Aquarium Population Question

[KaidatheDragon]

I recently acquired a 50 gallon fish tank. I have a few fish in it and I was wondering if that’s too much to get more fish…
4 Freshwater Fiddler Crabs
5 Long Fined Zebra Danio
2 Neon Tetras (giving to a new home due to the small amount of them and my catfish possibly eating them)
1 Dragon Goby (I know it’s a Brackish fish…)
1 Pictus Catfish
I am getting a Aibino Bristlenose Plecostomus to clean the glass. I was also thinking about getting some more catfish so the one inside isn’t as lonely, how many should I get and should I with the population now? And what is nice good fish to fill the tank more and make it look nice if I can. And I have a betta in my old 5 gallon right now due to possible aggression to the fish since it was having issues with the neons in the previous tank.
Please help

 

[lolobunnz]

Hello,

From my knowledge, the rule of thumb to go by is 'An inch of fish per gallon'. And that seems pretty fair to me.

For example:

50 gallon tank

(50) 1 inch fish max

or (25) 2 inch long fish max

et cet.. But also gauge how your fish are handling their community at the moment.

 

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

The one inch per gallon is nonsense. Even with small fish, you can't keep 5 neons in a five gallon tank. I'd say the only thing suitable for the tank is the school of danios, but I don't know about the pictus.

 

[KaidatheDragon]

Hello,

From my knowledge, the rule of thumb to go by is 'An inch of fish per gallon'. And that seems pretty fair to me.

For example:

50 gallon tank

(50) 1 inch fish max

or (25) 2 inch long fish max

et cet.. But also gauge how your fish are handling their community at the moment.

Ya I know about the rule of thumb, and it makes sense. But I just wasn't sure, including the Neons it's about 46 calculating their max size but I am definitely getting an Albino Britlenose Pleco (Forgot to put that in the first post) which taking away the neons it would be 49 and not including the pictus add on. But most are bottom feeders and not many swimmers in majority of the tank so I wasn’t sure if you can fudge the rule by a bit.

The one inch per gallon is nonsense. Even with small fish, you can't keep 5 neons in a five gallon tank. I'd say the only thing suitable for the tank is the school of danios, but I don't know about the pictus.

The Pictus are a small species of Catfish that stay 6 inches that like schooling so it seems fine. I know the Goby gets pretty big and the minumun size tank I hear is a 50 gallon, right?

 

[lolobunnz]

If you search - "How Many Fish?" Aquarium Stock Level Calculator, you can type in your tank measurements and it will give you approximates for salt, brackish, fresh, and cold fresh water fish as well as full bodied compared to slim bodied fish.

 

[KaidatheDragon]

If you search - "How Many Fish?" Aquarium Stock Level Calculator, you can type in your tank measurements and it will give you approximates for salt, brackish, fresh, and cold fresh water fish as well as full bodied compared to slim bodied fish.

Ok, thanks

 

[dbanner]

What are the dimensions of the tank? This is what determines what fish are suitable. Tank volume doesn't really come into it as there are certain species that would do well in a 50gallon long tank that would be unsuitable for a 50gallon tall tank...

Also the inch per gallon rule is not so much a rule but more of a very rough guideline. Whilst you may put 10 neon tetras in a 10 gallon tank, you wouldn't put a 10 inch Fish in a 10 gallon tank...

Pictus catfish are very active and social. A group of 6+ would be needed but ideally a group of 10 is great and 50 gallons I feel wouldn't be big enough for a number like that, you may get away with 6 though.

The albino bristlenose will only eat the algae/clean the glass when it is young. The older it gets the less it will clean. The best algae cleaner for your tank is you I do weekly water changes as well as a sand vac and general rub down of the glass inside and out. Many people get plecs thinking they will keep the tank clean but it reality it's more the opposite. They are poop factory's and I find myself cleaning up after him all time. Iv got a golden nugget plec now but I have owned albino bristlenoses, normal bristlenoses, a green phantom and a royal.

 

[KaidatheDragon]

What are the dimensions of the tank? This is what determines what fish are suitable. Tank volume doesn't really come into it as there are certain species that would do well in a 50gallon long tank that would be unsuitable for a 50gallon tall tank...

Also the inch per gallon rule is not so much a rule but more of a very rough guideline. Whilst you may put 10 neon tetras in a 10 gallon tank, you wouldn't put a 10 inch Fish in a 10 gallon tank...

