Extra-horny Guppy? Or Too Much Flow in tiny 5.5 Gallon Tank?

[KillaGuppy]

I'm starting up a tank after being fish-free for over two decades.

It's for my kid's room and the tank needs to be small, but I also want the challenge of a mini tank.

I've added extra filtration with the eventual goal to overstock it.

For now the 5.5 gallon contains:

(1) Aquaclear 20 Power Filter (set on minimum: 33 GPH)
(1) Aquaclear 10 Power Head (set on minimum: 47 GPH)
(1) Visi-Therm 25W Heater
(1) Lee's Undergravel Filter
(1) 5" wide Anubias Plant
(2) sets of Sword plants
(1) 4"x3"x2" driftwood

Timeline:
12/10 Set up fish tank with hanging filter and heater
12/24 Added Anubias
12/30 Set up undergravel filter
12/31 Added first fish
1/1 Added sword plants

The first fish were (2) standard Rasboras (Harlequins?) and (1) male fancy guppy.

On 1/1 (today) both Rasboras died within an hour of each other, after 24 hours in the tank. I brought the dead rasporas back to the fish store. They said the fish didn't look sick and the water tested perfectly.

I had been concerned that there was too much water flow in the tiny 5.5 gallon tank because of all the filtration. I was thinking that all that water flow may cause the fish to die of exhaustion, because the fish looked like they were constantly moving upstream. However they weren't ever pinned to one area and they managed to swim all around the tiny aquarium. They seemed healthy.

Also, when the guppy and two rasporas started in the tank, they seemed to be swimming really well together in a mini-school. But shortly after adding the additional Sword Plants, they stopped swimming in a school and moved to separate areas of the tank.

I'm also not sure if there's been enough time for the tank to cycle properly.

So after I brought back the dead rasporas, the fish store gave me a couple more rasporas. I also got a third one. When I added them back to the tank, I noticed the guppy started chasing around.

After doing some online research, I've read that lone male guppies in small tanks may get aggressive and chase down other non-guppies to try to mate with them. Is this true?

I've also read that rasporas, when chased may collide into the glass and knock themselves out or be outright killed.

The two hours before the rasporas died, they seem to be really doing well, and then kaput.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Happy New Year everyone.

 

[Doomhed]

yeah, male guppies are usually best in small bachelor schools or with females, by themselves they get confused and kinda dopey.

 

[beckyd]

If your fish are constantly swimming against the current, I think you have too much current for them. If you insist upon overstocking, try an internal filter with the 10, or an undergravel that feeds the intake of the powerhead 10. I am afraid the fish were exhausted. These fish remain pretty stationary when they sleep. Doesn't sound like any sleeping is happening in that tank.

 

[OrangeCones]

I've also read that rasporas, when chased may collide into the glass and knock themselves out or be outright killed.

Interesting. Where did you read this?

 

[KillaGuppy]

A quick update.

I think the Guppy was the culprit. With only 2 Rasboras in a tiny tank, it was easy for him to separate them out and chase them down. I've since added:

(3) Harlequin Rasboras
(1) Dwarf Platy
(1) Otocinclus
(1) Pumilus Gourami
(2) Cherry Shrimp

The guppy now spends most of his time chasing after the dwarf platy, and the three rasboras seem to be doing great. It's only been 6 days, but so far, so good.

OrangeCones: I tried to find the thread about rasporas smashing into glass, but couldn't locate it.

As far as water flow goes, I think they've all adjusted. The fish seem to be happy swimming all around the tank. Sometimes they even swim in the current of the powerhead. Is this normal? It's almost like they're playing – it seems farfetched though.

 

[Newman]

yea, fish like exercise
my otos, SAEs, and even female bettas just love to swim through the current of the power-head sometimes...

 

[KillaGuppy]

HELP!

My new Galaxy Rasboras (Celestial Peral Danios) are dying off.

