Am I majorly overstocked?

[abyatt]

I have a very small tank (24x8x8) around 8 Gallons...

It contains the following...

1 Dwarf gourami
3 Platies
2 Albino Tiger Barbs
2 Dwarf Corys
1 Bristle nosed catfish
1 fresh Water shrimp
2 Apistogramma dwarf cichlids

Everyone seems quite happy and lively and I do a 33% water change once a week...

 

[enchanted]

Well, it isn't as bad as it could be, but yes you are. Everyone may be happy now, but some of the fish in your tank are territorial and could cause problems later on.

Along with this you take the risk of anything going wrong that messes up your biological filteration could cause spikes that would kill all your fish.

I would recommend looking into a 20 Gallon or bigger as soon as you could afford to.

You should also see what others have to say.

 

[kev_kb]

Sorry but yes I think you are.

The tank is too small for Tiger Barbs, and they should be kept in groups of 5-6. The Bristle nose will reach 5" and produce a lot of waste, I would say this fish is too large for the tank. I don't know much about Cichlids, but I would guess these will grow from anywhere from 2-5".

Even though you don't need to stick to the inch per gallon rule your tank would be way way over stocked with all fully grown fish. I would start thinking about buying a larger tank or taking some of the fish back to your LFS.

 

[clutterydrawer]

Sorry but I aggree with the other replies. IMO that tank is too small for any of those fish except the dwarf cories and maybe the gourami.


lets see...the tiger barbs and cories should be in groups of at elast 6 anyway, so once you'd indreased the shoals of those, I think you'd be needing a tank something like 36" x 12" jsut to give them all enoguh surface area to breathe properly. i assume they're not full grown yet?

 

[abyatt]

I am lookin at a 24x12x12 tank which is pretty much the limit of space I have.

 

[abyatt]

No they are all small apart from the dwarf gourami which is fully grown. At 24x12x12 I would have about 15 Gallons for them all.

 

[smithrc]

I'd say your heavily stocked - even once to go up to the 2x1x1.

 

[clutterydrawer]

well...I I guess a 24x12x12 would suffice if you can't get anything bigger, and dont add any more fish...its not ideal though.

 

[abyatt]

yeah I think that is about my limit of space...The tiger barbs are very timid compared to usual, Not nippy at all and happy with the platies and the gourami....

The gourami pretty much rules the roost and bosses everyone around, but he isnt aggressive. When i first got the tank I put in a Gourami couple and the male bullied the female to death. He was a terror, but has mellowed a lot.

The Dwarf cichlids are lovely little fish and are happy to take flake.

I have spotted a good tank on E-bay so I might snap it up and move them over the weekend if i can...

 

[cometcattle]

What gender are your Apistos?

If they breed, they will get aggressive.

 

[abyatt]

They are a male and a female...Do yo think this is a problem? The guy at the LFS said that they would be territorial around a cave so I have put a small ceramic plant pot in the tank with an opening. She doesn't seem to use it...It seems to be my shrimps house!

 

[Ben]

it wont help putting a cave. apistos need atleast a 20 gal altough they may sometimes work in a 10 gal.
if you got the money please upgrade soon, its for the good of the fish

DD

 

[cometcattle]

They are a male and a female...Do yo think this is a problem? The guy at the LFS said that they would be territorial around a cave so I have put a small ceramic plant pot in the tank with an opening. She doesn't seem to use it...It seems to be my shrimps house!

I think it could be a problem.

The guy at the LFS is right, if they pair up, they will defend the area around the pot.

The problem is the area that they will defend will be at least half your tank, maybe more.

Also, sometimes one Apisto parents will turn on the other. There's really no room in a 10g for one of the Apistos to flee.

If I were to keep a pair of Apistos in a 10g, I'd have no other fish, except for a few dithers. I'd also be sure to have another tank ready, in case I have to move one.

 

[abyatt]

I will be getting a 15 gallon hopefully this weekend and I can keep the 8 Gallon as a spare just in case. Thanks for all your help hopefully It will be ok, but if I get trouble I gan put them in a friends 29 Gallon, which only has Neons, corys and a couple of small Rams....Would that be ok?

 

[kev_kb]

No, don't use the 8 as a spare, put the smaller species in that and the larger ones in the 15 if you really want to keep them. I would give some of the larger ones to your friend tho.