Am I overstocked

[fishwatcher]

I am hoping some one can/sill help me with this. Since all the neons are slowly dying off, when I get the remaining ones stable, I think I may take them back to the lfs and get a hardier fish to replace them with. I didn't know you needed a mature tank as they are weaker fish, so yes, I've killed more than a few now. I think 8-10. sad.gif I now believe it may be from overstocking, though I keep the water changed/vac (25% 2x a week) and I test before each change to make sure the water is still safe. So far I haven't had any problems in that area, but I've been told I'm overstocked just the same. So now I think I should make some changes.
I think the worst is over for the neons (except for one little guy who's quarantined now). So I have 3 left that seem healthy. Rather than go back through all this again trying to keep neons, I think I'd rather just get 1 or 2 fish to replace them that will be a little less finicky (sp?). I'm thinking of a dwarf gourami? Would that fit in with the others ok? Or should I take back the guppies too. What would you put in it then?
It's been set up for almost 2 months, the ammo 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0, temp 78, ph 7.
It has a sand substrate and heavily planted. (See avatar and signature.)
I really want to keep the cories (as many as possible) but I'd love a nice sized fish to be in there too. Maybe even one of my bettas. Could I put a male betta in with the fm guppies, and keep 3 of the cories in the tank with them? Then I could put the other 2 cories in the betta's 1 1/2 gal bowl? What should I do? What would you do?
Sorry for the long post and thanks for any and all opinions!

 

[Angry_Platy]

I am assuming it is yur 10gal tank in question here.....going by the inchh per gallon rule, which you may or may not want to use, you can have 10 inches per fish in your tank. With 4 neon tetras you are pretty much 1/2 way stocked. I class guppies as an inch and a 1/2 long so that gives you 7 inches and thats without the cories.

I am not sure how big dwarf gouramies get, you may need to do some research on that (or someone else here may be able to help you)....if the remaining tetras stay alive I would keep it as that with the cories ad guppies. If it seems you are overstocked (by the inch per gallon rule).....then make sure water changes are frequent and definitely don't add any fish.

As for male bettas with guppies, I know that bettas will see the guppies tail as being like that of another bettas tail. I am not sre if this is true for female guppies who have shorter, less-flowing tails. I woudn't be putting the cories in a 1 1/2 gallon bowl. It is nowhere near enough room for them.

Of course, you could always get a bigger tank and think about more fish to get

HTH

 

[fishwatcher]

If I remove the neons could I replace them with 1 dwarf gourami?

 

[catyrpelius]

Neons are pretty fragile fish, and they have been konwen to die for no apparent reason. You may also want to think about switching from neons to some other sort of tetra like a glo light or a cardinal as either of these two are considerably hardyer then a neon. Just so you know i have almost the exact same tank stock as you in the same size tank and it is working well for me, the only difference between your tank and mine is that I have glo light tetras instead of neons, glo lights are alot harder then neons.

It is entirely possible to overstock an aquarium unless it is redicously overstocked, and have it work out fine, its just a question of how often you are willing to change some of the water to keep it in cheack.

 

[fishwatcher]

Well I do a 25% change + vac 2 times a week. According the tests, all my stats stay at safe (0) levels. I'm assuming this means I'm doing enough. Is this correct?
If so, then if I wanted to get a dwarf gourami, in place of tetras, do you think that would be ok? I'm thinking that 1 or 2 gourami in place of 7 neons would be a good swap as far as size goes. I just am afraid of making things worse, I guess. Would you mind me asking what your stock is?
Thanks for the help!

 

[Sky042]

Neons are pretty fragile fish, and they have been konwen to die for no apparent reason. You may also want to think about switching from neons to some other sort of tetra like a glo light or a cardinal as either of these two are considerably hardyer then a neon. Just so you know i have almost the exact same tank stock as you in the same size tank and it is working well for me, the only difference between your tank and mine is that I have glo light tetras instead of neons, glo lights are alot harder then neons.

It is entirely possible to overstock an aquarium unless it is redicously overstocked, and have it work out fine, its just a question of how often you are willing to change some of the water to keep it in cheack.

+1 on the neons
I've had them die just on a 5 min ride home. That is why I am now very careful about where I buy neons from. I'll only buy neons where in the lsf tank they're active and bright blue with vivid red in them. The more washed out their color is the more they tend to be weak fish. Last time I tried housing them I put 8 into a mature tank with perfect water. I now have 2 that survived and look great but 2 died during the car ride and the rest went during the first week.