Am i overstocked??

[ghostknife]

sorry i am not sure which forum this should go in but
my 3ft tank is overstocked it contains:

1 black ghost knifefish
1 polypterus senegalus
4 giant danios
1 purple spotted gudgeon
1 bumblebee cat
1 albino shark
2 firemouths (males)
1 bristlenose
3 sailfin mollies.

I don't know what to do. the reason it became overstocked is that every time i see a fish i like i buy it. so i was wondering what i should do about it. can you help? please.

 

[zantetsuken]

3 ft? Is that like a 20 Gallon? If so then yeah I'd probably say at least get another 10 or 20 or upgrade the tank you have now and use the 20 for when you overstock the new one. Just a suggestion. I just got a 30 Gallon Hexagon at Petsmart for like $270 w/ hood. I will probably get a second, larger tank in the next year.

 

[CFC]

You need a minimum of a 75 g for some of those fish anyway so i think it is time for you to upgrade.
The buying fish everytime you see something new is a problem everyone suffers from, myself included (and i now have 5 tanks ranging from 200 to 10 gallons to prove it), but once your tank/s are fully stocked you have to be strong and resist the temptation, not looking at the fish when you go to the lfs to buy supplies helps but is very difficult to do

 

[ghostknife]

Which ones need a75g aquarium coz i don't know which ones you mean.

 

[CFC]

The BGK will grow to 20"+ and will need a minimum 75 gallon tank and the P.senegalus will grow to 12"+ and could be housed in a 55g but a 75 would be better.The firemouths too would be better in at least a 55.
The clown loaches in your other tank will also reach at least 6" and possibly 12" and will need a tank with a minimum of 55g.

 

[Lithril]

Whilst we're on the subject I've got a creeping suspicion that my 10 gal tank could be over stocked too, I'm having to do loads of water changes (2-3 week ) to keep levels to 0 - Usually creep up to just below 0.1 on Nitrite. Ammonia 0 pH approx 8. Will do more accurate pH next week at work along with Total Hardness.

Okies here goes:

10 gal:
6 white mountain minnow
4 Poppondetta Furcata
3 Peppered Corys - Damn are they growing fast
1 Ancistrus - Cute lil thing

Any ideas, I've got several plants in the tank including a piece of bogwood which takes up about 1/4 of the tank bottom thats loaded with java fern. Most of the plants have roots even though quite a few are floating from being uprooted by the corys.

Alternate fish food with algae wafer daily (fish food I alternate between flakes and frozen blood worm so flakes, algae tab, blood worm, algae tab....

Temp of tank is about 26C

 

[Alien Anna]

I think you're wise to judge over or under-stocking by your water quality rather than rigid formulae. I'd say that whatever you read, if you are having to work that hard to keep things stable, you are over-stocked.

Let's look at the "1 inch of fish per US gallon of water" formulae wrt your fishes eventual adult sizes:

6 white mountain minnow = 6-8"
4 Poppondetta Furcata = approx 6-10"
3 Peppered Corys = 6"
1 Ancistrus = (depending on m or f) 3-4.5"

Which gives you a best case scenario of 21" of fish in a 10 gallon tank (which is pushing it, to say the least) to 28.5" worst case scenario (which is way over-stocked). And that's not even taking into account suitable territory: the ancistrus will need digging space and the P.furcata and corys will require swimming space.

Given the right tank and the right fish, you can push things closer to a 2" of fish per gallon rule, but this isn't the right tank or the right fish IMHO. Another 10 gallon would serve you well, but since you're the sort who never has "enough" fish, why not go for a much bigger tank so you can accommodate everyone more happily and make up your schools? A 30 gal long would be great. You could squeeze in:

8 white mountain minnow
6 Poppondetta Furcata
6 Peppered Corys
1 Ancistrus

Plus as much bogwood and plants as you'd like. OK, so this is technically over-stocked as well but with good filtration, and it being a bigger tank, you could easily wing it IMHO.

 

[Lithril]

Cheers AA, I must admit i never thought of these fish as ones that grow that big, I've researched the fish that I'm putting in the new 30 gal but not the existing ones in the 10gal.

Looks like I need to either take the minnows back to the shop or try to subtely slide a 2' tank past the GF and move some of the fish. Mind you she is quite attached to the minnows so I wonder if say that we either get another tank or they go back whether she'll fall for it.

If I do manage it does anyone think that 3 tanks in 3 months is a bit excessive My name is Matt and I'm a fishaholic

 

[Alien Anna]

Lithril, if your GF is anything like my husband, you can almost certainly get a 2ft or even a 3ft tank past her without her "noticing". See, when a non-fish person (NFP) sees another tank go up they daren't enquire what its for, for fear of getting an enthusiastic and over-the-top lecture about these "absolutely fantastic fish" that they will "definitely love". So they kind of switch off their brains and con themselves that if they ignore the tank, it will go away.

It won't, of course, and before they know it, they'll be living in a tame version of Dr No's lair.

 

[ghostknife]

I am probably going to get a 240 litre ( sorry i don't how to convert litres into gallons) or bigger tank and split the fish between the two i.e.

Polypterus
Black Ghost
synodontis (i forgot to include it in the list)
My bumblebee cat
One of the firemouths (coz one of them is bullying the other one)
albino ruby shark
and the purple spot gudgeon

in the new one would this work??
if not could you recommend a tank size i could use.
At the moment all the fish are small so it is fine at the moment.

thanks

ghostknife

 

[zantetsuken]

ghost, there are approx. 3.7854118 litres in one US Gallon. so a 240 litre Tank would be 63 gallons roughly. Just wanted to give you a little 411

 

[TearsTurnToAshes]

Although i know what it says under my name over there,
<-------------------
but i have several larger tanks in which ive kept in perfect condition for many years.
the tank size you propose sounds to be withen the right perameters for the fish that you currently have. although i have seen black knife fish grow up to three feet, so id keep a eye on him if i was you

 

[Alien Anna]

Although i know what it says under my name over there,
<-------------------
but i have several larger tanks in which ive kept in perfect condition for many years.
the tank size you propose sounds to be withen the right perameters for the fish that you currently have. although i have seen black knife fish grow up to three feet, so id keep a eye on him if i was you

Since you're obviously an experienced fish keeper, do you think you might be able to summarise some of your tanks in your sig, so everyone remembers that fact? Its very useful to be able to consider the source when we give or receive advice.

Thanks!

Oh, and thanks for the heads up on the Black Ghost knife fish - they're getting very popular and its good to hear from an experienced fish keeper that we're not wrong giving out dire warnings about their potential size.

 

[KimmyFishy89]

I have the same problem. When I see a really nice fish, I MUST HAVE IT. A problem to say the least, I think I am pushing my ten gallon tank right now:

1 marble angel (Going to be moved to a 30 gallon)
3 tetras
1 dwarf gourami
2 cory cats

Any comments? When I move my angel I plan on filling the tank with tetras.

 

[platypus]

Any comments? When I move my angel I plan on filling the tank with tetras.

Sounds good! Tetras are schooling fish so they like to be in big groups, ideally of at least 10, so your 3 may be feeling a bit skittish at the moment! Unfortunately with a 10 gallon that doesn't really leave you with room for anything else if you follow the 1 inch of fully grown fish to 1 gallon of water rule! What tetras do you have at the moment and what are you planning on getting? I have neons and rummy noses (well just one rummy nose at the moment as he lost his bros ), but I would LOVE to have 10 of each of these, and some glowlight tetras too.