Have We Overstocked Our Tank?

[2tropicalfishies]

To give you some background we have a 2 foot tank which is 16.7 gallon or 63 litres in capacity. We have had this tank for 3 months in which time the tank has completed its initial cycle.

We initially put in the following fish in the tank:
1 x Dwarf Emerald Gourami
7 x Neon Tetras
1 x dwarf sucker mouth catfish (oto)

We recently added the following fish to the tank as well:
5 x Glass Catfish
2 x additional dwarf sucker mouth catfish
3 x yo-yo loaches (young ones)

We also have a number of snails which must have come on the plants when we purchased them? We are combating the forever numbers of the snails by removing them manually when the yo-yo loaches don't.. (That was the reason for purchasing the yo-yo loaches.)..

Noticed a small ammonia spike 0.1 ppm and nitrate 0.1 ppm since adding these additional fish.

Our question is have we overstocked our tank and if so what can we do? Furthermore, is this reason for the changes in our ammonia and nitrate levels?

Please note we know that some of these fish grow quite large in size, we are looking at getting a bigger tank in approx. a year. Is our current tank ok for now?
... Additionally, we have a large powerhead filter, and lots to live plants.

All feedback is appreciated.. Thank you!!

 

[wolfwolf]

I would not have a stocking like that BUT I'm sure you can make it work with proper maintenance. I would speed that larger tank along and get ready for a minicycle. You added a lot of fish recently.

 

[drobbyb]

You are overstocked. Those glass catfish get to 6 inches long and put you over the top. I woud take them back to the shop and get store credit if I could. I know they are pretty small now, but they get too big for a 17 gallon tank.

 

[crazychris]

The Pakistani loaches, Yo-Yo's, get to 4" too so three will get a bit big for a 2ft tank but are okay for now.

 

[GuppyGoddess]

You are overstocked. Those glass catfish get to 6 inches long and put you over the top. I woud take them back to the shop and get store credit if I could. I know they are pretty small now, but they get too big for a 17 gallon tank.

2nd to taking the fish back *while they're still small*. I wouldn't buy fish with the idea that eventually you will be getting a bigger tank. You set up the larger tank first, THEN buy the fish for that tank. Reason being is something may come up in the meantime and you may not be able to get a larger tank and then you're stuck with an overstocked tank that is too small to accomodate all the fish you have. If it was just a few fish, it would be no big deal, but some of the fish you have are going to grow very big and crowd your 16 gallon tank.

A while back, I watched a guy bring back a 1 foot long fish that he said grew faster than he imagined and it was now too large for his tank. Sad thing is, even though the store took the fish back, they did NOT have a tank for the larger fish. They put that massive fish in a 5-gallon tank. The pet store was totally stuck. What can they do now do now with that fish because of the customer's poor planning? Who is going to buy a full-grown fish when there are so many tempting baby cutie fish?

 

[2tropicalfishies]

Thank you to all of you who replied to our question. Much appreciated.. It has given us food for thought...

 

[MoneyMitch]

To give you some background we have a 2 foot tank which is 16.7 gallon or 63 litres in capacity. We have had this tank for 3 months in which time the tank has completed its initial cycle.

We initially put in the following fish in the tank:
1 x Dwarf Emerald Gourami
7 x Neon Tetras
1 x dwarf sucker mouth catfish (oto)

We recently added the following fish to the tank as well:
5 x Glass Catfish
2 x additional dwarf sucker mouth catfish
3 x yo-yo loaches (young ones)

We also have a number of snails which must have come on the plants when we purchased them? We are combating the forever numbers of the snails by removing them manually when the yo-yo loaches don't.. (That was the reason for purchasing the yo-yo loaches.)..

Noticed a small ammonia spike 0.1 ppm and nitrate 0.1 ppm since adding these additional fish.

Our question is have we overstocked our tank and if so what can we do? Furthermore, is this reason for the changes in our ammonia and nitrate levels?

Please note we know that some of these fish grow quite large in size, we are looking at getting a bigger tank in approx. a year. Is our current tank ok for now?
... Additionally, we have a large powerhead filter, and lots to live plants.

All feedback is appreciated.. Thank you!!

Definately OVERSTOCKED!!! these fish are going to become stressed and become ill, Rehome them or upgrade. There simply isnt enough room for them to comfortably live not to mention you dumped wayyyyyyy to many in at once and your nitrites and ammonia will SPIKE possibly killing some overnight.