Pictus catfish are very active and social. A group of 6+ would be needed but ideally a group of 10 is great and 50 gallons I feel wouldn't be big enough for a number like that, you may get away with 6 though.

The albino bristlenose will only eat the algae/clean the glass when it is young. The older it gets the less it will clean. The best algae cleaner for your tank is you I do weekly water changes as well as a sand vac and general rub down of the glass inside and out. Many people get plecs thinking they will keep the tank clean but it reality it's more the opposite. They are poop factory's and I find myself cleaning up after him all time. Iv got a golden nugget plec now but I have owned albino bristlenoses, normal bristlenoses, a green phantom and a royal.

Well it is definitely a long tank. It’s about 36 inches long x 18 inches high x 16 inches wide.

So Plecos don’t clean very well? I heard they do… And the Albino only cleans when it is young? Is there one that is a good cleaner for my size tank? I know there are Rubber-Lips I was thinking about…

 

[dbanner]

If its 36 inches long that would only make it 3 feet... Not long enough for a group of 6 or more pictus catfish IMO they can get anywhere from 4-6 inches in length and are very active.

When it comes to plecs the albino bristlenose will be fine in your tank (providing you have sand substrate). These are known to be one of the better algae eaters but like I said, only when young. Some plecs are not very good algae eaters at any age and will generally make more mess in your tank than they clean

If you plan on keeping keeping the fiddler crabs then they should be fine with the danios and danios tend to swim on the upper levels of the tank out of the way of the crabs and they are quick swimmers. Although I'm not sure if a smaller type plec, that spends a lot of time on the bottom of tank would work with the crabs? Maybe someone else could give you a definite answer on this

 

[KaidatheDragon]

If its 36 inches long that would only make it 3 feet... Not long enough for a group of 6 or more pictus catfish IMO they can get anywhere from 4-6 inches in length and are very active.

When it comes to plecs the albino bristlenose will be fine in your tank (providing you have sand substrate). These are known to be one of the better algae eaters but like I said, only when young. Some plecs are not very good algae eaters at any age and will generally make more mess in your tank than they clean

If you plan on keeping keeping the fiddler crabs then they should be fine with the danios and danios tend to swim on the upper levels of the tank out of the way of the crabs and they are quick swimmers. Although I'm not sure if a smaller type plec, that spends a lot of time on the bottom of tank would work with the crabs? Maybe someone else could give you a definite answer on this

Well I decided on getting 3 more and a Rainbow Shark due to the crowding tank. And so far the crabs have not done anything with the Pleco. I got the Albino when I bought the first fish but it died in the bag before it even got home and the crabs ate the dead body, but that's the only thing I've seen. I got another pleco and it is doing fine.

Regarding cleaning, I do have sand on the top (a think layer) and on the way bottom gravel for structure. I also have a 3 stage cleaning filter but someone told me I should replace 50% of the water every day! Is once a week or maybe every 2 weeks ok? I have water testers to keep track of the water. And what should I get to clean the tank? I was looking at water replacement tech that was $45 or more...

 

[dbanner]

The minimum tank size for a rainbow shark is 50 gallons but a 50 gallon that is 4 feet long would be better as they need room to claim as their territory. They are very terratorial fish as they mature. A group of 4 pictus in your tank size should be ok.

With regards to cleaning the tank, people are normally advised to do huge daily water changes of anywhere up 95% if they are doing a fish-in cycle, or if there is a change in their tank water readings. For example a sudden reading of ammonia or nitrites due to a fish dying, dying plants being left in the tank or over feeding just to name a few. Or if you tank is overstocked and/or underfiltered. If your water levels are fine then and your stock is ok then there is really no need to do big water changes like that.

To give you an idea my 5 foot 125 gallon tank currently houses a 3 inch Thai Silk Flowerhorn and an Ornate Birchir that so far is pushing around 10 inches. they are the only fish that will be in this tank as they are large when adult. I run 2 tetratec ex1200 filters on it giving a combined water turnover of around 1850lph (over 480 gallons).

My water readings are - ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 20
PH 8.0
Water temp is 27 degrees c (80F) running a single 300watt external heater (connected to the filter inlet pipe)
Few live plants, think I have 6 in total (plus couple of rocks as caves)
Black sand substrate

I do one water change per week on this tank and take out around 40% of the water. To clean the substrate I use a gravel vac that you can but from your local fish store. It basically syphons out any waste from on the bottom of the tank as well as obviously draining the water at the same time. When iv taken out the 40% I top the tank back up with warm dechlorinated water (I use seachem prime as a water dechlore, 5ml treats around 50 gallons of fresh water added). Feeding my fish every other day (pellets, prawns, shrimp or frozen cubes)

Once my fish are bigger I will be doing these water changes twice a week.

