type of community

Question
Hi,
I would like to ask about the types of tank communities there are out there and frankly which of those categories I fall into. I have a knowledge of aggressive and peaceful, and am just lacking knowledge of the technical terms. Just kind of wondering in a general classification system if you can.

I have a 55 gallon tank, right now just coming off of winter so it's at around 76 degrees, I bought the tank from a friend and since he had it I have two golden plecos which I'm rather not sure the name, an iridescent shark, two dragon gobys, two electric blue jacks, 1 clawed frog and 3 feeder guppies that lived(one just had babies!, didn't even see the eggs but went and got a 10 gal. tank). And I picked up two snails from the local pet store because I overheard they filter the urine in the water. The reason I'm not quite sure is they've usually had a blood worm/ flake food diet and are not eating the feeder fish as I hoped. So would it in turn be a more semi-aggressive?

I do water changes mostly when its evaporated to the point where you'd have to. I do cleanings around once every 3 weeks. Also using aquarium salt for the elect. I am new to this bud have been around tanks all my life and am wanting to get better at it so in turn any tips, and I mean anything you didn't like that I've been doing please let me know so I can make my fish a bit more happy.

And please note I'm new so I don't have much experience as of yet.

Greatly appreciated if you'd respond, and thanks for looking!

Answer
Hi Adam!

I'd classify you as a Freshwater Aquarist - or Enthusiast.  That means a broader spectrum of words, rather than just fish-keeping, plant-keeping, cichlid enthusiast, etc.

The first things I'd like to let you know, is that guppies, don't lay eggs. They have live babies and secondly, that the snails don't filter urine.  They filter water, as they breathe it, and are great for algae removal and waste removal.

Your electric blues are aggressive fish from Lake Malawi in the wild, and are raised in captivity.

The reason they're not eating is that the water is too cold at 76F.  They must have 80F to survive.

They are freezing, and so they're not hugry.

If your water isn't crystal clear, and you worry about urine, it's time to change the filter. :)

Sounds like a good plan you have about being clean with the filters every 3 weeks, but the water needs changed monthly at a rate of 25% and if you skipped a month, then 50% every time you remember.  When it evaporates, and you replace it, it doesn't count as water changes.  It's just a refill.

Here is my own, personal filter and water ritual.  It is a great way to keep aquariums if you go by it word for word.

First, I keep fish at 80F.

I have very big filters, so I don't have to over-work to keep them clean.  I change the media in them monthly.  For a 55 gallon tank, I run two Marineland 350 filters, side by side, which rates the cleaning to over 100 gallons.  Why?  Because filters are over-rated to what they actually clean.  Instead of what they claim, they do about HALF!  Scary to think about, but very true.

I change my water every 2 weeks, but for most aquarists (you, Adam), you can change the water once a month at 25%.

I feed only enough food that they eat it in one minute.  None hits the bottom.

I feed my frogs ( I have 4 frogs...2 albino and 2 regular dwarfs ), bloodworms, frozen.

I hope this helps and if you need to respond, please feel free to do so.

Happy fish-keeping!

Renee