Taking Care of Freshwater Fish Again! - Bremerton Area

Hello everyone! I'm Angelo, and I'm 25 years old... I've taken care of freshwater fish for about 10+ years... I'm so glad that we have a forum that's active with other people that enjoy keeping fish as pets. I've taken care of freshwater fish before, when I was temporarily living in the Philippines (lived there for about 5 years, while I was in college) . . . and now I'm back in Washington (Bremerton) and thought that I would take up freshwater fish keeping once again!

I found a great deal on Craigslist, someone was selling their 55 gallon aquarium with decor and all their fish. The seller lived all the way in North Bend, so the trip was pretty stressful for the fish, fortunately they all survived! I'm pretty curious though... it seems that the previous owner overstocked the tank, at least, I think it seems too crowded for a 55 gallon tank...

55Gallon Tank has the following fish:
35 Neon Tetra
20 Ghost Shrimp
11 Zebra Danio
7 Buenos Aires Tetra
3 Silver Dollars
1 Albino Rainbow Shark
1 Gold Gourami
1 Rainbow Fish
1 Plecostomus

Now, I know that hte rainbowfish should be kept in a school, but considering that the tank might already be too overcrowded... I might end up just selling him to anyone that might be interested in having him...

Besides taking care of fish, I also enjoy fire spinning! Hehe...

If it is a common pleco in the 55g I would rehome it. Also the silver dollars really need more room than a 55g, they can be pretty skittish to begin with. All the little tetras would not impact the tank too much.

DMD123 wrote:

If it is a common pleco in the 55g I would rehome it. Also the silver dollars really need more room than a 55g, they can be pretty skittish to begin with. All the little tetras would not impact the tank too much.

Hi DMD123! Thanks for the welcome
I thought as much, also, I've been reading that silver dollars need to be kept in a school, and since I only have three of them in there, I'd feel bad if they're getting stressed because they're not in a bigger group of their own kind.

I'd be willing to sell them to anyone that have other silver dollars!
I'd also like to sell the rainbow fish, as I know he would do better in a tank with other rainbow fish...

Yes, the pleco is a common one. It's about 4-5" in length, and he's been doing pretty well... he really likes to perch on the mopani wood I have in the tank... But if rehoming him would be the best, then I wouldn't mind finding him a bigger home

Common plecos are hard to rehome. Hes small enough that someone might take him.

Ive kept silver dollars for many years now and they can still be skittish at times even in my 210g. In smaller tanks they just seem to bash into the sides way too much. Im sure someone would want them.

Must look pretty cool with all the tetra schools you have going on in there.

DMD123 wrote:Common plecos are hard to rehome. Hes small enough that someone might take him.

Ive kept silver dollars for many years now and they can still be skittish at times even in my 210g. In smaller tanks they just seem to bash into the sides way too much. Im sure someone would want them.

Must look pretty cool with all the tetra schools you have going on in there.

The neon tetras seem to stay off in one corner of the tank, I've asked around and people have said that the neon tetras are probably staying in that corner because they like the flow of the water there. That's where the HOB filter is located, so I'm guessing that they DO like the flow of water there. They do swim in shoals, especially during feeding time, they swim all around the bottom of the tank, in one huge group (sometimes in two groups, or just evenly spread out around the bottom portion of the tank) and then they all regroup back in their little corner where the HOB filter is hahaha. I don't think they're stressed out or anything, the biggest fish I have in there is the gold gourami, measuring at about 4-5" and he hasn't bothered the neon tetras (or any of he fish) AT ALL.

Other parts of the tank are wide enough for them to swim in, and still have enough plants (all plastic/silk plants) for them to hide in, if necessary. I haven't had any problems with any aggression from the fish (even the albino rainbow shark is happy in his little cave/trunk, and isn't being aggressive/territorial).


The Zebra danios (and one glofish) spend most of their time towards the top of the tank, they do like to chase each other around, but I'm guessing that's their nature... they don't seem to chase the other types of fish around, so I'm guessing that doesn't add any stress to the fish.

I've got a couple older pictures of how the tank looks back then (the tank looks relatively the same now, except I changed some of the plants that didn't look natural, with natural looking ones) I'll post new pictures as soon as possible. But this is how the tank looked like, right after I finished re-establishing it, after I picked it up from the previous owner:

Welcome. Nice looking set up

Welcome. Good to have another bremerton local on here.

Thank you Madness!

Nick, great another Bremertonian! What part of Bremerton are you at?

PokeSephiroth wrote:

Nick, great another Bremertonian! What part of Bremerton are you at?

Kitsap Lake. You?

Nick_87 wrote:

Kitsap Lake. You?

Sylvan Way, just off of Wheaton Way...still kinda new to the area. Lived in South Everett most of my life, and moved here in Bremerton since last Dec.