Tank Size

[Tiger777]

Hi
I purchased our first ever tank,a fluval edge, before xmas from an aquatic centre who at the time i thought were knowledgable and had given good advice.
After cycling the tank we introduced our first few fish then a week or so later a few more, unfortunately we lost 3 in the first few weeks but since have done well.
Since doing my own reaearch and reading this forum i now realise that it is very over stocked, the fish store was aware of the fish we had and didnt advise us there were too many.
Anyway, i currently have 1 x yellon moon platy
1 x black neon tetra
4 x cardinal neons
1 x betta splendens
1 x sailfin plec
4 x african dwarf drogs
I was not even informed how big the plec would get or how much room he would require!
So, i am now very worried about my fish although at present they appear well, and am going to order a new tank today. My main question is what would be the minimum size i would need? I would like to add 3 more yellow moon platy and 3 more black neons.
Would a 125 l tank be ok? I would be happy to do a water change once a week if necessary.
All advise most welcome but want to order the tank today.
Many thanks

 

[karin]

The Sailfin will get over a foot long, you really need to rehome him now unless you are willing to get a 75 gallon at sometime in the near future. He will just cause problems with your bioload in smaller tanks and asethtically everything will be out of whack with a fish that big.

Tank size, go as big as you can. I have a 30 gallon about 125 liters and it is nice but much prefer my 60 gallon if I was to have only one tank.... and yes, I will have a 100-120 gallon within the year.

Sorry you suffered at the hands of your lfs. It is so common. The big stores in the US all stock common plecs, oscars, and bala sharks by the tons. If you think about it, probably less than 1% of their customers have a tank big enough for these fish.

If you go with a 30 gallon/125 liter, get a bristlenose plec.

Good luck

 

[Tiger777]

Thanks for the advice, 200 l would be the largest i could have which is about 52 us gallons, i really would hate to rehome him as have got pretty fond of him but equally dont want to do any of the fish harm. If we decide on the smaller tank then will follow your advice.