# help with 55 gallon tank



## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

I want to know if im over crowded??? Iv got 7 mollies, 2 archers, 3 painted skirt tetras, 1 com plec, 2 columbin sharks. I have had the tank for awhile now 3 months. and 4 of my fish have got white speks alover them what is it????


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

The white speks on your fish is probable ich you sould go to your lfs and pick up some ich treatment I recomend a.p.i. super ich treatment it works really well I got 2 packs of it and used them on my 55gal and the ich is gone now just follow the directions on the back of the packet. How do the sharks react with the mollies?


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

they get along good they dont botter anything. but my ? now is how would the ich treatment do on my sharks? iv had my mollies since i got the tank and added the sharks 3 weeks ago. i want to ad more mollies that why i want to know if its ov crowded.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

The Sharks and Archers are brackish fish, not FW. They also get way too large for a 55G tank. You need to give them away or return the to your LFS.

Which fish have the spots? And your water parameters/temperature?


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

yes cody i under stand they are brakish my tank is brakish and im cycleing my 125 now to put them in. thanks tho. but could u tell me if the tank is to crowded? my 55 plz u seem to know a lot bout fish and was wondering what other brakish fish to put in the 125?


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

mollies temps is 78 f. para havent tested today. at work now


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Well, you put this in the FW section...

How big are the sharks and archers? That plays a big part on stocking.

But before you add anything, we need to address you "white spots" problem. What are your water parameters?


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

the shark 2 inch and the archer 3.5 dnt know para yet be home shortly


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

and sorry bout the fw brakish new to the forum


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Oh, and common pleco size?

By the way, you should rehome the pleco and the tetras. They should be in FW and are not BW fish.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

what is your salinity.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

oh ok thanks plec is 3 inch who would take them. they ben in the tank for awhile and dont seem botherd. but i would listen to u being this is my first tank.


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

Are you the same person who posted the other post that said that you have seen babies in the tank? If so and they are baby mollies I wouldnt add any more mollies give it a month or two and you are going to have way more mollies than you know what to do with because they are worse than rabbits when it comes to breeding.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

not sure i put a half cup er five gallons and every month ad a tablespon per 5 gallon thats what the pet store recomended. not sure if its right but it seems to be working. any help would help thanks


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

yes i am thought i put one in the brakish form to my baby mollies are going to the pet store for sale and they are in my 20 gallon now 18 of them


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

If you want more mollies then I would just use them because then you can get to pick which ones you like best and then sell or give away the rest of them. but before you move you fish to you 120gal and now that you have moved the babies out of that tank you do need to treat the tank for ich and you prob should treat the other tank with the babies in it since they came out of the tank that has ich. It is a disease that will continue to spread until you treat it.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

ok how do u get ich to begin with. i dont wnt to inbreed them thats why i wanted new ones. and the pet store gave me the 125 for the baby for a year. he is my friends uncle. how do you get ich


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

I am not entirely sure how it happens but you can get it from buying fish from the store that are in a tank with ich or getting fish from you friend that came out of a tank that has ich.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

k so just get the stuff for ich. and just ad it? it just aperd tody and ive had them for little while now.


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## catfishtabbi (Nov 10, 2008)

Hi mollie, glad to look actuallt i was. You have white spots, if they look like sugar it's ick and you'll have to be careful as to which treatment you use because you have scaleless fish, i have used and HIGHLY recc Kordon organics ick attack, its safe for all fish and plants. Just follow the directions.Do you add any salt now? I'm not sure if your overstocked, i agre with coty on the pleco.Soon you'll be cycled i'm sure you'll manage for the wait.However if you are OS it would cause the fish to stress=ick.A BW fish in FW=stress. By for now i want to get this up.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

yes i do and have since i got the tank 3 months ago my sharks are coverd in it now just did a water chang of 30 percent thursday. and what is the name of the med that will treat them. i hope they r ok as the sharks had none earlyer today and are now 8 to 10 spots and my mollies to


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

When it comes to ich the treatments work the best the sooner you can start them meaning the sooner you notice that you have the ich and the sooner that you start the treatment then it is less of a hassle. with scaless fish then you can read on the back of the pack and it says to cut the treatment in half. I have heard that the kordons is really good I havent personally used it I have only used A.P.I. super ich treatment.


