Have I reached my limit...

chrisinha

chrisinha

AC Members
Jan 5, 2005
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brooklyn, ny
or is my tank already overstocked?
Please, i need your opinions on this! i have a 20 g long tank:

1 common plecostomus
6 balloon mollies
1 golden apple snail
3 albino corydoras
9 feeder guppies

the reason i'm asking is because i would like to add at least 2 more corys.

thanks!
 
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You may wish to research the max length and girth on those mollies. Some mollies can be big fellas after awhile. I'm addicted to corydoras as well, the more the merrier. I suppose it's not coincidental you have exactly 20 fish. You may wish to consider the total adult length.
If the old inch/gallon (or girth/height etc) rules don't appeal to you, then filter your 20 gallon 'long' tank with as many filters as you can gather ;) Otherwise, up your water change schedule. Oh, and I'll assume you have gravel / decor in your tank, so you don't actually have 20 gallons of water to play with ;).
I'm clearly no expert, just an aspiring one!

cheers,
Marc
 
The common pleco will get way too big for your tank and stop eating algae as it gets older.

Also, you can't assume a stable population with any livebearer. You're gonna have lots of little mollies and guppies before you know it.

So, I'd say that your tank is overstocked. Get rid of the common pleco and the guppies and you've got a different story. Still, you'd have to contend with all the baby mollies.

Find a way to get rid of most of the baby mollies and I'd say that you could stand to get a couple more corydoras. Of course, those may breed too. They're pretty easy given the right circumstances.
 
you're right. i do have gravel (1") and i do have 2 filters running: one whisper power filter, which i'm going to replace by an aquaclear 30 (i just bought it online!), and one penguin bio-wheel mini. i know it may sound a little too much, but i test my water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph every day, and do water changes whenever one of these gets higher than it's supposed to.
 
IndianaSam said:
The common pleco will get way too big for your tank and stop eating algae as it gets older.

Also, you can't assume a stable population with any livebearer. You're gonna have lots of little mollies and guppies before you know it.

So, I'd say that your tank is overstocked. Get rid of the common pleco and the guppies and you've got a different story. Still, you'd have to contend with all the baby mollies.

Find a way to get rid of most of the baby mollies and I'd say that you could stand to get a couple more corydoras. Of course, those may breed too. They're pretty easy given the right circumstances.
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i know about the pleco. my intention is to get a larger tank in the future, but for now i think he's ok.

what do you mean by "get rid of" ??? i hope you mean "get another tank to put him in". if you're saying you think my tank is overstock, i respect that, and believe me, i'll look into getting a bigger tank as soon as i can, but dont tell me to get rid of any fish. i dont get rid of fish. you might not understand it, but for me they are pets just as dogs, cats, etc. and i dont "get rid of them".
 
What type of filter are you using, and do you know the gph....because that will help to know. You will definitely need to find the pleco a new tank, it will get a foot or more if housed propperly, otherwise its growth will be stunted and it will suffer, plus their poop factories!! :D I would also suggest moving the guppies, livebearers are hard to control, population wise. I would say assuming your filter is adequite, then its safe to add the 2 cories (dont forget to take out the pleco and probbably the guppies). Another thing, you can "overstock" kinda(to a point).....as long as your filter can handle it, and you dont mind doing more/more frequent waterchanges...and the fish arent "cramped" and running into each other or overly large. Just my opinion :D
 
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I'm sure IndianaSam casually meant ...take the fish back to your pet store and kindly ask for a nice bristlenose pleco...;)

I have a 10 g. lightly planted tank with 8 rummynose tetras, 1 juli corydora and 1 bolivian ram. I'm also running 2 powerfilters like yourself. One penguin mini, and one whisper (mini?). I've increased my water changes to every 3rd day now with pleasant results. One good 'ol gravel vacuum / wk. It's been difficult to resist but I only feed the fish every other day to compensate for the high population level.
I won't preach about overstocking since I have pretty well gone beyond the 'recommended' limits, requiring additional love/care (maintenance) on my part.

enjoy your fish,
Marc
 
Unless you want to invest in 100's of tanks, you will eventually have to get rid of some fish if they keep reproducing. With most livebearers (like mollies and guppies) this is very likely. Many babies will be eaten by the parents if you let them, but if you have hiding places in your tanks it's likely some will survive. You could either keep them, give them away/sell them, or possibly get a predatory fish (in a seperate tank) to feed them to. If you keep them, it would be advisable to sex them and seperate the sexes to avoid further population increases.
 
You know what, I've found the simplest solution is just increased water changes and gravel vacuuming, and of course generous amounts of filtration.
 
Marc999 said:
You know what, I've found the simplest solution is just increased water changes and gravel vacuuming, and of course generous amounts of filtration.
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that would still only make it habitable for everything but the pleco.....if its small 2-3" let it be for now (though they do make a lot of waste) but once it hits the 5" possibly 6ish" mark I would move it. JMHO
 
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