i have a new tank

Question
good morning i am a beginner in tropical fish i have 1 small 2 ft tank and 1 4 ft tank with guppys angle fish black shark grammeys,mollys and 2 yellow what looks like cat fish?? and silver dollor, neeons and some strippy fish gold and black and orange see through ones which dont know what they are and a frog which i think is doing rather well considering first time tank couple off questiong . will the frog eat the babys and why does the black shark chase all the other fish ??? i think he is really aggressive  i have plants in there fresh plants and loads off stone coral i knw that one off the fish has had babys seen one last night would they be hiding in the rocks off the coral we have a little breading tank that can go in there but dont know the best way to do it cn you pls try and guide me the best way pls thanks kim

Answer
Hi Kim,

Sounds like you've got a really nice set-up there, maybe a little over-stocked maybe but hey, it sounds really good, I'm almost a little envious.

If there is fry in your tank then you need to separate them into another tank. This can be a basic set-up with gentle (but efficient) filtration and aeration. A sponge filter should do the trick, nothing to fancy or expensive. Whether you can put the parents with the fry is something that depends entirely on species. Kribensis for example are extremely good parents, Male Bettas are also doting fathers who chaperone their young everywhere. Other species however, are ruthless and will kill their young. I need to know the species of the fry and then I can give you some more in-depth information.

In terms of the frog, he's probably only be aggressive because he feels threatened by the presence of so many fish around him. Frogs are very shy and retiring and spend much of their time hiding away when placed in a busy community tank. I own a Xenopus Toad who spends huge amounts of time nestled behind a piece of bogwood and only really appears at night for feeding.

Black sharks are often marked as 'community with caution'. They can be aggressive towards other species that encroach on their territory. However, they are hugely popular within Tropical tanks but they would be best kept with species that can stick up for themselves rather than small shoaling fish.

However, I do a lot of moaning, so all in all I think you have an extremely nice sounding set-up. The species aren't particularly well suited to one another but it does sound like a very weird and wonderful tank with a good solid set-up. For a first attempt I'm very impressed. I lost hundreds of pounds worth of fish when I first started so well done. I can even say (imagine this in an English Country Gent voice): 'I'm proud'.

Good luck!

Tom

visit www.freewebs.com/thinkfish for information on set-up maintenance, diseases and other myths cracked.