Cruelly Overstocked 5g

any more than about 5-7 fish(the smallest commonly available species) in a 5g is pushing it, so yes, you are overstocked.

Tetras and danios should be kept in schools of atleast 5-6 more is better.

You need to identify the sucker fish, some of them grow to 2'+.

the snail problem is caused by excess food, cut down on feedings.

You should be doing water changes(25%min.) with a gravel vacum every week.

Your best solution here is to get atleast a 20g tank and up gravel vacuming, this will keep snail populations low(you can't get rid of them completly) and give you room for a pair of smaller loaches.

Use this site to research future inhabitants and to identify the fish you have, do that and post the list with your next question(s)
 
pretty soon i want to try a 5.5g planted nano. however the only inhabitance will be red cherry shrimp. maybe 8-10 of them.
 
I have nothing to add to what the others have already suggested (which is all good advice BTW), but I wanted to say that the good thing is that you are here and asking questions. the more we all learn about the hobby the healthier our fish are and you're definitely off to a good start if you take what the folks here have to offer.

good luck with the snails!
 
My first tank as a young kid was bought for me as a birthday present by my friend. He said he would spend $20 on me. The 2 gallon hex setup package cost about $12.80. I spent the remaining amount on 18 cent comet goldfish.

Yeah, really.

One of the comets lived 4 years and got to be about 5 inches long.

A lot of people make ignorant mistakes...and now that it is no longer 1985 we have the internet to inform us. Learn from your mistakes and quickly take steps to correct them.
 
I know why things like this happen though. Because people go into a pet store and take a look at all those pretty 5.5g aquaria boxes and then they decide to get something like this one...

102_5bow_orange.gif


...and think that they can drop just as many fish in there as is shown in the pretty colored picture. Heck, if it's in the picture, it must be the suggested stocking option.
 
Alestro Bakai said:
I know why things like this happen though. Because people go into a pet store and take a look at all those pretty 5.5g aquaria boxes and then they decide to get something like this one...

...and think that they can drop just as many fish in there as is shown in the pretty colored picture. Heck, if it's in the picture, it must be the suggested stocking option.
Click to expand...


Actually that is not at all what I did. I have read many time that you should keep to the 1" / 1 gallon rule when keeping fish. I have 8 small fish each less that 1/2" long so I figured they would fall within the rule.


As for the sucker fish, sorry for being so vague this morning. It's hard to focus first thing in the morning. It's a common algae eater that shouldn't get more than 2".


I've come up with an overstocking option though. My neighbor has a community 55gallon tank with a small school of both the tetra's and danio's that I have and she would like to take them. This leaves me the option of ensuring that I am correctly keeping this tank once I downsize the number of fish.


I've also read different opinions on the thickness of the gravel for a 5 gallon Hex tank. I've read the ideal gravel size should be 1/4" thick , but also read it should be 1"-1.5" thick. Any thoughts on this? I want to cut down the amount of waste that I vacuum up when I clean and feel the thicker the gravel the more waste that stays within/hidden.


Thank you for everyone's suggestions and thoughts on these questions.

A noob who is attempting to learn as much as possible.
 
I wasn't attacking you by any means. As a matter of fact, I've fallen into the same trap all the way in the beginning. "Well, the picture's showing that many fish, so it must be ok..."
 
I think that 1" of fish per gallon rule is pretty much bunk...theres more to it than size.
Your algae eater, can you post a pic of him? Many of the ones commonly sold will get pretty big, or dont do much of a job w/algae.
For gravel depth, as long as you have enough to get your plants/ornaments in, and you stay under 2 inches, maybe?, youll be ok. Youre right in thinking that the deeper the substrate is, the more gunk may remain; however, as long as you keep up the gravel vac-ing, maybe doing half the tank one time, the other half the next, vac-ing until the water runs clear, I think youd be ok. Some gunk is good, thats where alot of benificial bacteria lives.
 
Oh no Alestro...

I wasn't implying that you were attacking me at all. I only quoted you to ensure my response was understood.


As for the Algae eater, currently I have no way of posting a pic. From what I've been researching today it looks like a Pleco? The guy at the LFS (i'm guessing this means local fish store, I haven't seen reference to what it really means yet) stated that it would not getting any larger than 2.5-3". However, he's really grown within the past few weeks almost doubling in size. I'm at a loss as to get rid of him and/or get another or just hope he doesn't get any larger. My wife is already on my case about getting rid of the fish and stating i'm spending to much money... .... oh well. I'm used to it! :devil:


As for the gravel, I attempt to vacuum it as much as possible but still seems to be extremely dirty. I've been reading about sand tank also. What are the differences in maintaining a gravel tank to a sand one? Any benefits from one over the other? Pro's/Con's?



Thanks in advance.

Chris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom