Will this be to many fish?

[GeoffRoos]

I've got a 50 gallon tank, it's length is 40 Inches, Width is 15 Inches and height is 20 Inches. I've had the tank for over a Month now

I've currently got:
6 Black Skirt Tetras
6 Emperor Tetras
8 Neon Tetras
5 Zebra Danios

I want to add these fish to the tank:
2-3 Neon Tetras
6 Diamond Tetras
1 Zebra Danio
1 Bristle Nose Pleco

Would this be to many fish? If so, what if I only added 6 Diamond Tetras and the 1 BristleNose, would that still be to many?

 

[Colin_T]

Is the tank cycled (has the filter developed good bacteria to keep the ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm)?

How often do you feed the fish and what do you feed them?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you have any live plants in the tank?

 

[Naughts]

I want to add these fish to the tank:
2-3 Neon Tetras
6 Diamond Tetras
1 Zebra Danio
1 Bristle Nose Pleco

Would this be to many fish?

No, that is an acceptable stocking level and shouldn't cause water quality issues as long as you do regular maintenance.
I have a 48 gallon with 16 rummy nose, 13 cory, 4 praecox rainbow, 4 amano shrimp and a nerite snail. I will add 6 more cories when I find the right ones. The live plants help keep the nitrates low despite their presence in the tap water. I make sure maintenance is weekly and change at least half the water.
If it were my tank I might have bigger shoals of fewer species (so increase the black skirts and emperors to 9 and leave out the diamonds?) - I feel it makes a bigger visual impact and may reduce conflict with some species, but this is just preference so feel free to disregard it.

 

[Rocky998]

I wouldnt do the diamond tetras... One thing I've learned from the fish keepers here is: "If you have space for more fish and have schooling/shoaling fish, get more of what you have." So, in all honesty, I think you could choose a few of the fish you DO have and add to them. I'm not sure about doing a bristle nose (they have a nice bio-load that comes with em). But I will leave that for more experienced fish keepers to decide on for the bristle nose.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I agree on increasing the schools you have, but with weekly water changes it would be doable. The pleco will dig up any live plants you have, so just be aware of that haha

 

[Slaphppy7]

I agree on increasing the schools you have, but with weekly water changes it would be doable. The pleco will dig up any live plants you have, so just be aware of that haha

Hmmm....my plecos never have messed with my plants....they DO dig in the sand on occasion

 

[JuiceBox52]

Hmmm....my plecos never have messed with my plants....they DO dig in the sand on occasion

Really? Mine were diggers!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Really? Mine were diggers!

Yep, never uprooted any plants....mine like to dig under my IALs, for some reason...

 

[GeoffRoos]

Is the tank cycled (has the filter developed good bacteria to keep the ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm)?

How often do you feed the fish and what do you feed them?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you have any live plants in the tank?

Is the tank cycled (has the filter developed good bacteria to keep the ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm)?

How often do you feed the fish and what do you feed them?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you have any live plants in the tank?

I'm not sure how to check if the filter has developed bacteria, it's been going for over a month with fish in the tank. And the filter has a Bio-Bact cartridge in it. I currently feed the fish mostly in the morning, with a pinch at night aswell, I'm just giving them a Flake food. I've only had the tank a Month and have done 1 water change of 50%, but will do a 25%-50% change monthly. I don't take the gravel out, but I do use one of those gravel vacumm things to suck up the waste from the gravel. And I don't have any live plants.

 

[anewbie]

Really? Mine were diggers!

males will dig to create a cave; but if you give them a cave whether it be crossing wood, rock or ceramic they will not dig. Also if he gets a female it will not dig.

 

[Colin_T]

If you are only doing a small water change once a month, I would not add any more fish to the tank.

If the tank has only been going for a month, then it might still be cycling.

Did the shop tell you how to clean the filter?

 

[GeoffRoos]

If you are only doing a small water change once a month, I would not add any more fish to the tank.

If the tank has only been going for a month, then it might still be cycling.

Did the shop tell you how to clean the filter?

They did not tell me how to clean it, but I've just rinsed out the filter sponge once, not cleaned any other part of it. And what if I were to do a 25% every 2 weeks? Would that work for that many fish?

 

[Colin_T]

Normally you clean the filter about once a month. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it otherwise you can wash out the good filter bacteria.

To clean the filter.
Turn off the filter at the power point and unplug it.
Put the filter in a clean bucket that is only used for the fish.
Take the filter apart and wash/ rinse the case under the tap.

You can also rinse the motor and impellor assembly under the tap. The impellor is the cylindrical magnet with 3 or 4 plastic blades on one end. There is an impellor shaft that goes through the magnet and normally has rubber grommets on either end. Some filters don't have the grommets.
Be careful handling and removing the impellor shaft because some also have plastic washers under the grommets. And some impellor shafts are made of ceramic and can break quite easily. Most are stainless steel but some are ceramic so just be careful.

The motor can be rinsed under tap water. The electrical components are normally sealed in a plastic resin so water can't get onto them and short it out.

Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

Put the filter back together and put it in/ on the tank.
Fill it with aquarium water and then plug it into the power socket and turn it on. Make sure your hands are dry when you do this.

Top up the tank with dechlorinated water.

 

[Colin_T]

If you want more fish in the tank, wait another month so the filter can fully develop the colonies of good bacteria. Then add more fish. However, you will need to do a 50-75% water change and gravel clean once a week to compensate for the extra fish.

You should also try to get the numbers of each tetra species and the danios up to 10 or more of each kind so they have a bigger group. These fish all naturally occur in groups of hundreds or even thousands so even 10 is a small group for them.

If you want more peaceful fish further down the track, I would get rid of the black skirt tetras because they are fin nippers and can cause problems to slow moving fish or fish with long fins.

 

[itiwhetu]

I just feel sorry for the one zebra danio. If I were you, I would stick with what you have for another couple of months, get some live plants. Then have a think about your next move.