Am I Overstocked?

[RochelleB52]

Hello eveyone. I do apologise if this has been posted and answered before, but I am on my mobile and am finding it a bit difficult to read all of the existing threads. I have a 90 litre tank that I have been running without fish in for weeks. My water is bang on perfect and I am rather proud that I've managed to get it all right and I suspect the people at the pet shop are getting sick of me and my water samples and millions of questions. I have 3 live plants, a 12 inch air brick and 4 ornaments for the fish to hide in. I have 2 Swordtails, 2 Platies and a Molly in my tank, but someone has told me that I can have up tp 20 of these little guys in my tank. I was going to get 2 more Swordtails and another Molly and leave it at that because I want them to have lots of room and I know they grow to be a lot bigger than they are now and I think 20 of them would be like jelly beans in a jar. If I have 4 Swordtails, 2 Mollies and 2 Platies will I be overstocked when they grow to full size? I would really appreciate your advice as I really dont want to make my little fishies unhappy.

Thanks in advance,
Rochelle xxx

 

[the_lock_man]

Hi Rochelle, welcome to the forum.

I don't see any problems with that stocking at all, your instincts seem to me to be spot on. The only issue you may find is if you have a mix of genders, in which case they will breed. Livebearers breed like rabbits. With only 3 live plants, the chances are most fry will become a nutritious mid-morning snack, but some clever ones may survive to adulthood.