other fish are thriving!

I have realised what you have been saying about platties, they are little nasty sometimes, i have noticed mine fighting! I just added some more fish, congo tetra, and swordtails...i love swordtails especially the males.

Yeah the apple snails are quite big but they are very interesting and amusing, the light on my tank makes it look bright yellow!

[marie curie]

Hey My fiance and I keep and occasionally breed ciclids. Do you know what kind you have? In general cichlids should not be kept with community fish (like platties) because the platty will often become dinner. Garamis are hit or miss. Some can act aggressivley, but everyone I've ever had has been beaten up by whatever community fish I had them in with.

Another reason you don't keep them together is that the temps and pH's of cichlids verses community fish are a litlle off.

Anyway, good luck with your tank!

[Shotokan-kez]

Hiya Marie. I can't remember what type of cichlid she is. She is like a grey colour with orange tips at the edges of her top fins and she has blue tribal marks on her face. I know what you mean about them, i have heard that a lot but she seems very happy and so do my other fish, it's all very peaceful and content.

The gourami's are happy too, they just chase each other!