Advice on Stock

[PlasticGalaxy]

As I am a very new to fish keeping (received my first tank as a Christmas gift in 2020) and live with relatives, my advice largely comes from my father who has raised fish all his life. I am very trusting in him for the most part, but do occasionally worry about his flippancy towards keeping certain types of fish together.

Currently I own a 170L (~160L with substrate) Juwel tank that is just over 3ft wide and 18" high. This was a massive upgrade from my 54L Tetra tank that I had originally gotten for Christmas and I am now capable of keeping a lot more fish than I originally had been.

My current stock includes (exhaustive list):
7 rummy nose tetra*, 8 black neon tetra*, 3 pearl gourami, 5 Malaysian trumpet snails, 8 male guppies, 1 angel fish*, 5 glowlight tetra*, 3 neon tetra*, 3 Congo tetra, 3 kuhli loach, 1 clown loach, 1 red tailed black shark, 3 bronze corys, 1 sailfin pleco*, 1 common pleco* and 1 giant fan/vampire shrimp.

(*) Was originally meant to have 6 of each tetra except for the congo tetra, but was accidentally given a few extra and some neons and glowlights died.
Originally had 3 angel fish (regular size, not XL ones) but 2 have died and I've been unable to restock lately.
My sailfin (Pocoyo) is around 12cm and my common pleco (Baby) is very small, hence the name.

Is this stock okay? I am aware that keeping multiple plecos in one tank is very iffy so I do apologise (profusely) for this crime lol.

My father is attempting to convince me to get a featherfin catfish. I am somewhat against this in all honesty, but would like to know either way if this is or isn't a good idea given my current stock.

(Attached image of my current tank set-up. Contains a large "arch" of bogwood that the loach and plecos are particularly fond of; an assortment of rocks and slate; a ceramic pot; a stony pebble area that the kuhli loaches and corys enjoy and a fair amount of plants with a small air-stone behind it.)

 

[Sgooosh]

if your plecos go well together i have nothing to say. guppies and tetras should not be in a tank together, as guppies need hard water and tetras need soft. if they have been there for a long time than its fine.

 

[Josh752]

Oh man your stock needs a lot of work... rehome both Pecos they get 18 inches a piece not even suitable for your tank. Clow loaches get 10 to 12 inches need a group of 6 to be truly happy and a bare minimum of a 6 foot 135 gallon tank. Remove those 3 to start. After you get them out of your tank add at least 3 more cory catfish and 3 more of each tetra then you could add a bristlenose pleco and that would be a full tank. Do not get that featherfin catfish they get 8 inches and say goodbye to all your tetras and other bottom feeders he will bully the cory catfish to death and eat the tetras and guppies. I have one with a tiger oscar and the featherfin even bullies him.

 

[Sgooosh]

Oh man your stock needs a lot of work... rehome both Pecos they get 18 inches a piece not even suitable for your tank. Clow loaches get 10 to 12 inches need a group of 6 to be truly happy and a bare minimum of a 6 foot 135 gallon tank. Remove those 3 to start. After you get them out of your tank add at least 3 more cory catfish and 3 more of each tetra then you could add a bristlenose pleco and that would be a full tank. Do not get that featherfin catfish they get 8 inches and say goodbye to all your tetras and other bottom feeders he will bully the cory catfish to death and eat the tetras and guppies. I have one with a tiger oscar and the featherfin even bullies him.

dont know a lot about catfish but i saw a pleco get like 2 feet long !!!!!

 

[Josh752]

Yah common plecos and sailfin plecos are poop machines think about 3 tiger oscars put into 1 fish and you have a common pleco they are insanely messy and poor algae eaters cool fish but they need a giant tank haha!

 

[Back in the fold]

Everybody likes different fish. I like all fish but not real wild about catfish of any kind or Plecostomus. Never have had any barbs except tigers. Been playing with one particular species of Killifish lately and I'm having fun there. I've bred Ram's and Bettas and Angelfish and a couple cichlids. I think you should get what you like. You'll eventually find a fish that strikes your fancy and you'll be off and running. All the different kinds of fish is what makes the hobby fun. There's something for every taste and budget.

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum

Unfortunately it does sound like you have too many fish and quite a few that have a high chance of not working out together.

In a 3 foot 170ltr tank the fish that stand out as able to outgrow it are the Angel, Clown Loach and the 2 Plecs. You mentioned about the Angel being small rather than XL but it will grow to the same size as the XL one you have seen. The Pearl Gourami and Red Tailed Black Shark are sort of borderline as they do eventually get a decent size but because you have a decent footprint you may be ok. The Congo Tetras wouldnt have been my first suggestion for this tank as they are really active and due to the size hard to get enough into the tank to make a proper school - they should be kept in groups of around 8 or more rather than trios.

Of your smaller fish, loosing fish like this is understandable, they are not overly hardy and dont always travel that well. But if we are talking about juggling fish around maybe its worth considering them?

