Overstocked?

[Dunkal]

Hi,
 
I have a juwel 125 litre and has been set up for 3 years and I gave away my other fish and bought new ones as I wanted barbs.
 
I have 12 small tiger barbs 1 bristlenose pleco and  also bouhgt 8 cherry barbs. Am i overstocked?

 

[Mikey1]

my short answer, going by the info you have provided would be yes.....
 
however, i am a firm believer that stocking depends entirely on the fishkeepers knowledge, and how well the tank is maintained/taken care of

 

[DrRob]

From a stocking point of view it's regarded as good practice to gauge stocking on adult fish sizes, so small tiger barbs will soon grow into large tiger barbs.
 
As Mikey1 says, there are 2 answers to your question, the short one being yes, the long one being long and requiring a lot more information.

 

[Dunkal]

I'm thinking of perhaps giving away all of the cherry barbs or keeping 4  and keeping the 12 tigers and the pleco?
 
What do you guys think?  How many tiger barbs can be kept in a juwel 125?

 

[This Old Spouse]

I honestly don't think you're overstocked. I have 13 tiger barbs, 5 red eye tetra and a flying fox in my 29g, which is slightly smaller than your tank. I keep my water pristine and they're just fine. My only worry would be the BN, but it will be a while before he gets too big for your tank. Just be diligent with your maintenance.

 

[Dunkal]

I know the tiger barbs get to about 3 inches? Cherry barbs stay under 2 inches? I'm not sure how big the BN get but he is about 3 inches right now and the barbs are really small too. I do weekly water changes of about 20% but only havea internal filter.

 

[This Old Spouse]

My barbs are about 2 years old and the biggest one is just 2 inches at best.

 

[Dunkal]

I may wait tll they get bugger and then give the cherry barbs away.

 

[This Old Spouse]

You may wait until they get what? You must have typed something nasty that the mods bleeped out. 

 

[Dunkal]

Wait till they get bigger then give few of the barbs away.