possubly upgradeing my 10 gal community

[masterfishes]

i was at petsmart the other day and i noticed that they have a 29 gal tank with a filter, heater, and hood w/ light for 120 bucks....with that i figure about 200 for gravel and plants and such plus about 100 for a good stand(the tables i use for my tanks def wont hold anymore wait then a ten gal tank).....i decided im gonna try to get it before christmas(if i can find a job as im gonna be 16 in a month and a half).....the fish that will be going in there r:
1 common plec(about 5in long)
3 ottos
1 albino corry
3 long finned danios
1 wcmn
1 black neon
and 5 male gupies....these r all currently in a 10 gal


my first questions is that how long till the plec out grows this tank....next i want to know if i have room to add some more corries, wcmn, danios, and black neon after my guppies go becuase they only live for about a year with me....is this a good plan?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If the common plec is in a 10gal, its already outgrown it and will grow about an inch a month or more until it gets to 10inchs where its growth will slow down alot. A 29gal will not be big enough for it as they need at least a 50gal to grow up in to maturity.
White clouds need to be in groups of at least 6 and so do black neons, long finned danios do best in groups of 5-6 and need at least a 20gal due to their high activity levels. Albino corys do best in groups of at least 3-4 due to being very sociable fish and prefer sand to gravel substrate because it does not damage their barbels/whiskers as much.

Your 10gal tank is overstocked at the mo and i would get the 29gal ASAP and try to sort out your stocking issues .

 

[masterfishes]

the plec: ive had him for about 2 years now....hasnt grown much......as far as the 10 gal i know its over stocked.....ive had nearly the same level of fish since jan....has fluctuated due to me not thinking that i should quarantine new fish.......ok this is what i was thinking.....
6 wcmn= 2.5 in x 6 =15 in
6 long finned danios= 2.5 in x 6 = 15 in
6 black neons= 2.5 in x 6 = 15 in
3 corys(do they have to be the same type or can they be dif ones?)= 3 in x 3 = 9in
3 ottos= 2 in x 3 = 6 inches
1 pleco(if he can stay till hes this long) 12 in

= 2.5 in per gall........will two filters take care of this amount of bio load.....and will there be plenty of swimming room

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Why are you using 2.5inchs? If we are referring to the inch rule, it should be one inch of fish per gal. I would suggest you rehome your plec, it is worrying he has not grown much in the last 2yrs it is a major indicator he has already experinced stunted growth and it may be too late, stunted growth will eventually kill him prematurely...Which is why it is not wise to keep large growing plecs in such a small tank and is quite cruel for him considering the majority of common plecs reach 10inchs long in their first year.

For a 29gal tank, a good stocking would be;

6 white clouds
5 danios or 5male guppys but not both as the danios will stress the guppys out too much.
4 albino corys
3 otos
6 black neons as long as you get good filtration for the tank.

rehome the plec and make sure he gets a decent sized tank
The corys will need their diet substituted with catfish pelets and/or algae wafers and prefer sand substrate to gravel- do you know about cycling a tank?

 

[masterfishes]

yes i know about cycling....umm y cant i keep my plec in a 29 gal untill hes larger......and im going up to 2.5 inches per gal becues the 1 in rule makes it look empty....ie 10 gal with around 5 danios....thats not very much.....i like to have my tanks well stocked....and i add only one or 2 fish once every 2 or 3 weeks....i only use the size of a fish to make sure im not stocking the tank too much

 

[qwikimpss]

A "well stocked" tank is an over stocked tank, I have a 10US gallon with 4 platys in there and wouldn't put anything else in. You're grossly over stocked and if you keep it up and ignore advice, you will lose fish. Reduce the fish number and PLEASE find a new home for the plec.

 

[Spyderdf]

......and im going up to 2.5 inches per gal becues the 1 in rule makes it look empty

Well, there is that GUIDELINE for a reason, it is to help you keep your stock undercontrol and help prevent overstocking. changing it to more than double what that is recomended, may make your tank look less empty, but it is also alot worse for your fish. Will produce more ammonia, and crowd your fish, especially ina 10 gallon which is very small.

 

[masterfishes]

i understand what u guys r saying and appreciate the help but i cant do to much untill i actually have money.....im gonna try my hardest to make my fish happier though but i need to find a job first....but i have to wait till after aug 31 cuz thats when im 16 and all the places around here dont hire untill ur atleast 16......im sorry if i made u guys think i was completely ignoreing ur advise.............can someone plz explain y a plec wont do well in a 29 gal cuz all anyone has said is i shouldnt but not y i shouldnt........if a 50 gal is large enough ill see if i can get that....i have to go get some more snails to feed my puffer tomorrow anyway

 

[Spyderdf]

If it is a common pleco it wont do well even in a 55 gallon, they can grow 24 inches i believe, and a standard 55 gallon is only 12 inches wide, which would not be enough for the pleco to turn around in, also they produce alot of waste. So a 29 would definately be out of the question. I would suggest Rehoming your pleco and gettin a species that does not grow large.

You can find these on .

www.planetcatfish.com

 

[masterfishes]

ok thanks for helping me understand.....ill see what i can do

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It sounds like you want the best for your fish but to do the best for your fish you have to rehome some of your fish, lowering your stocking will be in their best interets.
If you want big fish you have to buy a big tank, the bigger the fish the bigger the tank in general. A 10gal is quite a small tank and realy can not hold anything larger than 4inchs long.

 

[sylvia]

Seeing as you can't upgrade for a while and you 10 is over-stocked at the moment, it would be best to return at least the danios and the plec which both need a much larger tank right away. You'd still be over-stocked but the remaining fish would be ok temporarily. Once you have the 29, it's a good idea to add 5 more black neons, 3 more albino cories and 5 more WCMMs.

That will bring you to a total of:

5 male guppies - each to around 1" - 1 X 5 = 5"
6 balck neons - each to about 1.5" - 1.5 X 6 = 9"
6 WCMMs - 1.5" each - 1.5 X 6 = 9"
3 otos - 2" each - 2 X 3 = 6"
4 albino cories - 2.5" or so each - 2.5 X 4 = 10"

Add that all up and you get 39" of fish for a 29 gallon. That's still over-stocked but should be fine as long as you keep up with weekly water changes as those are all low waste producers. You won't be able to add anything else for a while though. Don't replace the guppies BTW when they die - even with the guppies gone you'll be over-stocked.

As for the 'inch per gallon guideline' making the tank look understocked - try planting the tank and letting the fish grow to maturity. You'll find the tank fills out a lot more once they've grown and with a more interesting backdrop. Do consider that in the wild these fish would have whole rivers to themselves and that the density by which we stock our tanks far exceeds that which you'd see in nature.