Hi There,
I've set up a 35L tank 9 days ago & currently have 2 variatus platys & 1 oranda,alls well at the moment.
Was wanting advice on how many fish would be suitable for our tank,would like another oranda but would the platys be ok with 2 orandas? The fish we have are well settled & swim round the tank together.1 of our platys likes to rest & hide behind 1 of the ornaments,but would these become unsettled by introducing more fish,if so we will leave things as they are.
Would they all be ok to have frozen daphnia food?Would be grateful for any advice.

Hi Angelfish,

Welcome to the forum.

My first thoughts would be that Orandas need a lot bigger tank (or will do eventually) see minimum tank requirements in the below link:

Redcap Oranda Caresheet

I would also say that a Platy is generally considered to be a Tropical fish (heated tank) where as an Oranda is a coldwater fish (non-heated tank) but looking at the care sheets it seems that both can tolerate the same temperature. Some fish can acclimatize to the other anyway.

I've always found that Platies quite an active fish to be honest (or the ones I have kept have been) so the fact you said he likes to hide away doesn't seem right.

Can you sex the Platies? The reason I ask this is because if you have a male and female and the female is the one hiding she could be getting hounded by the male or may even be pregnant (abdomen enlarged?). All livebearers (Mollies, Platies, Guppies, Swordtails etc) I've kept have always been lively in the bedroom department and cause me no end of pain setting up nursery tanks etc!!

Hi

You say the tank was only set up nine days ago? Apart from the tank being too small, and Platies not really being appropriate as tank mates for Fancy Goldies, your tank is not cycled. That would explain the Platy's listlessness.

Cycling a tank takes up to 6 weeks (sometimes more). If fish are introduced to an uncycled tank they soon begin to suffer the effects of ammonia and nitrite poisoning. This article explains the nitrogen cycle, but ignore the part about fishless cycling as you already have fish. This article explains what you need to do to give the fish a fighting chance during the cycle.

You will need a good liquid based test kit, such as this one and a good supply of dechlorinator for the daily water changes you will need to do. Alternatively, as the tank is too small for your Oranda, you could return the fish to the shop and get a larger tank, then cycle it before buying any more fish.

The Oranda is going to need at least a 140 litre tank long term and more if you intend adding any more Goldies. This article explain about their need for large tanks.

Thanks for your replies,its been a huge help, we know were going to need a larger tank in time but with it been our 1st large aquarium we wanted to be sure the fish were going to survive longer than our 2 goldfish in our smaller tank.The water tested ok but we didn't have a filter or airpump. The last time i had goldfish some 30 yr ago they were ok without n lasted some years. Lesson learned and i was gutted to think my fish died through simply gettin filter n pump. The platys are active,but odd time maybe 1 or twice a day 1 of them as i posted previously just goes n rests behind the ornament. Not noticed any bullying or chasing from any fish,infact they all tend to go looking for each other if they're not altogether,so dont know what to do.water tested and its tested ok with everything,oxygen checked by reputable place we got the fish from. We added th cycle solution which i as told fish would be ok to go in tank after a week. Thanks again

Could you post us the water readings? I know that what my local shop would call 'fine' is absolutely not the same as my definition.

Those cycle solutions don't tend to do what they claim to. I strongly suspect you need to take emergency measures. linky

If you buy a large foodsafe box from staples or asda it will make a good temporary home for your fish until you get a larger tank.

HIya Everyone, these are the water test results I've just taken.
Amonia is 0.5
Ph; 50-100
Gh; 125
Nitrate;( NO3) 10mg
Nitrate(NO2) 0
We have added 3 plants yesterday so could this affect the test levels as they were all ok before?
Thanks for all your advice everyone. I'm not sure now what to do with our oranda,I may see how things go & if he begins bullying the platys then we'll possibly buy the bigger tank & get a few more orandas. We have had all the fish together for almost 3 weeks now & they swim together & do appear very happy.

Hi

Ammonia at 0.5 is dangerous and is a clear sign that the tank is not cycled. Plants will not have caused this - if anything plants would be more likely to reduce the level of ammonia than to increease it. You need to do an emergency 50% water change, then another a few hours later to get that down as low as possible. Then you need to follow this guide to a fish-in cycle or you will start to see sickness and death in your fish.

You cannot possibly keep an Oranda (or even Platies) in a 35 litre tank long-term. They will fail to thrive and the Goldfish will become severely stunted. If you can't upgrade to a considerably bigger tank or a very large food-safe storage box as a temporary solution then for the sake of the fish you need to return them to the shop.

will do an emergency water change and hope our fish will be ok. We feel extremely dissapointed where we got our fish and tank from as only yesterday we returned to the store to discuss additional fish. We've basically wasted £150 buying this tank,had correct advice been given t us we would have got a larger tank. Well please wish us luck with the cycling process. Will keep posted how we get along,thanks again everyone for the invaluable advice.

oops, it's a marina 60 litre tank,not 35 litre as i put down in my 1st post,but we understand we still require a bigger tank soon.