Am I over/under stocked?

K

Katy1956

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Nov 13, 2005
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I've been lurking for quite some time now, but am really just a newbie. I inherited my son's 20 gallon FW tank when he went to college, and just upgraded to a 29 gallon. I've cycled successfully and now have a nice home for my fish. Please tell me if I'm over or under stocked, and what I could add if necessary.

My 29 Gallon:
7 lemon tetras
3 albino corys
1 common pleco
2 small plecos
4 red wagtail platys
4 black phantom tetras
3 kuhlie loaches (that I never/seldom see, hope they're still there!
Plastic and silk plants
Fake driftwood
Gravel substrate

Thanks for any input. :)
 
I would say you are a little over stocked but not seriously. From what I have read everywhere, a 29/30 gl tank should hold no more than 10 Medium fish and no more than 15 small fish. The more room your fish have to swim about the better shape and condidtiont hey will be in. I have a 46gl and have only 8 fish total. I may get a few more (2 or 3)

I have a strange tank.

1 Lions Cove Cichlid (male)
1 Jewel Cichlid (not sure)
1 Kenyi Cichlid (female?)
1 Large Pleco (not sure)
1 Gourami (femal)
3 Cherry barbs

My most aggressive fish is my female gourami. She picks on all but the barbs and the pleco. Go figure.

I do not expect my barbs to survive too long since the cichlids will get big enough to eat them. so I will wait until they go missing before I buy more fish. I may go buy a spiny eel before that though.

I've heard a gallon of water for every inch of fish.
 
Your small plecos are soon to be ginats before you knwo it there 6-10-12" long I suggest getting rubber nose plecos for smaller tanks since they dont get as big
 
oh crap, I didn;t even notice 2 were plecos. Not to worry you have abit of time before you need to go out and buy a bigger tank. If you have room I would opt for a 46gl bow front tank + stand or a 55gl tank + stand.
 
common pleco's can get pretty big..

they would push you over the edge soon..you'll need good filtration and frequent water changes whant they get big-ger.

if you can trade up I would suggest it..but you have some time.
 
oh crap, I didn;t even notice 2 were plecos.
Click to expand...

There are three plecos.

I'd think you have a pretty good stocking if it weren't for the plecos.

Don't buy into the "wisdom" that you need algae eating fish. It's seems they are most often bought to correct a result of poor husbandry practices and then exacerbate the problem.

Of course, I don't know what to recommend you do with them other than get them their own 29. Or maybe even put the 20 back to use.
 
yeah the plecos are going to get huge. If you want plecos get bristle nose ones as they are a LOT smaller and don't get very big at all.
 
Two of my plecos are very small, and, though I don't know what kind they are, the lady at my LFS told me that they would stay quite small. They are VERY much smaller than my common pleco, who is about 3 inches long now. I'll see if my LFS will take a trade of my common for something else. Any other suggestions? I don't think I've ever heard of/seen an oto.
 
I hadn't heard or seen an Oto until I really looked for them and they were everywhere! I think they are small and easy to miss sometimes.

I wouldn't trust anyone at a pet store. Their goal is to sell their fish and there are tons of threads on mislabeling and misinformation in here. I dont' know anything about pleco's so I can't say for sure. I just wouldn't trust the stores.
 
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