Her's what happened. On Saturday, I got a Dario Dario (Red Dwarf Badis) and the Harlequin Rasboras started going after it. I really like Dario, so I pulled out all the Harlequin's and replaced them with Galaxy Rasboras.

Out of the 4 Galaxy's, there's only 1 left. Also, a Cherry Shrimp is dead--only a couple inches away from its molted shell. I'm thinking after it molted, it was vulnerable enough to become prey.

Could the guppy be going after them?

The guppy seems like the most likely suspect since it's constantly chasing the Platy, but I haven't seen it chase anything else.

This is what's in the tank:

(1) Galaxy Rasboras
(1) Dwarf Platy
(1) Otocinclus
(1) Pumilus Gourami
(1) Cherry Shrimp
(1) Dario Dario
(2) Pygmy Cories (Corydoras pygmaeus)

Water tested every 12 hours since Saturday at 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 5 Nitrate, 7.5 pH.

 

[Doomhed]

I think you need to give up on the overstocking idea. you have killed plenty of fish proving it isn't going to work.

 

[Newman]

ouch, yea that tank is very overstocked...please reduce the numbers of fish...

 

[misterking]

Yep, you need at least a 20 gallon to support that amount of fish. You didn't cycle the tank properly, and so the most likely explanation is ammonia poisoning. Please read up on cycling and invest in a bigger tank. The guppy won't be the culprit, he's just surviving less hardy fish in inadequate conditions.

 

[KillaGuppy]

Update:

All the Galaxy Rasboras have met their demise. All the other fish continue to be very active, even the Scarlet Badis.

Thank you for the suggestion of buying a larger tank, but the whole point of this exercise is the challenge of a nano tank. If anything, I may switch out the tank and get a ADA mini-m, which is about the same size.

The tank was started using bacteria gel and bacteria starter. I've been testing the water once or twice a day and there have not been any ammonia spikes. The tank is also showing trace Nitrate between 0 PPM-5 PPM, which seems like the bacteria is doing their work. I think the reason why the Nitrates drop is from all the live plants.

Two questions for you guys:

1) The Pumilus Gourami has nearly doubled in the week that it's been in the tank. After talking to the fish shop that sold him to me, they now believe that it's some sort of dwarf gourami and not a Pumilus. I may take it back, because it's going to get too big and probably territorial. Perhaps, he was the one chasing down the Galaxy Rasboras?

2) Also, the Aquaclear Powerhead 10 seems to be getting noisier. Has anyone else encountered this problem? I bought a Rio 90 today, but it's also noisy and the water flow on it is way too high. Does anyone have any other recommendations?

 

[Newman]

no recommendations on the filter as most other than canisters and internal filter are very noisy.

I do not believe the term "Nano Tank" means cram as many smallish species of fish into one tank to completely overstock it and watch them die due to poor water conditions and territorial aggression...

Nano tanks have only a few individuals of fish (or a tiny school) of a REASONABLE size. You don't overstock a nano tank...ever. you under-stock it to make sure no balance is thrown off.

What are your Nitrite readings btw?
1) take him back for sure. probably demolished those rasboras.
2) you can get that one but it's still gonna make some noise. try it out.

If your exercise is to kill fish by pitting them against each-other in that small tank, then I cannot advise, I'm sorry lol

 

[misterking]

1) The Pumilus Gourami has nearly doubled in the week that it's been in the tank. After talking to the fish shop that sold him to me, they now believe that it's some sort of dwarf gourami and not a Pumilus. I may take it back, because it's going to get too big and probably territorial. Perhaps, he was the one chasing down the Galaxy Rasboras?

If you didn't see him chasing them, I doubt he killed them. Gouramis are very rarely aggressive to other fish, they just have an undeserved bad reputation. Any way you could take a pic so we can identify him? You'd probably need to take it back anyway, most gouramis, even dwarf, would be a bit big for the tank. As Newman said, it's not about cramming as many small fish into a small space, it's about balance.

