Am I overcrowded?

[cobraman]

I have a fear I may be overcrowded. My tank is a long 142l (or 38 gallons) unit which measures 120cm x 40cm x 55cm.

At the moment I have...

3 peppered corys
3 Pakistani loaches
1 red tail shark
3 angel fish
3 guppies
8 tetra cardinals
6 serpae tetras
1 zebra danio
1 white cloud mountain minnow

So far the fish all look happy (no chasing, biting or fish not eating their food). I do weekly water changes (around 30%) and the ammonia and nitrate levels are currently 0. Water hardness is at 6.5ph and the temperature of the tank is 26 degrees. I've been doing gravel cleans every other week to make sure the fish poo and uneaten food is vaccumed up.

I have had to remove the pictus catfish as it was picking off my little minnows one by one each night and gobbling them whole. Since I removed him, all the fish are alive and look well.

However, is that too many fish for 142 litres?

 

[Colin_T]

I wouldn't say there are too many fish in the tank but the selection of fish is not good.

Guppies don't do well in water with a pH below 7.0

White Cloud Mountain minnows are coldwater (5-20C) fishes that age very quickly in tropical aquariums.
Zebra danios are cool water (16-24C) fish and age faster in tropical aquariums.

The peppered cories and Pakistani loaches prefer to be in bigger groups, usually 6 or more if possible.

Serpae tetras are fin nippers and could chew up the tails on male guppies.

The angelfish might fight when mature.

 

[trash.binh91]

The shark will need a bigger tank when it is bigger. It is also very aggressive.

 

[seangee]

Just to add to what Colin said. Serpaes are little thugs and will also nip the angel fish. This won't end well. Cardinals are angel fish food once the angels grow.

 

[trash.binh91]

Just to add to what Colin said. Serpaes are little thugs and will also nip the angel fish. This won't end well. Cardinals are angel fish food once the angels grow.

Yeah, when we had cardinals and angels together a few years back, I learned that the hard way.

 

[cobraman]

Oh great. A coldwater aquarium is so much easier to manage I have to say.

The angels are babies at the moment so I am wary that they may start taking the cardinals when they mature. However, at the moment, they seem so shy and timid. Thus far, the serpaes are schooling together towards the bottom of the tank by a couple of rocks and only come out to play when the food is thrown in. They haven't once bothered the guppies or angels whilst I've been watching them. They seem to just mind their own business (thus far). The shark hated the pictus catfish but seems pretty mellow with everything else but he is growing at an alarming rate. He's probably doubled in size in the space of 6 weeks!

 

[NoLa24]

Yes, I would say it's a bit overcrowded, especially since the angels are young, when they reach full size the rule of thumb is a minimum of 20 gallons per angelfish.

 

[NickAu]

Hi you have all sorts of stocking issues.

6.5ph

Ph is too low for guppies.

1 zebra danio

You need at least 6 of these.

3 Pakistani loaches

You need at least 6 of these. Plus the tank is too small for them.

3 peppered corys

You need at least 6 of these.

1 white cloud mountain minnow

You need at least 6 of these.

1 red tail shark

Most red tail sharks will grow to 6 inches (15.2cm) in length, but it's not unusual for a shark to reach 7 (17.8cm) or even 8 inches (20.3cm) in length

3 angel fish

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