Do you see any problems with my fish tank set up?

S

shalom k.

New member
Okay so i think i'm finally done with my fish aquarium.... It is 40 gallons and has small/medium sized pebbles on the floor (about 3 from the floor up). There are many big sized rocks along the floor as well as 2 fake plants. I have 2 stress relievers going and an Aqua Clear 50 filter. I have a marineland 200 watt heater as well. Inside the tank i have:

3x snails
2x platys
2x turquois rainbow fish
2x ghost catfish
4x cory catfish
6x true rummynose tetras
7x harlequin rasbora

I'm feeding them flake food and i'm thinking about picking up bottom pellets or dried worms tommorrow. The only potential problem i can see is that i read that ghost catfish should be kept in schools but i only have 2. is 2 enough? And the snails/cory catfishes are bottom feeders...can they maintain without me having to buy food that drops to the ground? Other than that, do you see any other problems with my tank? I also have a neon light above the tank.
 
Wow! Is this your first time getting a full aquarium? If so, great job! You have a very nice setup. The only problem I can see is that you SHOULD get more ghost catfish. I had three of them in my aquarium, but they didn't seem to be acting very playful. The reason they should be in a school is because they are known to be really playful, social fish. They can get very lonely at times. Unlike other types of fish, if they aren't lonely, ghost catfish find it fun to run into the walls of the tank, and swim up to the top of the tank, then back to the bottom. To most people it seems to . So I would get maybe five or six more ghost catfish.

As for the bottom feeder problem, I would maybe wait a while, see how they do w/ the flakes. Just observe them closely when you feed the other fish. If they don't seem to be eating the flakes, then I would think about getting the other food. Hope I helped!
 
Ghost cats are serious schoolers. They school tight and will wither away if you only keep two. They need a tank with a balance of well planted areas and open space.

I would toss out the rainbows and get at least 4 more ghosts, or remove the ghosts and get at least 2 more rainbows, which might not be as dependent on schools as ghost cats, but still belong in one. Besides all that, tanks look so much better when you see big groups of schooling fish. Think less species, higher numbers.

What kind of snails?

Don't overdo the flourescent lighting. Assuming the light needs to be on all day will just help algae grow. Keep the room light on instead for the fish and turn the tank light on when you get home. I doesn't need to be on more than a few hours per day.
 
You only have two plants? if so then I would add some more as well as some sort of decoration for the fish to hide in or make caves with the rocks for them to hide in.
Ghost catfish should be in a school which is 3 or more I would add one or two more of those. As well as one or two more platys. I can't say anything about the turquoise rainbow fish because I really don't know anything about them so maybe someone else can step in about that.
If your feeding enough then yes just flake food falling to the bottom should be enough for the cory cats and the snails though getting some sort of food that falls straight to the bottom would be helpful to make sure they are getting enough to eat, you wouldn't have to put it in more than once or twice a week though probably three times a week would be best but also it depends on how much you feed your fish already and the other fish might eat some of the food at the bottom so it might be a good treat for them as well.
 
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