Wife went nuts at LFS, am I overstocked?

J

Jesta

Registered Member
Jan 4, 2005
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Since our first chaotic episode with not knowing what we were doing we have been taking our time redoing this 55g tank. It took almost a month with a fishless cycle to get it where we wanted it. Started with 3 giant danios, 2 cory cats, 1 pleco and 2 bala sharks. I know the balas will more than likely have to go later. About 2 weeks later we added 2 more cory cats and another bala. I thought that was probably enough with the exception of having to remove the balas at a later time. Well, my wife decided to add a "few" more fish so when I get home there are now 2 dalmation mollys, 6 neon tetras and 3 rosy tetras. Now granted most of these are small with the exception of the molly's.So now my load looks like this.

(4) Cory Cats
(1) 4" Pleco
(3) Giant Danio
(6) Neon Tetra
(2) Dalmation Molly
(3) Rosy Tetra
(3) Bala Shark

How badly am I overstocked? I plan on removing the bala sharks sometime in the future. Any help is apprecieated.
 
Looks pretty good Jesta. I'd suggest taking the bala sharks back now and exchange them for another cory cat and a few more tetras. You will get attached to the bala sharks if you keep them and not want to return them later on, they are pretty cool fish :)

Also, if the pleco is a common pleco, they grow very large. There are plecos you can get that don't grow very large, might think of exchanging him too if you can.

Be sure to keep a close check on your ammonia and nitrIte levels. Even though you did the fishless cycle, the second addition of fish that far apart could cause a mini-cycle (small ammonia or nitrIte spike). If you do get a spike, you can do extra water changes to keep the levels down until the bacteria get caught up again.
 
Thanks for the replies. I mentioned the balas to the wife last night and now she is considering a second tank. What fun...
 
rather than a second tank why not push for a larger tank?
55gal - 4ft tanks are nice
but a 6ft tank is a zillion times more exciting:)

depth of tank is highly overrated IMHO, go all height and width!!!!!
with patience and dilligence you can get free tanks on classifieds up to around 150gallons, if your not so patient you can probably snag a 90-120 for about 120-150$
dump in a 5$ 50lb bag of Profile for gravel and a filstar cannister and ur off 2 the races!
 
Jesta said:
Thanks for the replies. I mentioned the balas to the wife last night and now she is considering a second tank. What fun...
Click to expand...
Would you have your wife call mine?
 
geoffgarcia said:
rather than a second tank why not push for a larger tank?
55gal - 4ft tanks are nice
but a 6ft tank is a zillion times more exciting:)

depth of tank is highly overrated IMHO, go all height and width!!!!!
with patience and dilligence you can get free tanks on classifieds up to around 150gallons, if your not so patient you can probably snag a 90-120 for about 120-150$
dump in a 5$ 50lb bag of Profile for gravel and a filstar cannister and ur off 2 the races!
Click to expand...

I agree completely. Give it a few months and you are going to want a bigger tank any how. So why not go ahead and do it and still keep the 55g. :D
 
I don't want to sound mean, but I highly recommend doing research before buying fish. If you know they will get bigger than you have the space for choose a different fish instead!! It's really not fair to expect someone else to take them off your hands when they're too big!! I did the same thing, and like the other post said you will get attached!! I have two balas (going to get a third) and am planning to get at least a 125 gallon tank in the next year or two to keep them! They're still small (3-4 in.), so hopefully they can wait it out!
I also agree with the other post, You might want to take back the balas and pleco if you're not sure about a bigger tank and get some other fish, the bigger the schools the more they will school and it looks really neat!
You're really not TOO overstocked, but I wouldn't realy get more unless you trade some in!!
Good luck!!
 
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