Tropical Fish Forums

[Bob]

Can I ask a question, is the stocking of this tank a temporary stock level ?

If not a 36 gallon tank is way to small for Silver Dollors. A 6ft tank would be nearer the mark.

I find that fish often go down with problems when there is also a stocking issue.

What is your normal water change routine (Percentage and how often) ?

Bob

[samz]

2 angels, 4 silver dollars. the silver dollars are no more than 2.5" a piece as I guess they've grown to size to fit the aquarium. the water changes are 25% - 30% every other week. there have been no significant issues with the tank except for angelo (who's one of the angels.) even as he's had some ulcerations, he hasn't become lethargic, sickly, or stopped eating.

we've had this tank for almost 2 years now and (knock on wood) there have been no serious issues. we have angelfish fry every two weeks or so that end up being eaten, the silver dollars hang out and swim constantly, getting in to trouble on purpose sometimes (it seems) aka getting too close to inky when she's spawning.

so far things seem very cool with them in the bowfront. as I said before, the pH is 7.0, the nitrates are 5ppm, and the ammonia level stays at 0 as long as we are consistent with our water changes. we use AmQuel, Cycle, and Wardley 3 in 1 7.0 water conditioner. nothing to clog up the filters.

[Bob]

I keep Angels, and I really hope your fish gets better.

Silver Dollors (And Angels for that matter) should resemble CD's, by keeping them in a tank that is too small for them, they become stunted, now I freely admit I could be wrong on this, but when ever I see stunted fish in a tank, I also see problems, sick fish, unexplained problems etc.

Your Nitrates may well be low, but fish also give off growth hormones etc, these can build up in the water, and are one of the reasons that fish become stunted.

But I am also convinced they also contribute to the health (Lack of it) of all the other fish in a tank.

Not sure why you are using so many water conditioners, you should use a de-chlorinator (I assume Amquel does this), but I cannot see any reason to use the other two (At least one of which, most fish keepers feel is a complete waste of time) and if you have a pH issue, trying to deal with it with shop bought chemicals is normally a waste of money at best, and possibly harming fish, by introducing pH swings when it is used.

Bob