will old/new fish school?

[rugrat]

I've been reading for info but finally have a question

I have an established tank with 3 serpae tetras and a baby common pleco... one of the tetras died recently I now know I should have let them school in groups of 6 (didn't know that when I got them and they seemed ok but maybe they were stressed??)

Anyway if I buy 4 more serpaes, will they school with the old 2 or should I just get 6 more? Also do they have to be serpaes or will all similar tetras school? Or can I just leave my 2 and be happy? There's nothing I WANT, though I like the serpaes, but I also have my eye on some glow lights...

tank is a perfectly fine/cycled 20g. It's been running for awhile, no other issues. I know I will have to move the pleco eventually but he's still very little... we're moving soon and he will have a 75g tank to play in. *BOUNCINGS

 

[Frogki]

When I had the 30 gallon with freshwater, I only had 3 tiger barbs (rookie mistake) and didn't buy more for quite a while. I had to temporarily neglect the poor little threesome in a 2 and a 1/2 gallon where they couldn't bother the others. I finally got 3 more recently and they all schooled up fine even though it had been months since I got the first three... But these are tiger barbs, so behavior might be a little different... But I would guess yes... Don't take it to the bank, I'm just guessing, I'm still fairly new at this....

 

[misterking]

Surprisingly Frogki, the behaviour of serpae tetras and tiger barbs isn't that different, serpaes fit into the "fin nippers" category aswell.

I'd say get 6 more, so that any bullying that might occur from the original two is spread out through the group. This shouldn't last too long though before the new ones are settled. Glowlights won't shoal with serpaes unfortunately.

 

[JRB__]

Any new ones will find the existing two and join them or vice versa. They feel safer in numbers. As misterking already mentioned they might bully one another until they establish a pecking order but that won't take long and they'll settle back down. They will school with some similar fish, again purely to feel safe and secure, but will always be more happy with their own species.
Bit of advice for your common pleco, filter filter and over-filter! they create alot of waste when they're larger and tend to kick it all up off the bottom as the move around, mine is bout 6 inches and he can dirty up a 75g in a couple of days all by himself. Plus when he gets larger he might get a little aggressive. And don't forget the common grows to 2 feet!
Just a couple of things to keep in mind for when he moves up to the next size tank.

 

[rugrat]

Thanks for the info! I will go ahead and get 6, what's 2 more. The ones I have are only 3 months old. Could excessive fin-nipping be what killed it? It was my favorite one, too, because the other 2 were always hiding and this one was always swimming around happily, would come up to me if I looked like I had food. heh. It looked intact when I took it out.

Now the pleco, I honestly had no clue they get that big. We had a pleco years ago that was about 6" long in the 75 and was perfectly happy, lived 14 yrs too. I don't think it was anything but a common pleco; the one we have now looks exactly the same. I'm a little scared now. I will probably be back for better filtering advice for such a big tank! As it is with the little one it seems kinda dirty, is it ok to do gravel vacuum/water changes more than 1x a week if needed?

 

[JRB__]

Thanks for the info! I will go ahead and get 6, what's 2 more. The ones I have are only 3 months old. Could excessive fin-nipping be what killed it? It was my favorite one, too, because the other 2 were always hiding and this one was always swimming around happily, would come up to me if I looked like I had food. heh. It looked intact when I took it out.

Now the pleco, I honestly had no clue they get that big. We had a pleco years ago that was about 6" long in the 75 and was perfectly happy, lived 14 yrs too. I don't think it was anything but a common pleco; the one we have now looks exactly the same. I'm a little scared now. I will probably be back for better filtering advice for such a big tank! As it is with the little one it seems kinda dirty, is it ok to do gravel vacuum/water changes more than 1x a week if needed?

Umm I think the serpae's are the ones doing the fin-nipping so I'd guess something eles was the cause of his death. Also once you add 6 more and they all school up they shouldn't hide as much, they're like a gang, confidence in numbers.

With the pleco, these fish live a very long time as you know, therefore they also tend to grow at a very slow pace so don't freak out to much about the size, not for a few years is it even going to be a problem. Read up on the net about the common pleco, most places will recommened a 180g + tank once its grown, but hey you think you may have had one for 14 years that stop growing at 6 inches so who knows (I've only had mine about a year).
I gravel vacuum the the surface (running it over the surface of the sand but not pushing it down into the sand) every time I do a water change, its the only way I remove water from my tanks, usually one-two times a week. I don't think it would do much harm if you increased, just don't remove more than 20% at a time if your doing it every other day perhaps. When actually pushing the gravel vac down into the sand and getting all the gunk that gets in there, I wouldn't do that to often. Along with the gunk is good bacterial colonies that'll be affected if constantly disturbed. I recommened doing the deep vac once a month.
Hope that helps.

 

[misterking]

With the pleco, these fish live a very long time as you know, therefore they also tend to grow at a very slow pace so don't freak out to much about the size, not for a few years is it even going to be a problem. Read up on the net about the common pleco, most places will recommened a 180g + tank once its grown, but hey you think you may have had one for 14 years that stop growing at 6 inches so who knows (I've only had mine about a year).

It should be noted, however, that plecos are a huge and extremely diverse group of fish, many of which superficially look identical, therefore you may have just found one that only grows to 6 inches. It'd be good to post a pic of your pleco up on here so we can be sure exactly what type it is, but JRB's right, some commonly sold kinds can grow to a good 2 feet.

 

[JRB__]

It should be noted, however, that plecos are a huge and extremely diverse group of fish, many of which superficially look identical, therefore you may have just found one that only grows to 6 inches. It'd be good to post a pic of your pleco up on here so we can be sure exactly what type it is, but JRB's right, some commonly sold kinds can grow to a good 2 feet.

ok cool I didn't know there were pleco's that look identical to the common as far as colour and pattern etc thats kind of cool, maybe mine isn't a common but a look alike that won't grow into a huge fish that'll need a massive tank...unfortunately mine has all the characteristics of a common, getting aggressive, more of a bottom feeder, territorial etc, so it's unlikely

The 'common pleco' I'm referring to is the Hypostomus plecostomus

 

[Doomhed]

ok cool I didn't know there were pleco's that look identical to the common as far as colour and pattern etc thats kind of cool, maybe mine isn't a common but a look alike that won't grow into a huge fish that'll need a massive tank...unfortunately mine has all the characteristics of a common, getting aggressive, more of a bottom feeder, territorial etc, so it's unlikely

The 'common pleco' I'm referring to is the Hypostomus plecostomus

If your " common pleco" will eat sinker shrimp pellets, you might actually have a leopard pleco or a spiny pleco. Your average common pleco usually wont touch the shrimp pellets you use for catfishes for some reason ( at least my breeding pair wouldn't).

I recommend a spiny pleco if you can find them. they are docile and reach a maximum of 10 inches. they are also really active during the day. I guess the whole " I have sharp spikes on me" thing makes it so they don't have to eat only at night.

 

[misterking]

My common did.. suppose that depends how fussy the fish is.