In terms of working out your stock a very rough guide is inch per US gallon - 170 ltrs is 44 gallons. Not including the clown loach and plecos you have about 70-75 inches of fish. I think a realistic stocking would be 2 of your schools of tetra around 8 of each, increase your Khuli Loach and Bronze Cory groups to 6 of each and keep your Pearl Gourami. Your Vampire Shrimp and Malaysian Trumpet Snails would be ok too. Bit more than inch per gallon but the importance of proper schools would balance it out.

Wills

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

Oh man your stock needs a lot of work... rehome both Pecos they get 18 inches a piece not even suitable for your tank. Clow loaches get 10 to 12 inches need a group of 6 to be truly happy and a bare minimum of a 6 foot 135 gallon tank. Remove those 3 to start. After you get them out of your tank add at least 3 more cory catfish and 3 more of each tetra then you could add a bristlenose pleco and that would be a full tank. Do not get that featherfin catfish they get 8 inches and say goodbye to all your tetras and other bottom feeders he will bully the cory catfish to death and eat the tetras and guppies. I have one with a tiger oscar and the featherfin even bullies him.

Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately it would be incredibly hard to re-home either of the plecos

if your plecos go well together i have nothing to say. guppies and tetras should not be in a tank together, as guppies need hard water and tetras need soft. if they have been there for a long time than its fine.

Oh wow, I had no idea about the guppies and tetras! Since I live closer to the South of the UK we have hard water, but they've been living quite well together without issue since about January. Thank you for the note though!

 

[Josh752]

Well without rehoming the plecos you should consider rehoming every single other fish and even then you will be overstocked. I mean we are talking about 2 fish this big 18 inches a piece. I'm not trying to be rude I'm just trying to help you its not going to work long term...

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

Hi welcome to the forum

Unfortunately it does sound like you have too many fish and quite a few that have a high chance of not working out together.

In a 3 foot 170ltr tank the fish that stand out as able to outgrow it are the Angel, Clown Loach and the 2 Plecs. You mentioned about the Angel being small rather than XL but it will grow to the same size as the XL one you have seen. The Pearl Gourami and Red Tailed Black Shark are sort of borderline as they do eventually get a decent size but because you have a decent footprint you may be ok. The Congo Tetras wouldnt have been my first suggestion for this tank as they are really active and due to the size hard to get enough into the tank to make a proper school - they should be kept in groups of around 8 or more rather than trios.

Of your smaller fish, loosing fish like this is understandable, they are not overly hardy and dont always travel that well. But if we are talking about juggling fish around maybe its worth considering them?

In terms of working out your stock a very rough guide is inch per US gallon - 170 ltrs is 44 gallons. Not including the clown loach and plecos you have about 70-75 inches of fish. I think a realistic stocking would be 2 of your schools of tetra around 8 of each, increase your Khuli Loach and Bronze Cory groups to 6 of each and keep your Pearl Gourami. Your Vampire Shrimp and Malaysian Trumpet Snails would be ok too. Bit more than inch per gallon but the importance of proper schools would balance it out.

Wills

Thanks so much for your advice!

Could you explain what you mean by "I think a realistic stocking would be 2 of your schools of tetra around 8 of each" please? Sorry, I am very new to this hobby and not at all familiar with a lot of the terms.

 

[Sgooosh]

Thanks so much for your advice!

Could you explain what you mean by "I think a realistic stocking would be 2 of your schools of tetra around 8 of each" please? Sorry, I am very new to this hobby and not at all familiar with a lot of the terms.

me neither, i think it means 2 schools of tetras with 8 tetras in each school

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

Well without rehoming the plecos you should consider rehoming every single other fish and even then you will be overstocked. I mean we are talking about 2 fish this big 18 inches a piece. I'm not trying to be rude I'm just trying to help you its not going to work long term...

I understand that you are "just trying to help me" but please do not insist that I must take your word as gospel. I will not be keeping this small-ish tank forever, and plecos will not grow to full size overnight. I completely understand how big they can grow, but they have a lifespan of anywhere between 10-20 years, and I am already looking into much larger tanks, so for now at least I will be fine. Thank you for the concern.

 

[Josh752]

You can do whatever you feel like you need to do. I'm just saying good luck keeping them not polluting your tank or you stunt their growth. Best of luck.

 

[Sgooosh]

I understand that you are "just trying to help me" but please do not insist that I must take your word as gospel. I will not be keeping this small-ish tank forever, and plecos will not grow to full size overnight. I completely understand how big they can grow, but they have a lifespan of anywhere between 10-20 years, and I am already looking into much larger tanks, so for now at least I will be fine. Thank you for the concern.

thanks for the understanding, just keep in mind that once they grow up you have to upgrade their tank so they arent stunted

 

[Wills]

I mean if your small tetras pick two species to keep and have groups of at least 8.

The tank size is an issue with big plecs like that try and go as big as you can the problem is they are so common it’s hard to tell people to stick to minimum tank sizes as so few will get that kind of home. A big 5-6 foot tank should be the target for them though