Am I Over Stocking?

[Scott MacAdam]

Ok everyone ........ now remember..... the most friendly fish forum........

now , down to bussiness, your tank - about 14.5 or 15 us gallons.

the "rule", yes I know you all know, is one inch per gallon. keep in mind this is a average or an estimate ok so a little over or under is good, no worries...

The Clown loach will get very large, as i'm sure you know now. And also your plec will get rather large too.

on another note, keeping singular fish will cause a bit of trouble in your tank, such as agression towards the others, shoaling fish work best in groups.

I would suggest you trade in the larger fish and the single fish for some new tank mates, the same as your current fish. and as for your alge eater replacment, I believe that an otto only grows abot 4 inches and i think it eats alge......(not sure though) if thats a no go, how about some shrimp? that is assuming you have enough room...

 

[vancouver]

Did you mention the 1'' of fish per gallon rule.. lol..

Then in that case, the 20'' clown loach is fine since the tank is 24'' long.

Promoting that rule is no good, as the rule itself really isn't good either.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

hahahahahaha...... well there are obvious exceptions!!!! work with me here!

I don't think anyone would drop a 10inch fish into a 10gallon tank!!! you would have to get a plunger and stuff it in!

ok, so to clear up..... no SINGLE fish/inch ratio....... or even 2 fish to inch..... lol!

but i'm sure thats just common though.... o well! hope your tank works out!

 

[LisaLQ]

I've just been browsing through the posts on this site and it seems that a lot of people have commented on making sure that the tanks aren't over stocked.

I have a 55lt (2') Aquarium. (Sorry I don't know what that is in gallons, if someone could convert it I would appriciate it)
I have 18 fish, most are only small:
7 Neon Tetras (4 Neon, 3 Gold Neon)
3 Platys
3 Black Widow Tetras
1 Plec (4inches)
1 Striped Dora
1 Clown Loach
1 Danios
1 Guppy

Lose the plec, the striped dora aka talking catfish, clown loach and platies. Then you might be just a little overstocked rather than way over the top like you are now. Considering your gibby/sailfin will get to the size of your tank, there's no way that fish can be happy. Even at 4" that tank is too small You need a minimum 4-5ft x 2ft x 2ft for a gibby - and that's an absolute bare minimum - 6ft being better. It's all very well saying "when he gets too big I'll rehome him but not yet", but a. he wont grow in your tank - he'll be stunted and suffer poor health as a result and b. he's already too big for your tank, especially when it's already overstocked.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

god i hate it when people say the " per gallon rule doesn't work because then you can keep a 10" goldie in a 10g tank which isn't right.

yes we all know there are exceptions, but as a general guideline for most 'standard' community fish under 3/4" it works just fine.

so taking out the dora, clown loach and plec which are obviously way too big for the tank you would have

7 Neon Tetras (4 Neon, 3 Gold Neon) - 7"
3 Platys - 6"
3 Black Widow Tetras - 6"
1 Danios - 1"
1 Guppy - 1"

that's 21" of fish, so you'd be about a third overstocked even without the big fish.

 

[vancouver]

That rule is silly..

I don't see how 7 neons, 3 platys, 1 guppy, and 3 black widows is overstocking a 15g tank..

I would get rid of the danio as stated before.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

-agrees with vancouver- people say my tank is slightly overstocked. i've never had a 'happier' tank.

 

[LisaLQ]

I've got a 15g right next to me and I can tell you that would be overstocked - you could get away with it, but if you ask me the rule is spot on.

My platies are 2" easily, if not bigger, and my BWs are nearly the same - hasten to add - I wouldn't keep either in this 15g, it's far too small for anything other than very small fish or a hospital/temporary tank.

 

[vancouver]

so you wouldn't keep platys in a 15g tank?

 

[LisaLQ]

Nope. Not enough room for a nice group of them, and they like a heavily planted tank (well mine do at least!). Mine are in a 6ft community, I wouldn't go under 3ft.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

everyone has their own opinion. i have guppies in a 10 USg and they're quite happy.