Is My Tank Overstocked?

[ocean_baby]

Hi I recently added 6 baby parrot fish ( 3-4cm) into my 50 US gal tank, the stock of the tank before the new addition are:
2 angle fish
4 pepper cories
2 kribs
1 yoyo loach
2 male platies
one of my friend said my tank is overstocked, I will give away the platies eventually, and the tank has been running for over a year now with good filturation and air pump, so I would like the opinion from you guys, is my tank overstocked?


and also my blood parrots are all brown with black strips right now, how long/ big will they become red/orange/yellow color?

 

[aaronnorth]

I wouldnt say so, if your water parametres and fish are ok then there is nothing to worry about, if you are overstocked then as long as you keep up on maintenance your fine

EDIT: Then again i didn't include your parrot fish! So you are overstocked but like i said above

 

[LolaLouie]

I think that parrot fish get quite big... If they're what i think they are then yes far too big for 6 in a 50 gallon. Without the parrot fish you don't sound overstocked at all.

 

[ocean_baby]

but they are only about 4 cm right now, are they grow that fast?

 

[st24rsap]

parrot fish do get quite big (upto 10 inches) and get quite violent when they are spawning, personally due to experiance id take the parrot fish back and get something more suited to your comunity tank

 

[aaronnorth]

but they are only about 4 cm right now, are they grow that fast?

You work out your stocking by the fishes max size not what they are now. It is like saying you have 100 1" fry in 100g but they may grow to 5" each!

Parrot fish are cichlids anyway so they will be aggresive unless lots of different hiding places are available.

 

[ocean_baby]

parrot fish do get quite big and get quite violent when they are spawning, personally due to experiance id take the parrot fish back and get something more suited to your comunity tank

I read from somewhere that large angles, cories and kribs are good dither fish for blood parrots, and yoyo is pretty quick too

but they are only about 4 cm right now, are they grow that fast?

You work out your stocking by the fishes max size not what they are now. It is like saying you have 100 1" fry in 100g but they may grow to 5" each!

Parrot fish are cichlids anyway so they will be aggresive unless lots of different hiding places are available.

they are pretty small right now, are they grow fairly quick?
we have 2 drift wood, a cave and some plants for them to hid right now, I'm thinking of add another drift wood sometime next weekend.

 

[st24rsap]

the cories are bottom feeders ...... the parrots lay there eggs on the bottom of the tank and will protect the eggs, cories will probably be attacked once the parrots spawn, as for the angels i really know nothing about them so cant comment.

this is just my experiance, others may have other opinions or ideas

 

[aaronnorth]

parrot fish do get quite big and get quite violent when they are spawning, personally due to experiance id take the parrot fish back and get something more suited to your comunity tank

I read from somewhere that large angles, cories and kribs are good dither fish for blood parrots, and yoyo is pretty quick too

but they are only about 4 cm right now, are they grow that fast?

You work out your stocking by the fishes max size not what they are now. It is like saying you have 100 1" fry in 100g but they may grow to 5" each!

Parrot fish are cichlids anyway so they will be aggresive unless lots of different hiding places are available.

they are pretty small right now, are they grow fairly quick?
we have 2 drift wood, a cave and some plants for them to hid right now, I'm thinking of add another drift wood sometime next weekend.

That is what i was trying to explain before about them only being small now, makes no difference, they will grow and become aggressive but I cant tell you on speed of growth

 

[ocean_baby]

Some infor I got from parrot cichlid page:

http/www.geocities.com/parrotcichlid/setup.html


Other good tankmates may include, but are not limited to:
Cory Cats
Any variety of Pleco
Twig Catfish
Kribensis
Convicts (can be aggressive and there is possibility of cross breeding)
Sevrums
Large Angels


I introduced the BPs are babies, so maybe they grow up together with cories when they are fairly small, they will be less aggressive towards them...

 

[Faythee]

Maybe just keep 2 of the Parrots. Then you wouldn't be overstocked.

Seems to me some fish that are supposed to be aggressive turn out not. Then some that aren't supposed to be do become aggressive. I even had a mean Molly that bullied my Gourami. Depends on the fishy.

 

[ocean_baby]

All 6 BPs are babies right now, I'm waiting for them to change color, to decide which ones to keep, I'm thinking of keep 4 orange/red ones...

 

[aaronnorth]

Maybe just keep 2 of the Parrots. Then you wouldn't be overstocked.

Seems to me some fish that are supposed to be aggressive turn out not. Then some that aren't supposed to be do become aggressive. I even had a mean Molly that bullied my Gourami. Depends on the fishy.

There are the odd exceptions, but out of 6 what are the chances! maybe 1 or 2 but not all

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah while it's OK now, it's not big enough as a long term home for all those fish

you could keep 1/2 of the parrots, there is a chance that they'll work in the community set up, but also a strong chance that aggression will take over and they'll bully the community fish. if you want to risk it then do, but just keep a close watch for the aggression when the parrot fish get to about 1 year to 18 months