Overcrowding?

[jtnova13]

i have an empty 20 gallon tank that i just cycled. i want to put these in:

5 neon tetra
5 red eye tetra
3 velvet swords
1 plec

would that be overcrowding my tank?

its gunna be a very small pleco until he gets bigger then can go in my 60 gal.

 

[KerriPaul]

i have an empty 20 gallon tank that i just cycled. i want to put these in:

5 neon tetra
5 red eye tetra
3 velvet swords
1 plec

would that be overcrowding my tank?

its gunna be a very small pleco until he gets bigger then can go in my 60 gal.

Dosent sound like it to me. These things do depend on various factors eg is there aeriation, filtering, how often do you change the water etc., plus the type of fish

I have 100 small danios in a 20 gal tank (about 30 adults the rest are 1cm approx fry) and have no trouble, but if I didnt change the water every week (about 50%) I would have trouble. Other thing is that Danios are fairly stream fish so dont mind such a large water change - other fish would not like a large change like that one little bit.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I would have said the filtration is probably not a major issue as long as you are diligent with water changes. But 20 gallons is perhaps on the short side for swordtails, who are very active fast swimmers, and quite a bit bigger than danios. You wouldn't consider platies instead?

 

[max11180]

have you considered a bristelnose, or a pack of otos instead the pleco? they will stay small, and eat more algae than commons.. then they can stay in your tank and clean to their hearts content

 

[jtnova13]

i want a BN so bad but i can never find them in the philadelphia area. I change 20% every week in my 60 gal and 10 gal tanks so i would say im a diligent water changer. Could i get a few more neons in the tank? i heard they like to be kept in groups of 10.

 

[max11180]

try placing a "wanted" post in the buy and sell section, i'm sure someone near you will have some there are quite prolific breeders for most people.

 

[KerriPaul]

diligent with water changes.

Is perhaps what the motto of this site should be. 99% of fish problems tend to have this as the route cause and by changing water often you can save yourself a lot of money on chemicals.

I know one chap who does daily water changes of 20% on some of his fish

 

[jtnova13]

i would do daily changes if i had the time. but changing 15 gallons everyday would cut into studies

 

[KerriPaul]

i would do daily changes if i had the time. but changing 15 gallons everyday would cut into studies

I bought this really cheap kit once that did trickle changes. Essentially it connected to the tap and constantly fed in some fresh water and the flow was used to syphon out used water. Lost it years ago and have not seen it since