How Many Fish?

[flying_babyb]

I was reading other topics on here and want to be responsible so; do i have the right number of fish

In my ten gallon ( warm):
3 mollies
1 platty
2 snails
1 pleco (bottom feeder, might be misidentified) still very tiny)
one meduim bottom feeder
1 tiny teta sized bottom feeder
(ive tried to identify them, but its not easy)

In the 40 gallon cold water tank:
1small koi
1 lager fan tail
2 little fan tails
2 tiny black moors
3 snails
2 pleco (bottom feeder, might be misidentified) still very tiny)


Ph and all levels are good. water is clear and eveyone seems happy

 

[flying_babyb]

Anyone?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it's a bit hard without positive ID's.... but I'm fairly sure your 10g is gonna be over stocked. To work it out you need to aim for the same number of inches of fish (worked out on max adult size) as gallons. So you can have 10" of fish in your 10g.

3 mollies is about 9" so your virtually fully stocked with just those.
then the platy takes you to 11".... it'd be just about OK if you stopped there.
snails can be poop machines so take up more of your stocking that they're size would indicate.... can't say how much without a proper ID.
Plec..... if it's a common or sailfin it could get to a foot long or more!!! I guess that's nearly the length of your tank.... doesn't take much to work out that's way too big for your tank. There are some smaller species of plec that get to 6-8".... however I wouldn't put anything bigger than 3" in a 10g tank..... they need room to swim and turn and anything bigger than that won't have it.
unidentified bottom feeders.... well could be anything really so can't comment.

So yes I'm pretty sure you tropical tank is overstocked although I can't say how much by. Get some pics of your fish and we'll ID them for you, then you can work out your stocking properly so you know what to do.

Maybe post about the coldwater in that section.

 

[flying_babyb]

common pond snails, i looked them up on the snail id pinned topic

 

[dwarfgourami]

I agree with miss Wiggle that the most imperative need is to get the plecs identified. Could you post a picture on the catfish forum? Or, if you do your own googling, PlanetCatfish have lots of good photos for identification (though they are sometimes a little conservative when estimating maximum size).
The problem with even the smallest plecs (like the clowns or bristlenoses) is that they produce an awful lot of mess, which could quickly poison a small tank like this. I would not keep any plec (except maybe otos) in a tank smaller than 20-30 gallons. And if it is a sailfin or a common, then it needs a very big tank.
Then there is the question about the medium catfish. Have you tried googling corydoras, bristlenose, oto, pleco?
Platies and mollies are also quite heavy poopers, though not in the plec category. I would also have thought a 10 gallon tank might be a bit small for fully grown mollies.
About the cold tank- should be alright for the fancy goldfish, just about- but have you got a home for the koi to go to as it matures? It would really be happier in a pond in the long run. They can grow very large indeed.

 

[Egmel]

The problem with even the smallest plecs (like the clowns or bristlenoses) is that they produce an awful lot of mess, which could quickly poison a small tank like this.

I'd agree plecs are v messy! My 2 Parotocinclus, even though small (they only get to 2") are really messy you have to vacuum the bottom on a really regular basis!

 

[halfbloodprincess]

Get some pics up and we can id the bottom feeders and pleco for you.