Over Stocked?

[Sarah*]

Hello, I have a 55 gallon tank and its been up and running since January. I did a fish less cycle before adding any fish. Currently I have the follwoing:...

5 Neon tetra
3 red eye tetra
2 Tetras (Can't remember the name but they have a orange strip and are no bigger than the neon tetras)
2 Orange Tetra
4 Guarami
2 Dwarf Guarami
3 Cat fish
1 Pleco

Everything is going well and the water is tested every other day. Is my tank oer stocked? I would like to add some more fish but not sure what to do? Ideally i would like a few angel fish but having read about them i think they may eat my small fish. Any opinions on what i should add if im not over stocked?

Many thanks

 

[darknirvana217]

First what kind of pleco is it, if it is a "common" pleco, then you are already over stocked as they will get about 12 -13 inches in length, and are high waste producers. Also, what kind are the three gouramis that you have? Some can very aggressive to little fish. Also, I wouldn't do the angels as they do have the ability to eat some tetras. I would suggest perhaps pit bull plecos (Parotocinclus jumbo), rubber lipped plecos (Chaetostoma sp. aff. milesi), or oto cats (Otocinclus vittatus). You could also probably add a shoal of corydoras catfish. As far as swimming fish, I would be weary of your large gouramis, not the dwarfs. I would get more tetras instead of them.

 

[Sarah*]

sorry for the lack of fish info, i will go look get the names of the types of fish i have.

Would i be silly to add tiger barbs?

 

[SuperColey1]

I think you should be just about OK with the pleco. you have about the bare minimum for a common though.

As per previous poster the comments on Gouramis I agree with, but in this size of tank you may just get away with.

Cats is the one I worry about. which type of cats? If I were you I would look through all the fish index on here and read up on each of your fish so that you have a full understanding of each's habits, temperament and needs then you will have something to start with.

If you want something to swim in the upper reaches of the tank the danios will do this. Zebra Danios are pretty easy to find in the shops and are a hardy starter fish but they are very lively. If you fancy something less active then rasboras could be your solution.

So in summary the only problem (assuming the cats are not going to get huge) are the aggressive Gouramis. You need to do weekly water changes due to plecos being very messy fish. Barbs are not very suitable for this tank as they will nip at both the tetras and the Gouramis. Angels prey on tetras in the wild so these are out. Try to stay under the inch of fish per gallon rule and always try to get more of each fish rather than 1 of this and 1 of that as they will act more naturally in groups than in a tank full of different species.

Andy

 

[Sarah*]

Many thanks for the advice.

Right my fish are are as follows.

2 x Orange Tetra's
5 x Neon Tetra's
3 x Red Eye Tetra's
2 x Dwarf Gourami
2 x Cat fish (Bronze corys)
1 x Albino Cat fish
2 x Lace Gourami
1 x Common Pleco
2 x Three - Spot Gourami
2 x Tetra's with a orange strip, not much bigger than the Neon tetra's.

 

[chesterscot]

not sure if your overstocked as im rubbish at maths lol if you can add some more small fish id add some more corys (catfish)
as they would do better in a small group rather than just 2
scot

 

[Zincubus]

Sarah .

I am pretty sure that the two little fish with an orange stripe you mentioned are GLOWLIGHT tetras.

The orange tetras could possibly be Serpae tetras .

As regard to Tiger barbs - although they are real pretty - in my experience they are terrible fin nippers !!

Also with regard to the "inch per gallon" rule ....is that UK or USA gallons ?

I read that you could double up on the "rule" if you had filtration or an airstone -i s that correct ?

 

[Sarah*]

Hello

Yes they are Glowlight tetras! Many thanks for that

It is UK Gallon's.

I don't have an airstone, would it be a good thing to buy?

I will try and upload some pictures later of my set up so far.

 

[kribensis12]

According to a gallon converter i used, you have a 67 gallon tank ( US). The one inch rule is called the golden rule. It is best used for livebearers and tetra's and cory's. I would think the pleco would be okay, but it would be better to rehome him and get something like a few bristle noses. Also, your gourami's might start bullying eachothoer. Do you have a test kit? If not, you should invest in one, they are a great help!

