Hi- after a break of 15 years, I'm suddenly in a position where I can keep fish again...
I'm not sure if this is a 30 gallon tank as US gallons are different to UK ones- the tank is 36"X15"X12". At present I have 10 glowlight tetras, 4 Corydoras sterbai, 3 Hoplosternum thoracatum, 1 Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps and 2 mystery dwarf cichlids that were sold as agassizi but definitely aren't, that were rescued from an all out war in my 2' tank. As a result it's a bit overcrowded at the bottom of the tank...
The problem I'm having is feeding these fish as they're all juveniiles, so a LONG way short of their ultimate size (the biggest Hoplo is about 2", the gibbiceps about 3"). My intention is to move the Hoplos and Pterygo as they grow to my 4' tank when that's set up, but that might be 4 months from now (hopefully about 2 months).
So to my question- is the tank overstocked at present or not? I could move some of the fish to the 2' tank, but this tank has quite coarse gravel so I'm not confident about moving the Corys to that tank until I've replaced the gravel with more rounded gravel. I need to add some plastic plants or similar to add cover up the water layer apart from quite a few rock caves in the tank.
I'm not sure if this is a 30 gallon tank as US gallons are different to UK ones- the tank is 36"X15"X12". At present I have 10 glowlight tetras, 4 Corydoras sterbai, 3 Hoplosternum thoracatum, 1 Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps and 2 mystery dwarf cichlids that were sold as agassizi but definitely aren't, that were rescued from an all out war in my 2' tank. As a result it's a bit overcrowded at the bottom of the tank...
The problem I'm having is feeding these fish as they're all juveniiles, so a LONG way short of their ultimate size (the biggest Hoplo is about 2", the gibbiceps about 3"). My intention is to move the Hoplos and Pterygo as they grow to my 4' tank when that's set up, but that might be 4 months from now (hopefully about 2 months).
So to my question- is the tank overstocked at present or not? I could move some of the fish to the 2' tank, but this tank has quite coarse gravel so I'm not confident about moving the Corys to that tank until I've replaced the gravel with more rounded gravel. I need to add some plastic plants or similar to add cover up the water layer apart from quite a few rock caves in the tank.
you don't have to move them ASAP, but make sure it happens before size becomes a real issue.
