Capacity Question

elliott78

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I have a 55 gallon tank w/ live & fake plants, bogwood, driftwood. Tank has been setup for about 3.5 months. Fish I currently have are a few feeder guppies, 1 mollie, 3 platies, 5 white clouds, 6 neons, 8 head & tail-lights, 1 bristle nose cat, 2 clown plecos, 7 corys, and 3 angelfish. The angelfish are my prized specimens. They are thriving in this setting. I would like to add a couple more but am wondering if this may be too many fish. The tank as is does not seem packed at all. I am running an undergravel filter and an external power filter. Thanks.
 
Well, inches per gallon is a very rough guideline, but it is usually a safe starting point. Adding up adult sizes:

molly: 3"
3x platy: 6"
3x angel: 15"
bristlenose: 4"
2x clown plec: 8"
7x corys: 14"
(rest I'm counting a little small - they're all light bioload fish)
5x white cloud: 5"
6x neon: 6"
8xH&TL tetras: 8"

You're at 69", very roughly. Generally, the rule is 1" per gallon, with 1.5" usually attainable in a mature tank (roughly 6 months after cycle finishes), and higher with good maintenance, careful compatibility considerations, and strong filtration. There's all sorts of problems with the system, it's a guideline, and a very rough one at that, you can't trust just the numbers. Also, there's a good chance many of these fish, particularly the plecs and angels, aren't full grown yet, which could make a difference of 5-15 inches.

They may not look packed now, but as the angelfish grow that may change.

I wouldn't add right now, but if your water stats are kept perfect and stable, there should be some room for future expansion, though not too much. The inch-per-gallon rule is a reasonable starting point, but ultimately, there's more art than science to stocking, as there's just too many factors to consider.

The main considerations here are twofold:

A. The angelfish may eat the white clouds, neons, and possibly H&TL tetras when they reach full size. Sometimes, if they grow up around the smaller fish, they won't see them as food, but the tetras and minnows have a shorter lifespan, and once the angelfish are adults, you probably won't be able to establish new schools of those fish (I've heard of angelfish raised with a school of 10 neons, but when 5 more are added, they pick out only the new ones and eat them). Probably not an immediate issue, and not a long-term deal breaker, I think, just something to keep in mind a few years down the road when the small fish are getting old. Also a preemptive head's up just in case you wake up one morning and only have 4 neons.

B. A more immeidate issue, with 3 angelfish, if two form a pair, the third will get the tar beaten out of him. Adding more might disperse this, somebody like Tolak would be better able to help you here, but you might also end up getting more pairs and even more fighting. If you add them, I'd only add 1, and if things ever get out of hand, be prepared to move the problem pair to their own tank.

I don't know much about clown plecs, but I know bristlenose sometimes hassle other small plecs. Keep an eye on them, particularly around food. if you feed something like zucchini, use two pieces in different spots so the bristlenose can't claim both. My BN will often claim and defend food he has no intention of eating, so it's important he can't claim everything.
 
Thanks for your help! As far as the neons are concerned I had to find out on my own.... Purchased 12 for a good price about a week ago and I'm counting 6 right now... Won't do that again. The 2 clown plecos belonged to a co-worker of mine who relocated a couple of months ago. I didn't want to see them go to a pet store. They are very secluded and when they happen to "wonder" into each others domain a quick scuffle ensues until one or the other retreats. They don't much care for the bristle nose either. My original 2 koi angels completely dominate this tank. I purchased them at quarter size and they have since grown very much. However the 1 gold I added afterward, (initially 2, one never grew and died two weeks ago) is catching up in size and aggressive temperament. Very hearty fish. Thanks again.
 
If your filtration is good, you should be fine with the bioload you have. As mentioned, there is some compatibility issues when the angels get older as neons are their natural food in the wild. In the wild, they will eat anything they can get in their mouths. Soome peopl have said that they had both in the tank from the beginning and that the angels never bothered them after they got big but that's subject to the temperment of the angels.

As far as having 3 angels, I can personally attest to what Corleone said. I had 4 angels (1 male & 3 females just by chance) in my 75 gallon. Although they picked at each other, they never really did any damage. One of the females got egg bound and died. From that point on, the largest of the 2 remaining females harrassed the other female constantly. The small one ended up staying hidden almost all the time except when I fed them and even then the other female would chase her. I had set up a small tnk to seperate her out until I could fingure out what to do. Oddly enough, while I was getting it cycled, I got up one morning to find the larger, more aggressive female dead with no signs of problems. I never knew what happened to her.
 
IMO undergravel filters are not a good choice. I was going to use one for my tank but my LFS told me not to. They said that every 6 months or so you need to take the undergravel filter out and clean underneath it, so I used different filteration.
Also, about the angelfish and neons problem. My aunty has 3 angels and about 20 or so neons together ( + other fish as well) and they seem to get along fine. But I'm not sure if they have been kept together since the angels were young.
I myself have 1 angelfish with 9 neons (angelfish is young) and so far have not had any major problems.
But I still agree with the others, so if the angels try to eat the neons I would move them.
 
Not to butt in but neons are not angelfish natural prey. It's cardinals, though granted they look very similar to neons. Point is do not keep large fish with small fish. If you do the small fish will get eaten eventually.
 

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