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## catfishtabbi (Nov 10, 2008)

I read and caught uo, your not overstocked yet .Make sure you get the kordon ORGANICS ick attack and rehome the pleco.your bottom fish have it worse than the others because alot of ick fall to the floor. Start slowly increasing your tank as you go out to get the med if its 82 this accelerates the ick hatching so the med can work on the live ick.That very salt mix si what a breeder recc to me for FW fish, but its all your sharks need at this point as they mature they need a lil' more.


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## catfishtabbi (Nov 10, 2008)

API s.i.t killed my plants tetras shark and glowfish at HALF strength . IT contains formaldyhide.


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

Really it killed all of that in your tank wow I didnt know that it would do that I didnt have any probems with it but I do not have live plants or sharks in that tank but I do have a tetra and he was fine. that is weird.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

so my tank is set at 80 right now will it be ok till 8 am when the pet store opens or will wlmart carry it. what dos the si mean and the recc in the last sentence?


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

k now im scard i dont want my fish to die.


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

your fish should be ok as long as you follow the directions on the product that you buy go with the kordons I just dont know who carries it and ya your fish will be ok untill the morning you just dont want to wait a few days or anything and the treatment will take a few days normally I think a good treatment will take probably about 14 days.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

they will pull out of it fine? how bout the treatment killing the fry and my plec is in ten gallon alone will be treating him then taking to pet store to get new home. thanks for the help every one much apreciated!!!!!!


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

lowco1 wher are u from?


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

Discovery bay california what about you


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

kearney nebraska. i was talking to my friend he said wardley essentials ick away from walmart works what are your opinions on that? i just dont want my fish to get hurt. and are water changs good every day till it is gone?


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

I have never heard about that brand before maybe some of the others on the forum might know more on that I would post a new thread asking about that brand but in the directions it will tell you when to do a water change normally it is at the end of the treatment otherwise you will be taking the meds out of the tank when you do a water change.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

ok and thank u have realy nice tanks. i will try to get pics up sum time.


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

Thank you I havnt really decided what to do with my little tank yet since I took the babies out of it I have been thinking about puffers but havent been totally sold on it yet.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

arnt the puffers mean? i want to have ghost knif in my 125 when its ready would it go in a brakish tank?


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## lowco1 (Feb 15, 2009)

I dont know anything about ghost knifes but ya the puffers are mean you have to keep them with just that species as far as I know but hey I already have the cichlids who are really teritorial so it shouldnt be too bad of a problem.


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## jen13 (Feb 22, 2009)

On the Ich treatment, the best thing I have found is *Kick Ich by Ruby Reef*. It is not cheap by any means, costs around $40-$50 at the LFS in OKC area; however, well worth the money! It is safe for your scaleless fish, it has now saved two of my tanks that I have had an Ich outbreak in and I will not use anything else for Ich treatment with scaleless fish.

Every fish actually carries Ich all of the time and the outbreak is usually triggered by stress; a sudden change in environment, temp, ph, etc. 

Oh, and I would not add anymore fish until you complete the Ich treatment...no reason to make new fish suffer. Also, to prevent new outbreaks I recommend to always quarantine your fish for 5-7 days to watch for any disease process before adding them to an established tank. We keep a spare 10g ready to set up just for this purpose.

Hope all of this helps!


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Mollies, do not get a BGK for a Brackish tank. They do not tolerate salt at all.

Are you using Marine Salt or Aquarium Salt for your tank? What is the salinity level?


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

ok theanks. jen 13. i use marin salt im going to get the salt test today. the bgk is going to wait for now just a ? i had one for a month and he died from no where tho hide. and wanted another i realy like them thanks cody. i will let u know what the levels are around 6 pm tonite.


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