I rinse my filter media in tank water around once every 3 months.

 

[KaidatheDragon]

The minimum tank size for a rainbow shark is 50 gallons but a 50 gallon that is 4 feet long would be better as they need room to claim as their territory. They are very terratorial fish as they mature. A group of 4 pictus in your tank size should be ok.

With regards to cleaning the tank, people are normally advised to do huge daily water changes of anywhere up 95% if they are doing a fish-in cycle, or if there is a change in their tank water readings. For example a sudden reading of ammonia or nitrites due to a fish dying, dying plants being left in the tank or over feeding just to name a few. Or if you tank is overstocked and/or underfiltered. If your water levels are fine then and your stock is ok then there is really no need to do big water changes like that.

To give you an idea my 5 foot 125 gallon tank currently houses a 3 inch Thai Silk Flowerhorn and an Ornate Birchir that so far is pushing around 10 inches. they are the only fish that will be in this tank as they are large when adult. I run 2 tetratec ex1200 filters on it giving a combined water turnover of around 1850lph (over 480 gallons).

My water readings are - ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 20
PH 8.0
Water temp is 27 degrees c (80F) running a single 300watt external heater (connected to the filter inlet pipe)
Few live plants, think I have 6 in total (plus couple of rocks as caves)
Black sand substrate

I do one water change per week on this tank and take out around 40% of the water. To clean the substrate I use a gravel vac that you can but from your local fish store. It basically syphons out any waste from on the bottom of the tank as well as obviously draining the water at the same time. When iv taken out the 40% I top the tank back up with warm dechlorinated water (I use seachem prime as a water dechlore, 5ml treats around 50 gallons of fresh water added). Feeding my fish every other day (pellets, prawns, shrimp or frozen cubes)

Once my fish are bigger I will be doing these water changes twice a week.

I rinse my filter media in tank water around once every 3 months.

I fear I may have too many fish... But thank you so much for the info! All the readings for my testers are good except the ammonia level is getting a bit edgy. My Filter is meant to clean it and it was not running properly last night due to bad power connection so I am hoping by tomorrow it may even out, if not I will be doing some water replacement this Saturday if it can wait that long.

The 4 Pictus are going along well even without the extra one or 2 to make a school. My first Pictus was so shy and now it’s moving around the tank happily. I think everyone is doing fine but I am a little concerned about my Dragon Goby. I hear they can get sick easily with ammonia and I know they are brackish fish but it was raised in a freshwater tank at Walmart and I heard they can still live in fresh. Do you know much about them?

 

[dbanner]

If it was my tank I would rehome the tetras, the crabs and the goby. I have no experience with the goby but if it's meant to be brackish then I would keep it in a brackish tank regardless of what tank it's been brought up in. Being in freshwater probably won't be doing it any good

If there is any ammonia showing (even the slightest bit) I would be doing daily water changes to help the filter along to get rid of it. There is always a chance that your filter may not get rid of the ammonia on its own and the ammonia could increase. Then you would have a Problem on your hands

 

[KaidatheDragon]

If it was my tank I would rehome the tetras, the crabs and the goby. I have no experience with the goby but if it's meant to be brackish then I would keep it in a brackish tank regardless of what tank it's been brought up in. Being in freshwater probably won't be doing it any good

If there is any ammonia showing (even the slightest bit) I would be doing daily water changes to help the filter along to get rid of it. There is always a chance that your filter may not get rid of the ammonia on its own and the ammonia could increase. Then you would have a Problem on your hands

Well the tetras have been giving to a new home and I will be cleaning the water soon to see if the ammonia will decrease. Thank you again!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Hello,

From my knowledge, the rule of thumb to go by is 'An inch of fish per gallon'. And that seems pretty fair to me.

For example:

50 gallon tank

(50) 1 inch fish max

or (25) 2 inch long fish max

et cet.. But also gauge how your fish are handling their community at the moment.

You may want to quote the whole rule

1 inch per gallon as pertaining to an adult size of 3 inch or less in a standard tank (i.e. not hex or any other weird shpaed tank)