need some fish tank advice...

[amandaleigh37]

We have a 5 gallon tank we got for my toddler's new room. We've never had fish before. We really don't know what we're doing, honestly.

I know we can only put very few small fish in a tank this small. I read 5 inches of fish max, right? We've had the tank for about 3 months. We had a platie (?) and another fish... I don't remember what it's called. But the info about it said it lives well with platies. Sadly the only place to buy fish in our rural area is walmart... I know, not good. They don't know anything either when I ask about the fish.

We were having a major algae problem. Like having to empty out 1/3 of the water and suction out everything EVERY weekend, because the algae was so bad. Is that normal?? We got a small plecostomus (maybe 2 inches?) and he ate up all the algae and everything was fine. We had him for about 3 weeks and just found him dead We were giving him algae tablets (1 every night) too. Any idea why he died?

I don't want to get another one if it will die too, obviously. But I don't know a better way to control the algae. We must be doing something wrong. Help?

[tinyblackdot]

get another plecostomus, but if the algae is that bad, you might not need to feed it nessacarily.

Have you checked your filter?

[greenmagick]

Plecos are way too big for a 5 gallon, and they need more food then just algae. Is the tank in direct sunlight? Are you overfeeding? I am pretty sure platies dont do well as a single fish, they do better in groups I think. For a 5 gallon tank, I would go with a single fish, like a betta. I am running out the door now, but I will try and come back later.

[angie7]

Originally Posted by tinyblackdot

get another plecostomus, but if the algae is that bad, you might not need to feed it nessacarily.

Have you checked your filter?

Please do not get another pleco, they get over 3ft long! and are far too big for such a tank. The fish you are putting in there needs a heater, I doubt your tank has a heater in it. I would suggest 3 white cloud tetras or 3 danios and 1 snail. They are cold water fish and the snail will eat the algae.

Bettas can survive cold water too but are aggressive with other fish and will limit what you can put in there.

[greenmagick]

Originally Posted by angie7

Bettas can survive cold water too but are aggressive with other fish and will limit what you can put in there.

Actually, bettas get along well with other fish and tend to be picked on....they just dont get along at all with other bettas or sometimes gouramis (same family).

[amandaleigh37]

Thanks for the replies!

- The tank does have a heater, and we have a thermometer so we know the temp. is right.

- The tank is not in direct sunlight at all. We do leave the light on 24/7 - I don't know if that makes a difference?

- Plecostomus grow 3 ft. long??? The store had "large" and "small", and we got the smallest. We basically have been going by the info on the card at the store - I had no idea they got so big. I figured since he was about 2 in., and the other 2 fish are about 1 in., we are still under the 5 in. rule.... guess I was wrong :/

- The only place we have locally to get fish (walmart) doesn't have many to choose from. We picked the platie first because many of the other ones said they did best in a group - and that one's info didn't say that. We've had the same 2 fish for 3 months now and they seem to be doing fine.

- We do change the filter regularly (every month maybe?) and replace part of the water (maybe 1/3?) inbetween.

- When we first got the pleco the tank had a ton of algae, which he ate. We couldn't see any more algae so we got algae tabs for him. Maybe a week after we started those, he died.

Thanks again for your help. I definitely don't want to get any more fish until I know we're doing it "right". My son is perfectly happy with the 2 that we have, but it just got to be such a pain cleaning it all the time. Are there any other small algae-eaters that might do better in our tank?

[angie7]

Originally Posted by greenmagick

Actually, bettas get along well with other fish and tend to be picked on....they just dont get along at all with other bettas or sometimes gouramis (same family).

I have a betta in my tank now and he does great with them but the tank is big enough. In a small tank, they usually run the tank sorta speak and can pester a fish until it dies.

I would suggest buying a water test kit and testing the water. You might have some levels off in your tank causing your fish to die. What temp do you have the water at?

ETA: Do you use the special drops when you change the water to remove the chemicals in tap water (this doesn't apply if you have well water)

[greenmagick]

(I meant for the betta to be an only fish in the 5 gal)

I would definitely leave the light off at night and see if that helps.

Overfeeding can cause problems as well.

[amandaleigh37]

I would definitely leave the light off at night and see if that helps.

Overfeeding can cause problems as well.

Thanks for the tips. We use the tank as the "night light" in my son's room, but maybe if I turn the light off for the daytime instead? What is it about the light that could be harmful? Just curious

[greenmagick]

Algae needs light to grow...same reason you see a sunny pond covered in algae

[angie7]

Originally Posted by greenmagick

Algae needs light to grow...same reason you see a sunny pond covered in algae

It can also stress the fish out. They have a day/night time schedule just like we do.