Overstocked?

[Airecl]

hi all
I’ve got a 230L tropical tank at the moment currently stocked with:

13 x glass catfish
2 x female pearl gourami
3 x Platy fish
4 x male guppy
10 x amano shrimp
8 x neon tetra
6 x bronze corydora

Tank is quite heavily planted

I am aware of platies and guppies preferring hardwater - I am in an area with very soft slightly acidic water, the tank contains some limestone. Unfortunately I did not realise and I am thinking of doing a hardwater tank and moving them.
No ammonia, change about 25% water weekly and vacuum sand etc.

Any thoughts?

Everyone seems happy just looking for thoughts/advice

 

[Aesthetic-fish]

Personally, I wouldn’t stock an aquarium so. I don’t know about other fishkeepers’ thoughts, but that is my opinion. Since your aquarium is heavily planted, there probably isn’t much room left for fish. It usually depends on the size of fish also. If your fish are small, and will stay small, it probably will be okay. But if they are small, but will grow, I don’t think it’ll do. If you get what I mean. Can you send a picture of your tank? And maybe a general idea of your fishes’ size? Good luck!!!

 

[Byron]

I don't consider this tank "overstocked" in terms of fish ratio to volume, but there are serious issues related to the species.

We don't have the actual GH and pH, but if it really is "very soft" your livebearers are suffering. Limestone may or may not help, again we don't have numbers. But livebearers must have calcium and magnesium in the water in order for their physiology to operate and their metabolism to function properly.

Adding limestone may be harming your Glass Catfish as this is a very sensitive species, but again we have no numbers so it may be fine or it may not. Same for the other soft water species. If the source water is very soft and slightly acidic, the soft water fish will be in better long-term health if nothing is added to the water re the parameters. This makes water changes simpler for one thing, as you do not have to worry about fluctuating parameters. Knowing thee actual numbers would certainly allow us to assess this more positively.

Moving the platy and guppies out would be wise, and it is fairly easy to provide a tank with moderately hard water with a basic pH. A calcareous substrate is the easiest long-term. I did this many years ago for livebearers and rift lake cichlids when I had (and still do have) very soft source water (basically zero GH).

I would recommend a larger partial water change, as much for general well-being as for any possible issues. I change 60-70% of my tanks once a week. I would certainly recommend 50% of the actual water volume minimum in any aquarium with fish.

 

[Airecl]

Ok... just to say I was asking for opinions as to whether the tank seems overstocked, already got my water chemistry sorted - I had issues with it a year or so back so it’s taken a while to get knowledgeable and sort it out but I had lots of help.

I know my water is suitable for the species in there apart from the Platy fish and guppies, which I explained but I wasn’t asking about that. Thanks anyway though

 

[Byron]

Ok... just to say I was asking for opinions as to whether the tank seems overstocked, already got my water chemistry sorted - I had issues with it a year or so back so it’s taken a while to get knowledgeable and sort it out but I had lots of help.

I know my water is suitable for the species in there apart from the Platy fish and guppies, which I explained but I wasn’t asking about that. Thanks anyway though

That's fair enough, but try to keep in mind that when you or any member posts about an aquarium, those of us who are concerned that your fish thrive rather than survive will be likely to point out things we see. We have no way of knowing your level of experience, unless we come to know you. Your initial post was headed "overstocked?" so that is a question about the stocking. It would be remiss of any of us not to point out issues; that would make the forum useless if no one got advice when they asked, or we ignored obvious problems. And there have been several threads recently where individuals have not accepted the significance of water parameters, and I have no way of knowing whether this is another or not. We cannot second guess the member posting.

 

[Byron]

The water shouldn't be extremely different from what their preferences are.

None of us can say this without knowing the water parameters. The species Xiphophorus maculatus (the common platy) requires a GH of 9 to 30 dGH and a pH above 7 to be healthy; in softer water or acidic water the fish's metabolism cannot function properly, and at the very least this weakens the fish making it more susceptible to other health issues and always a premature decease. The subject water being termed very soft is likely much lower in GH and pH, and that is not good for this species.

The larger the the tank the easier it is to manage water quality

Platies are very hardy, and adjust to water quality with ease.

There may be a misunderstanding here, as to what water parameters refers to; water conditions is very different. Parameters involve the hardness (GH and KH), pH and temperature. Conditions could include ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, oxygen, CO2, and much more. All fish species have preferences for parameters and their ability to "adjust" is limited depending upon the species. And even if they can, we may then have a situation of survive but not thrive.

 

[Airecl]

That's fair enough, but try to keep in mind that when you or any member posts about an aquarium, those of us who are concerned that your fish thrive rather than survive will be likely to point out things we see. We have no way of knowing your level of experience, unless we come to know you. Your initial post was headed "overstocked?" so that is a question about the stocking. It would be remiss of any of us not to point out issues; that would make the forum useless if no one got advice when they asked, or we ignored obvious problems. And there have been several threads recently where individuals have not accepted the significance of water parameters, and I have no way of knowing whether this is another or not. We cannot second guess the member posting.

Sorry Byron I hope I didn’t come across as rude, I do appreciate your advice!
I am thinking about giving away my livebearers soon if I don’t get a hardwater tank set up myself.
As for the others they seem happy.
I am happy to provide numbers when I next test the water which should be Sunday. Off the top of my head they usually come back as pH around 6.5-7, nitrate 10-25ppm, ammonia/nitrite 0, gH 6•d kH 3-6•d
They usually stay around these values but I check weekly just before water change unless something seems wrong in which case I do more often.

 

[Byron]

Sorry Byron I hope I didn’t come across as rude, I do appreciate your advice!
I am thinking about giving away my livebearers soon if I don’t get a hardwater tank set up myself.
As for the others they seem happy.
I am happy to provide numbers when I next test the water which should be Sunday. Off the top of my head they usually come back as pH around 6.5-7, nitrate 10-25ppm, ammonia/nitrite 0, gH 6•d kH 3-6•d
They usually stay around these values but I check weekly just before water change unless something seems wrong in which case I do more often.

Thank you. Yes, water tests should be prior to the water change when you need them (once things establish this is scarcely necessary generally) as this lets you see what is happening with the water chemistry. GH, KH, pH and nitrate should remain fairly consistent every test.

Nitrate is concerning...have you tested the tap water on its own for nitrate? It is important to know if some of this may be in the source (tap) water, as opposed to all of it occurring within the aquarium. Two very different issues to deal with. Nitrate does impact fish, this is now accepted.

 

[FishGuest5123]

It was big of you to apologize publicly like that.