Overstocked?

[johnnyr]

Hi all,

I've had my 55gal for a while now, and with school and work, I haven't been able to give my little guys much attention, other then their monthly maintenance. This is the situation. In the tank, I have:

1 Jack dempsy (4 inch)
1 Green severum (4 inch)
1 Firemouth (3 inch)
2 Blood parrots (3 inches each)
1 Pleco (3inch).

Now, I know you are supposed to overstock with cichlids to prevent aggression, but I think these guys have gotton WAY too big for the tank. I love them to death, but don't want them to suffer needlessly, and can't stand it when animals are being hurt or suffering.

So, my question is two-fold:

1) Do I need to find new homes for some of my fish?

2) If so, what is the best way to go about doing so? I'm not going to hand over my fish to just anyone, I would need to know the fish would have a proper setup, and it's need fulfilled. What are your suggestions for finding a suitable home?


Thanks guys.

 

[DarkEntity]

Get rid of everything except the Firemouth and get it a partner. All the rest will out grow that tank.

Find a shop that will buy them from you or give you credit to buy other fish more suitable for that tank.

 

[johnnyr]

Get rid of everything except the Firemouth and get it a partner. All the rest will out grow that tank.

Find a shop that will buy them from you or give you credit to buy other fish more suitable for that tank.

Well, I'm most attached to my blood parrots, so if anything, I would be keeping them and getting rid of the rest. I guess I will look into it. Thanks.

 

[DarkEntity]

The Blood Parrots will grow to about 8" each, so be aware of the if you deceide to keep them, when re stocking the tank.

 

[johnnyr]

The Blood Parrots will grow to about 8" each, so be aware of the if you deceide to keep them, when re stocking the tank.

Yes, they "will" grow, but as of now, they are fine. back to my initial question, my fish seem to be perfectly happy where they are now, and I don't really see the point in moving them until they actually have outgrown the tank. They all get along wonderfully. So, do I need to move some fish NOW, or is my tank alright for the time being?

 

[Mor61e]

Isn't a 55G about 4 foot long? If so surely none of them would get too big for that tank on their own!

I'm no expert like some of the members on here but i would say the pleco the parrots and the severum would be OK, though i've never kept parrots before.

Hope this helps

 

[vancouver]

It's hard to tell when a fish is being stunted or not..

1 Jack dempsy (4 inch)
1 Green severum (4 inch)
1 Firemouth (3 inch)
2 Blood parrots (3 inches each)
1 Pleco (3inch).


If you're planning lets say for another year in that 55g tank I could see this as the setup..

2 BPS
1 Firemouth
1 Pleco

The pleco has the ability to grow to almost 2 feet I believe.. but they don't grow that fast..

I think you could probably keep the 2 bps and firemouth in there forever, but I wouldn't add anything else.

If those are the 2 fish you like the most, stocking the tank around them is probably what you want to do.

The JD and Sev could probably live in there with the firemouth. So it's basically the firemouth and 2 more fish you'll have to decide on.

 

[stang1]

What type of pleco is it?

 

[johnnyr]

What type of pleco is it?

Sorry, its not a pleco, but a chiniese algea eater.

Bottom line, I would like to keep all of them, and I don't wish to add any more fish. I'm just wondering if you guys think this is an ok option. (aka im not insanly overstocked)

 

[Mor61e]

They will be overstocked soon but i think aggression is gonna be the main factor later on

 

[vancouver]

Long term it's too many fish.

When the severum, parrots, and JD are all 8'' there isn't going to be a lot of room in the tank..

I would keep 2 of the larger fish and the firemouth.

 

[ox5477]

I agree with the agression part of it. Sev's can be mean to anything, whether the fish is bigger or smaller than itself. JD's are very territorial will most likely combat with the sev and the BP's. I've seen a video of a person's tank in which 3 BP's ganged up on a JD that was about twice their size and did quite a good job at tearing up it's fins and causing a fair amount of dmg.

All these fish could fit in the tank for life (cept maybe the pleco) but the issue is that they may kill eachother before they become full grown.

 

[johnnyr]

I agree with the agression part of it. Sev's can be mean to anything, whether the fish is bigger or smaller than itself. JD's are very territorial will most likely combat with the sev and the BP's. I've seen a video of a person's tank in which 3 BP's ganged up on a JD that was about twice their size and did quite a good job at tearing up it's fins and causing a fair amount of dmg.

All these fish could fit in the tank for life (cept maybe the pleco) but the issue is that they may kill eachother before they become full grown.

Ok, well thanks for the info. My fish have been together now for a few years, so hopefully they will keep the peace for a while.

 

[SamUK]

if you have had them a few years they should be much bigger than the size u stated so must be getting stunted already.

 

[johnnyr]

if you have had them a few years they should be much bigger than the size u stated so must be getting stunted already.

Erm...few = 1 1/2 years. Sorry, should have been more specific.