Overstocking Tank?

[jenavee]

Hi -

I have a 29 gallon tank that is several years old. My swordtails had babies so I now have:

6 swordtails
1 betta
2 tetras
1 algae eater

One of my tetras is dying and it is breaking my heart The other tetra is hanging by it's side and this is so sad. I would love to go and buy 5 more tetras since these are schooling fish so my other tetra does not end up alone. Am I overstocking the tank? What should I do?

Thanks.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Glad you joined!!



Well firstly the betta probably would like to be in his own tank. As if it is a male, they are not such good community fish. Do you have a male betta or is it a female?? Well in order to tell if your overstocked you take the total adult inches that your fish will grow to and add them together.

Do you know what kind of tetras you have??
Also what kind of algae eater do you have??

6 swordtails @ 3inches = 18inches
1 betta @ 2.5inches = 2.5inches
2 tetras @ 1.5inches = 3inches
1 algae eater @ 4inches = 4inches

This gives you a total of 27.5inches of fish in your tank.

 

[jenavee]

I am not sure if this is a female or male betta. My niece won it at a carnival and of course comes to me to take care of it. I put him in the tank and he has been doing well since. Seems happy. Do you think I should move it out?

I believe my algae eater is an albino pleco? Does that sound right? Sorry for sounding ignorant. My tetras are cardinals.

Would you suggest I leave my tetra alone or could I spare a few more. It breaks my heart for him to be alone.

Thanks for all of your help.

Glad you joined!!



Well firstly the betta probably would like to be in his own tank. As if it is a male, they are not such good community fish. Do you have a male betta or is it a female?? Well in order to tell if your overstocked you take the total adult inches that your fish will grow to and add them together.

Do you know what kind of tetras you have??
Also what kind of algae eater do you have??

6 swordtails @ 3inches = 18inches
1 betta @ 2.5inches = 2.5inches
2 tetras @ 1.5inches = 3inches
1 algae eater @ 4inches = 4inches

This gives you a total of 27.5inches of fish in your tank.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Here are a few pics to help you figure out what your betta is.
Male betta has long flowing fins.
Female Bettas have shorter fins and often look like that picture. Of course for all all bettas the colors will vary greatly.

As for your Albino Pleco, that could possibly be bristlenose pleco. Does he have bristles on his nose? Albino plec picture, does it look something like that?

Well Cardinal Tetras do like groups, however your tank seems to be quite full at the moment. Especially now that you have a pleco that could possibly grow to 5inches, or maybe a little more. He should be under 8inches though.

The only reason I would suggest not to get more tetras is because your swordtails can be quite large to begin with and when they reach their full adult size males can be about 4inches and females about 3inches.

 

[lilfishie]

the plec could be an albino bristle nose which max size is 6" or a common which max size 20"+, if its a bristly then i'd say you can get more tetras, if its a common then your best to get rid of it i'm afraid

 

[jenavee]

the plec could be an albino bristle nose which max size is 6" or a common which max size 20"+, if its a bristly then i'd say you can get more tetras, if its a common then your best to get rid of it i'm afraid

Thanks so much for the replies. The links for the pictures were so helpful. I definately have a male betta and my pleco looks identical to the picture on the link. My poor little tetra is hanging all alone inside my castle. I am not sure which pleco I have a bristlenose or common so do you think I should get more tetras or just leave well enough alone?

 

[orange shark]

try and get a picture of the pleco so we can identify it so you can be sure!

 

[jenavee]

try and get a picture of the pleco so we can identify it so you can be sure!

I am at work but it is definately an albino pleco. It is not a bristlenose since I just googled a picture. I read that the albino pleco only grows to 4" if kept in captivity. What do you think?

 

[The_Dude]

Well, cardinals are tiny fish, 1.5" right? I'd say you're good for two more. that would make 3" more.

 

[lilfishie]

HERE is a bristlenose, it may not have bristles as it may be female but look at the pattern and HERE is a common pleco i would just say add more but plecos are very high waste producers

 

[smithrc]

Apart from the plec (which I would suggest re homing) your stocking is actually quite low....

Not sure where you read that they only get to 4" but I'd ignore it - they quickly get to 12" and then can grow to 18" in the long term.
How long have you had it? If its stayed that size for anything longer than 6 months then it may have been stunted by the "small" tank
(by small I mean too small for it - not that 29gal is small)

Id swap the common plec for a bristle nose If you can - and get 5-6 more cardinals and probubly 4-5 corys in there too

 

[*Fishkies*]

Apart from the plec (which I would suggest re homing) your stocking is actually quite low....

Not sure where you read that they only get to 4" but I'd ignore it - they quickly get to 12" and then can grow to 18" in the long term.
How long have you had it? If its stayed that size for anything longer than 6 months then it may have been stunted by the "small" tank
(by small I mean too small for it - not that 29gal is small)

Id swap the common plec for a bristle nose If you can - and get 5-6 more cardinals and probubly 4-5 corys in there too

They think they have a bristlenose pleco that's where the figure comes from. And according to the Pleco chart down in the Catfish forums. It states that most bristlenose plecos only grow to 5inches. It is listed in the category of Plecos under 8inches.