Tank Stocking Advice

[pacx1984]

Hey,
 
I bought a tank with fish 8-9 months ago from a friend who was moving.
Tank is a 125ltr Juwell Rio.
 
I have started testing the water on a bi-weekly basis to make sure everything okay and have noticed that the Nitrate levels are extremely high around 100.
 
I have a feeling that there are too many fish in the tank so thought i would ask here and see what people would advice on the right stock level, I was thinking of getting another tank anyhow.
 
The current fish are listed below, they seem to get along and don't see any aggression between them.
 
1 Angel fish
2 Common Plecks
1 Red tailed black shark
1 silver shark
3 guppies
3 neon tetra
1 molly
3 other smaller fish i am not sure of the names of 
 
So basically is that to many? If so which should be separated?
 

 

[Lillefishy]

The common plecs will outgrow your tank, the silver shark should be kept in groups but again will outgrow your tank so I would rehome those to someone with a 6+ foot tank.
The red tail could also do with a bigger tank as they can get territorially aggressive as they mature & the angelfish also needs more space, if you rehome those then you can up the numbers of tetra as they should be kept in groups of at least 6.
If you can get pics of the fish you're not sure of we can id them for you.
Adding live plants can help bring down your nitrate levels which seems very high, can you post your test numbers for ammonia & nitrite as well

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, it's too many, and some are going to grow far too big for your tank, I'm afraid.
 
You need to rehome the two plecs (they can grow to over a foot long and would need a five foot tank, at least), the silver shark (again, can grow to a foot long and need to be in a shoal) and the red tail (territorial and need a four foot tank).

 

[pacx1984]

Thanks for the information, I have guessed a few of the bigger ones would outgrow the tank.
 
Outside of the fact the fish will outgrow the tank, is this the reason for the high Nitrate levels?

Both Nitrite & Ammonia have been at 0 the last few checks

 

[sawickib]

The high nitrates would be from the over stocked tank, to keep it down you would need to do larger quantities of water in your water change regime.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Agree with the above except the angelfish is fine in this tank. High nitrates are possibly due to the large amount of waste produced by the plecs, try feeding less and keep doing very large water changes to get it down. You can do as many water changes with as high a volume as you can be bothered to do and as long as you dechlorinate the water and try to temperature match it you'll do no harm.
 
Do you have any live plants? They will also help to reduce nitrate levels. How often and how large of water changes do you do?

 

[pacx1984]

Thanks everyone.
 
I have recently added some live plants so hopefully that will help a bit.
Also started feeding them less as i think i was a bit generous before.
The plecks are pretty big so would make sense that they could be causing an issue
Will start looking into bigger tanks
 
Cheers

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Most LFS will take fish that you cannot keep any longer and will sell them to someone who has a tank for them. My LFS has some large tanks with big fish in them (several common plecs!) for just this reason. So unless you're planning on getting a 5ft tank ASAP I'd consider that as an option.  

 

[Meeresstille]

How often do you perform a water change and how much water do you change each time? Weekly water changes between 30 to 50 % are a good habit to get into, especially if the tank is overstocked. 

 

[pacx1984]

I was doing water changes every other week at least, I have been doing weekly ones recently and then every other day to try and bring Nitrate down but its having very little effect. I have been in touch with a LFS to see if i can offload some of the larger fish.
 
Any recommendations on some replacement fish that will do the job of 'tank cleaner'?

 

[KieranBoyne]

I recommend getting rid of the sharks and the plecos. if you want a bottom feeder then get some corydoras.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

TBH you don't really need a "tank cleaner" and at that size those plecos were unlikely to be doing much cleaning anyway. But if you want a pleco, a bristlenose would fit in well. 

 

[Meeresstille]

Are you doing good gravel vacs when you do your water changes? Organic matter left at the substrate will raise the Nitrate levels in the tank, it is called "old tank syndrome". Have you tested if you have Nitrate in your tap water? This could also make it more difficult to get the levels down.

 

[pacx1984]

Yeah i tested the Nitrate in the tap water and that is not an issue, will start doing some more aggressive vacs as well.
Thanks

 

[Freedom]

Any recommendations on some replacement fish that will do the job of 'tank cleaner'?

And you want a tank cleaner because . . . you have lots of algae?  That is what the tank cleaners address.  For a tank your size, perhaps consider some otocinclus, or a nerite snail.
 
Be really, first you need to move along the big fish, and then let things settle down a bit, get the parameters under control.  THEN consider adding.  As mentioned, you don't have enough tetras for them to be happy so that would be the first add, I should think.
 
What about the 3 fish you can't id?  Any chance of photos of them?