9 fish in a 16 gallon tank

[16gallontanker]

I have 3 octo catfish, 2 albino cory catfish and 4 dalmatian mollies in my 16 gallon bowfront tank is my tank overstocked and if so how much overstocked and I can't afford a bigger tank right now but when I can what size yall recommend?

 

[Ceez]

Youre not overstocked, just do weekly water changes, keep up on filter maintenance and don't overfeed and you'll be fine.

 

[16gallontanker]

Ok

 

[Ceez]

Are you testing your water? What are the results?

 

[16gallontanker]

Are you testing your water? What are the results?

 

[16gallontanker]

Just tested it

 

[Ceez]

Nitrate looks to be about 50ish
Nitrite looks to be 5 which isn't good
What's the ammonia level at?

Is this a brand new tank? Did you cycle it before you added the fish?

 

[16gallontanker]

I fished in cycle but I added quick start to it

 

[Ceez]

I fished in cycle but I added quick start to

Sent you a DM

 

[16gallontanker]

Here's the pads I use for all my hob filters

 

[Colin_T]

Youre not overstocked, just do weekly water changes, keep up on filter maintenance and don't overfeed and you'll be fine.

until the mollies breed

For the OP, if you can get a tank that is 3 foot long or bigger, that would make a nice home for adult mollies and their babies.

 

[Naughts]

Your water conditions are dangerous.
Do an immediate large water change with dechlorinated water.
Read the ‘fish- in cycle’ section of the forum, it will advise you how to keep the fish alive.

You are stocked with soft water fish (otos and cories) and very hard water fish (mollies). Your water looks to be about 150ppm, roughly 8-9dH. You should look to keep fish that have this as their mid-range requirements. Seriouslyfish.com has reliable information on this.

Mollies need a much bigger tank (like @Colin_T said, 90cm+), and ideally water of 250+ppm. They are prone to the ‘shimmies’ in softer water.

Otos need an established (6+ months) tank with biofilm. As grazers they need to eat this all day long or they starve. They also prefer to be in a bigger group but do not add more unless these survive for 6 months.

Cories like to be in a bigger group as well and need a sand substrate to protect their delicate mouths, barbels and underbelly from bacterial damage. Again, don’t add more now. If these survive the fish-in cycle, you could look at building the group in 3 months or so.

Your tank could be described as inappropriately stocked right now.

You have a more urgent problem with the nitrite (and probably ammonia) though. You will need to test the water daily and do a large water change any day that nitrite or ammonia are over zero. Add live plants, particularly floating plants to absorb some of the ammonia. Feed very sparingly (maybe 3x a week) until your tank has cycled.

Keep asking questions on here. It is a very steep learning curve but we can help.

 

[Ram419]

Sounds like a fish-in cycle. Follow the steps in the sticky thread on doing that here --> https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/