 

[OldMan47]

Step one is to learn that the inch per gallon rule, which is often given as advice in the states as well, is used only as a first approximation for small fish so that newcomers don't overstock their tanks immediately. It will slow down a new fish enthusiast which can be very good. If you use it for a fish as big as a gourami, you are already into the realm where it should not be applied. What you really want to do is look at your fish as each producing waste roughly proportional to their volume. When you think of it that way you will do better because you will realize that a 3 inch gourami produces about 8 times the waste of a 1.5 inch glowlight tetra or a 1.5 inch neon. Once you can start to get a feel for that relationship you will be better equipped to estimate whether you are overloaded. In my opinion, you still have room for a few small fish but as has been said, it would be best to avoid the tiger barbs as their name is well deserved. They can be very hard on other fish.
As darknirvana said, the pleco does not really belong in a tank that small, I know it looks big but that pleco will grow to at least 16 inches long if you give him the chance. My lfs has a few in a 150 gallon display tank near the shop entrance and they are enormous. The largest has a body that is about 2 inches top to bottom and side to side with a fin on his back that is at least 3 inches tall while he is about 16 inches long plus his tail. When he swims around, the decorations in the tank move around. I think they do it to keep people from walking out with a plec that they have no room for.

 

[Zincubus]

What are your thoughts on the theory that the inch rule can be amended to TWO inch per gallon if decent aeration by airstones is added ??

 

[Bastables]

What are your thoughts on the theory that the inch rule can be amended to TWO inch per gallon if decent aeration by airstones is added ??

Additional aeration won't stop dangerous wastes such as ammonia burning the gills. Nor will it stop the side affects of a fish living in toxic waste being so stressed their immune system weakens so bacterial, fungus, and parasites finish them.

You need a filter capable of processing the waste, a filter that has a bacteria colony large enough to handle the waste load.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Many thanks for the advice.

Right my fish are are as follows.

2 x Orange Tetra's
5 x Neon Tetra's
3 x Red Eye Tetra's
2 x Dwarf Gourami
2 x Cat fish (Bronze corys)
1 x Albino Cat fish
2 x Lace Gourami
1 x Common Pleco
2 x Three - Spot Gourami
2 x Tetra's with a orange strip, not much bigger than the Neon tetra's.

Your tank isn't exactly overstocked but its stocking is certainly not ideal either.

Generally speaking, tetra's are shoaling fish and do best when kept in large groups of their own kind 6-8 strong or more- most small tetra's are prey fish in the wild, and they will feel insecure/stressed when not kept in groups large enough for them to shoal properly if they get spooked or something. If you do have serpae tetra's then you should ideally rehome them for the gourami's sake, as serpae tetras often end up nipping the long "feelers" of gourami's. Serpae tetras;

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Characin...1/Serpae-Tetra/

Glolight tetras;

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Characin...lowlight-Tetra/

Neon tetras;

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/tet-neon.htm

Red eye tetra;

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Characin...Red-Eyed-Tetra/


Bronze corys do best when kept in groups of their own kind of 4+, if the substrate in your tank is rough gravel though you should ideally change it to soft sand or small rounded gravel as rough gravel can damage the feelers/barbels of corys.

Is your albino catfish a cory or some other kind of catfish? Can you describe its appearance at all ?

You have quite a few different varieties of gourami's, i would certainly advise keeping an eye on them all as some gourami's (mostly the males) can become quite aggressive/territorial towards other fish and their own kind. Gourami's/labyrinth fish;

http/www.fishforums.net/category/39/Labyrinth/



Personally, if i were you what i would do is change the fish stocking to look more like this;

7 Glowlight tetras
7 Red eye tetras
7 Neon tetras
6 Bronze corys
5 Three-spot, dwarf or lace gourami's (also known as pearl gourami's)
Bristlenose pleco instead of common pleco (depending on the tanks measurements though, you may be able to get away with the common pleco, but it could still outgrow the tank- a bristlenose pleco will certainly grow a lot smaller than a common pleco though)

With this stocking, it would also leave you some room for more new fish depending on exactly what fish and how you got . Pretty much all of your fish will really benefit from a tank which has a fair amount of planting, i would advise planting up about 40% of the tank particularly with plants that grow all the way up to the waters surface (as the gourami's will particularly appreciate this) and have a soft sand substrate in the tank (the most ideal substrate for corys) . Its still important to ID your albino catfish, but in general your fish are all pretty laid back fish and so will appreciate tank mates that also take their attitude to life (you don't want to be getting and adding hyperactive or aggressive fish to the tank) .

 

[chibi]

You're not overstocked.

 

[evilchild]

so if a tank is over stock, you can counteract the effects by using a bigger filter? so say you have a 40g tank wich is over sstock and your put a filter capable of running a 100G tank, then that shoulkd reduce the amount of "toxic wate" in the tank.