 

[Doomhed]

my understanding of original "nano" tanks was you set up a micro ecosystem so that you dont have to do any real maintenance once it is setup.

but the term has changed a few times over the last decade. apparently nano now means "5 times the fish my tank can hold".

I blame apple, the Ipod Nano holds way too many things in a tiny package.

 

[Newman]

Lol .

 

[KillaGuppy]

The extra-horny guppy may or may not have been the culprit in the initial troubles with the Harlequin Rasboras. Since the introduction of the Dwarf Platy, he’s been happy spending most of his days chasing it around.

As for the Gourami, I pulled him out over a month ago after the 4 Galaxy Rasboras bit the dust. When I took him back to the store, they said it was not a Pygmy Gourami as I was led to believe, but a Croaking Gourami, which is more aggressive. I’m blaming it for the demise of Galaxy Rasboras, because I added far more fragile Ember Tetras the next day sans the Gourami, and they’ve been doing fine.

There was a small outbreak of ick a few weeks ago, probably from the addition of 2 more pygmy cats (it's my understanding they like to be in shoals of at least 4). We turned up the heat–didn’t want to add salt or medicine because of the invertebrates and live plants. So with no medicine, it cleared up in a few days, but then the heater blew out and kept fluctuating the temperature. So we turned off the heater after only a 6-day treatment versus a 10-day treatment. Luckily, no other spots have shown up since.

The tank has been happily getting along without any casualties for over a month and a half. It seems overstocked, but according to the Aquarium Advisor Calculator, it’s only about 175%. There are also lots of plants for the active fish to dart in and out of and lots of areas for the shy fish to find shelter.

(1) Fancy Male Guppy
(1) Dwarf Platy
(6) Ember Tetras
(1) Cherry Shrimp
(2) Dario Dario
(4) Pygmy Cories (Corydoras pygmaeus)
(1) Assassin Snail

Just added the Assassin Snail yesterday, because we’ve had an outbreak of little snails crawling around. No doubt from the plants we’ve been adding. Sick of handpicking out the snails, hopefully the Assassin Snail will help.

The plants are:

(3) Java Fern
(1) Windelov Java Fern
(1) Water Wisteria
(1) Anubias

I’ll try to upload some pictures later on.

 

[Newman]

oh, it's ONLY 175%, thats nothing to worry about...
o wait...how do you not run into overwhelming nitrate at the end of each week in your tank? I have a 40 gal thats 140% overstocked and I get 20ppm nitrate each week, forcing me to change 1/4 of the water...
so how much and how frequently do you change the water in that tank?
And do you TEST it?
What are the nitrates right now?

 

[OrangeCones]

There was a small outbreak of ick a few weeks ago, probably from the addition of 2 more pygmy cats (it's my understanding they like to be in shoals of at least 4).

This is the direct result of overstocking, IMO.

It seems overstocked, but according to the Aquarium Advisor Calculator, it’s only about 175%.

ONLY 175%? You have all of those fish in a 5gallon tank?

Just added the Assassin Snail yesterday, because we’ve had an outbreak of little snails crawling around. No doubt from the plants we’ve been adding.

Snail populations can only increase if you are overfeeding.

 

[KillaGuppy]

I say "only 175%", because someone was recommending a 20 gallon with the fish selection, which would suggest that the tanks is 400%+ overstocked. Agreed, it's a lot of fish, but the water tests out well. Filtration level is 254%

Water tests out consistently at 0 PPM ammonia, 0 PPM Nitrites, 5-10 PPM Nitrates.

Been doing a 1/3 water change every week.

The snail population may be due to overfeeding. I've been giving about a pinch of flake food once a night (maybe 1/4 of a dime) and a sliver of frozen baby brine. Seems like it's gone in 60 seconds. Could try cutting down, but do I need to worry about the school of Pygmy Cats eating?

 

[Newman]

feed cories at night when lights are off.

its pretty amaizing that you still get low nitrates, but 1/3 of the water is a good weekly change!