Okay So Your Tank Is A Bit Over Stocked How Do You Keep It Healthy

[bubba]

Hi my 50 litre ish(not sure coz its a half circle could be more is a tad over stocked

I have 15 neons, about 14 platys 4 cat fish and 12 guppies tomororw i am getting 2 more plays as i only have one white one and one salt in pepper one i brought and possibly 2 sword fish

The tank looks amazing the ammonia problem has settled down since i stop feeding so much


I was told you can have about one tropical per litre as long as your tank is cycled and you look after it and dont over feed etc

I stone vacum once a week change half the water .

Will these all be ok in here???

Ps the neons look great together

I could move the guppies to my other tank

BUT thats 55 litre and had 20 ish guppies in there and 3 cat fish and about 20 baby guppies

What do you guys think??

After i get my 2 platy tomorrow no more is going in there i promise ty ty ty

 

[mwood2]

DO NOT buy the platy. the tank is way to over stocked as is. You will have many issues later on if not now if you keep it the way it is. I HIGHLY suggest giving away some of your current stock. The Tetras need a mature tank and any signs of ammonia will kill them. Guppies may be hardy but stocked that much is horrible for them. Its in the sense you can survive but you wont be happy.

 

[bubba]

the plays need a mate each, the neons have been in there for 6 months, the lady i got the fish off had 50 in there for 2 yrs none died

what can happen later

maybe i should move all the guppies in with the others

it looks nice with all the fish


BUt as you said too many in there huh

I only lost one play to dropsy and the other I have no idea why it died

Ps tank been set up for at least 6-8 months

 

[Aquatic_Az]

I admit Im a novice, but imo your tank is heavily overstocked, you really do need to speak with your LFS and see if they can take some of your stock off of you to make your tank a better place to live in for the remaining stock, or even make some money on here buy selling them to people. Id suggest to seriously not get even more.

My tank imo is abit overstocked, so couldnt imagine having that many fish within it.

For the time being until you get rid of atleast half your stock id up the waterchanges to atleast 50% water changes twice a week.

I hate to be negative

 

[mwood2]

the general rule to stocking fish is 1in of fish per gallon. While its called a rule it can be streached of course but usually one a mature tank with good filteration. Now the average guppy gorws to 1.5-2in meaning that 24in of fish in a 15-16 gallon tank. Cory need to be kept in groups of 6 to be really happy making that 18in to be really happy and the platy grow 1-4in depending on type making it a large number too. This is far to much for such a tank. And that not including the tetras.

 

[bubba]

also im not giving away my fish !!!!! i love each one of them hehe



the girl i got the tank off works at the local pet store and she had 50 fish in there and they were all ok

I got 2 filters running in there maybe i will just move the 12 guppies into the other tank

 

[Aquatic_Az]

also im not giving away my fish !!!!! i love each one of them hehe



the girl i got the tank off works at the local pet store and she had 50 fish in there and they were all ok

I got 2 filters running in there maybe i will just move the 12 guppies into the other tank

That wont resovle being very heavily overstocked, if you move the guppies across.

That means in your other tank if all the baby guppies survive you'll have 52 guppies in there plus 3 catfish!

Although the girl might've had 50 fish in there once already, does it mean its right because someone else done it?

 

[mwood2]

Well its up to you what you do with your tank but a very large portion of the community here believes in proper stocking levels to insure a happy and healthy tank for each fish. Please take my advice on the not adding new fish though. It is hard on the fish as is and the current stock really should be looked after more carefully. The increased stock rate will cause alot of stress to the fish. Also keep in mind that adding more fish will have an ammonia spike that will cause your fish you already have alot more stress then they may be under already.

 

[bubba]

hi the local pet store is taking my babie guppies out of my fry tank tomorrow the whole lot so i can take all the babies out of guppy tank and put it in there

that means i will have about 35 guppies in55 litre tank that should be ok

I have seen ppl with 100 guppies in a 65 litre lol

Also thanks for the advice

I am on the hunt for a bigger tank for my guppies

 

[Aquatic_Az]

As mwood2 said, no one can force you to do anything and its up to you, people will give you advice and you do with it what you will.

Atleast getting rid of all the baby guppies and transferring the adult guppies will spread the stock across the 2 tanks abit better, however, alot of people on here im sure will still say this is not good.

Please do not buy any more fish at all though.

However good luck with your fish.

 

[mwood2]

seeing people do it doesntt make it a good environment for the fish. A good fish keeper will cater to each fishes personal needs to insure that it will live a happy and healthy life. While yes they CAN live in that environment each fish will not get the proper life they deserve. yes they are fish but you start the hobby by wanting to take care of the life of the fish not just for entertainment value. Thats is the true way of fish keeping in my opinion.

 

[bubba]

thanks i got given all the guppies for like 20 p each not realising that they would be too much

I do have some lovely flamingos etc

Maybe i have to kull some of the guppies also i know you have to keep more females than males lol

 

[mwood2]

you dont really mean to kill (i suppose that what you mean by kull) do you?

 

[bubba]

no mwood2 kull as in sell or give away hehe

 

[mwood2]

ok, just making sure. What I would suggest is giving your stock away to either 1 breed of fish and the cory and leave it at that for awhile.

So either;

Guppies+cory
tetras+cory
Platy+Cory

This would leave your tank fully stocked for the time being. You can always re arrang later but this would do a fe things for you. Give you a good amount of fish that would be able to watch. Allow your fish adequate swimming space. Reduce the bio load so that your current filter can keep up with and keep them healthy.