Am I Understocked Or Over Stocked? 55g

[Batmanjay28]

What so you think about this? This tank has been running for a year and a half. The water is perfect and I wold be adding the fish in all at once but in groups over a month or so period. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments please do. Thanks!!! The tank is heavy planted and has 3 large pieces of driftwood. I was also wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a school of about 6 or 7 tetras that would add great color to the tank.


So..........

Maybe like 14 black phantoms

10 corys

8 hachetfish

4 Rams

7 ottos

a small school of about 10 tetras- need some suggestions on a tetra that will add a lot of color to the tank.

 

[mark.w.jones]

What so you think about this? This tank has been running for a year and a half. The water is perfect and I wold be adding the fish in all at once but in groups over a month or so period. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments please do. Thanks!!! The tank is heavy planted and has 3 large pieces of driftwood. I was also wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a school of about 6 or 7 tetras that would add great color to the tank.

So..........

Maybe like 14 black phantoms

10 corys
8 hachetfish
4 Rams
7 ottos
a small school of about 10 tetras- need some suggestions on a tetra that will add a lot of color to the tank.

When you say that your water's perfect does that mean you have done a fishless cycle? If not please consider doing one as it's the best way by far to prepare your tank for your fish.

Stocking wise looks pretty good to me.

corys (depending on sp.) anything from 1" to 3" so lets say = 20"
otos 2" each = 14"
hatchet fish (depending on sp.) 1ish" each if your talking myers or marbled = 8"
Rams 3" each = 12" altogether
Black phantoms 1half" each = 21"

That's 76" altogether so overstocked a fair bit give or take a few inches depending on species choice. Rams and hatchet fish are also quite difficult to keep well. The are both quite sensitive to medications and to poor water conditions so your maintainance and setup needs to be perfect from the start.

ps I quite like glowlight tetras, but also consider galaxy rasboras, harelequin rasboras and endlers liverbearers if you want something colourful.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it's a nice combination of fish but a few too many

just drop your groups down a little like

8 cories - 16"
6 hatchet - 6"
2 rams - 6"
5 otto's - 10"
10 black phantoms - 15"

that's more like it i reckon

 

[Fate2006]

more rams, they should be in groups of atleast 3, but 4 is better (1m-3f ratio),

 

[n3ont3tra]

I think the original stocking was better, remember, they want small fish mainly, and so produce much less waste than larger fish would. I think as long as you added the fish slowly, and had sufficient filtration with weekly 25% water changes you should be fine. The inch per gallon rule is only a guideline, and I think it's better for tanks 30g and under anyway. 55g tanks are 4ft long, there should be plenty of room for your selection.

 

[mark.w.jones]

I think the original stocking was better, remember, they want small fish mainly, and so produce much less waste than larger fish would. I think as long as you added the fish slowly, and had sufficient filtration with weekly 25% water changes you should be fine. The inch per gallon rule is only a guideline, and I think it's better for tanks 30g and under anyway. 55g tanks are 4ft long, there should be plenty of room for your selection.

The inch per gallon rule works fine for all sized tanks. Whilst it is only a rule of thumb its a very good one and if you stick to it your are highly unlikely to have problems caused by overstocking. As overstocking is one of the biggest problems beginners face I feel that avoiding it at all costs is paramount, especially when stocking your first tank. An overstocked tank is much more unstable and liable to have things go wrong far more quickly and drastially than a properly stocked one. I don't deny that once the tank's matured for 6 months or so you can usually add a few more fish OR that if you are reasonably experienced you can get away with over filtering to deal with over stocking. But you really have to know what your doing otherwise things can go badly wrong.

Stick with 1" per gallon for now.

 

[alyshalodge]

also take into concideration that just cause a fish is smaller doesnt mean that it doesnt have a huge amount of waste, so yes the 1" per gallon is safe to go by its also innaccurate usually, take a goldfish for example, a full grown goldfish can get up to 10" if its not then its being put understress from an environment thats too small and for each inch of goldfish you need at least 2-3 gallons of water
-alysha

 

[n3ont3tra]

I'm not saying all small fish are small waste producers. Zebra Plecs, for example, only grow to 3 inches and they are one of the messiest fish for their size, and need at least a 30g tank. The fish batmanjay28 suggested only produce small amounts of waste. Using the inch per gallon rule, it's overstocked, but if you look at it in a more... logical... way, the tank is about even. The waste production really isn't much of an issue with the fish chosen, assuming a responsible maintenance schedule is used. It's more of an issue with the dimensions of the tank. Seeing as there is a stocking with top, middle, and bottom dwelling fish, there should be enough room for all the fish to be comfortable, and the waste production will be combated by a good maintenance schedule, and efficient filtration.