Frequent Aquarium Questions

• Two of my fish have seemingly ganged up and are harming my other fish they alredy tore the tail fins off my betta what should I do?
  
  
• Are small angel fish, clown loaches, platies, swordtails, and dwarf gouramis safe to keep in the same tank?
  
  
• I have a 5 gallon fish tank and I want to put a mix of albino tiger barba and regular tiger barbs in the tank. How many can I put in the 5g tank? And, could I put an albino cory in the tank with the tiger barbs?
  
  
• I'm just starting a 2.5 gallon tank. What fish can I put in it?
  
  
• How many small comunity fish can live in a five gallon tank?
  
  
• I have a goldfish that has always been not very active since I got him a week ago, but lately he just floats on his side. He is still alive and swims a little. He lives in a ten gallon tank with three other goldfish, two crabs, two snails, and a bottom feeder. They have a filter, and I feed them an appropriate amount of food. What do you think could be wrong with this fish?
  
  
• How many Red Belly Pirhanas may I could put in my 29 gallon aquarium. They will be the only fish in the tank.
  
  
• I have recently set up a small aquarium, and have decided on some skirt tetras. My question is, since they are schooling fish, would it work to have a school of mixed black skirt tetras and white skirt tetras (which as far as I could find seem to be an albino version of the same species, and are kept in the same tank at the pet store), or should I keep all one kind, since I only have the capacity for 6 or 7?
  
  
• Would 6 to 8 Tiger Barbs be O.K. in a 55 gallon tank with a red tail shark and a platy?
  
  
• I have a 55 gallon tank with three 2" angelfish, 2 medium plecos, four 1" gouramis, 6 small bala sharks, and 8 medium tiger barbs. Do I have too many fish?
  
  

• Two of my fish have seemingly ganged up and are harming my other fish they alredy tore the tail fins off my betta what should I do?
  
  Bettas are only aggressive towards other bettas, and are very peaceful fishes otherwise. In fact, they should be kept alone exactly because other fish will terrorize them. Those beautiful fins are just too tempting, I suppose. You will have to keep your betta separate from the rest of your fishes.
  
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• Are small angel fish, clown loaches, platies, swordtails, and dwarf gouramis safe to keep in the same tank?
  
  This combination might be compatible if given plenty of room, but the swordtails may nip at the fins of the angelfish.
  
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• I have a 5 gallon fish tank and I want to put a mix of albino tiger barba and regular tiger barbs in the tank. How many can I put in the 5g tank? And, could I put an albino cory in the tank with the tiger barbs?
  
  Your 5 gallon tank is barely large enough for a nice sized school of tiger barbs, say five or six of them total, and that can be albino, green, red, or whichever you like. As for the albino cory, you might be able to squeeze him in, but that is a pretty small aquarium.
  
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• I'm just starting a 2.5 gallon tank. What fish can I put in it?
  
  You can actually keep any fish you would like, provided it doesn't grow too large for the tank. A 2.5 gallon tank can only hold 2.5 inches-worth of fish, so you will have to stick with one or two small fish (that will stay small!) at maximum.
  
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• How many small comunity fish can live in a five gallon tank?
  
  Like any freshwater tank, a five gallon tank can hold one inch-worth of fish length per gallon of water. So, that means five inches-worth of fish. This could be five one-inch fish, one five-inch fish, or some combination in between.
  
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• I have a goldfish that has always been not very active since I got him a week ago, but lately he just floats on his side. He is still alive and swims a little. He lives in a ten gallon tank with three other goldfish, two crabs, two snails, and a bottom feeder. They have a filter, and I feed them an appropriate amount of food. What do you think could be wrong with this fish?
  
  Not knowing the exact size of your fish, I can surmise that your tank is still overcrowded. Goldfish produce more waste per body mass than most fish. Have you kept up with your maintenance schedule? If not, I would suggest a water change, including vacuuming of the substrate, and servicing of your filter. High nitrates make fish lethargic. Also, when a tank is crowded, acclimation into a new environment is more difficult.
  
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• How many Red Belly Pirhanas may I could put in my 29 gallon aquarium. They will be the only fish in the tank.
  
  Two maximum and even with two, you should get them into a larger tank within a year.
  
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• I have recently set up a small aquarium, and have decided on some skirt tetras. My question is, since they are schooling fish, would it work to have a school of mixed black skirt tetras and white skirt tetras (which as far as I could find seem to be an albino version of the same species, and are kept in the same tank at the pet store), or should I keep all one kind, since I only have the capacity for 6 or 7?
  
  It shouldn't matter. They usually school together.
  
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• Would 6 to 8 Tiger Barbs be O.K. in a 55 gallon tank with a red tail shark and a platy?
  
  Six to eight Tiger Barbs should be fine in a 55 gallon tank with other peaceful fish as long as the others do not have long fins (angelfish, guppies, etc).
  
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• I have a 55 gallon tank with three 2" angelfish, 2 medium plecos, four 1" gouramis, 6 small bala sharks, and 8 medium tiger barbs. Do I have too many fish?
  
  I would remove the tiger barbs because they are notorious fin nippers and remove all but 1 bala shark.
  
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