Overstocked??

[JB123]

Hi all!

A couple of weeks back I went to one of my LFS and got slightly carried away. i intended on buying some South/Central American cichlids and planned on getting three around the 5/6" size, however, there was limited stocking in the store. I'd done a fair bit of research and bought a male Sajica, as I wanted this fish anyway. I also bought a redneck/Rotkeil severum and a gold/blue eyed bristlenose pleco. I'd never seen the latter before and had to have one!!

I have a 170L/45 US Gal tank. Around 40" long and 16" wide. I already have a 4" bristlenose in there, and the sajica and severum are both 2.5/3" long. The golden bristlenose is growing out in a smaller tank.

Is this stocking level ok for my tank? I've read in a few places that a 45 gal is the minimum but sufficient for rotkeil severum, which max out around 8". With the other three fish, will this still be ok?

Thank you in advance!

 

[King Fisher]

If you aren't getting aggression or uncontrollable water quality issues then I'd say it would work. My suggestion would be to bump up filtration and do 50% weekly water changes. Also, plants and decor should be added to break line of sight and give them territories.

 

[Ironworker161]

You may have gotten a little carried away...but we all do sometimes. My concern would be when your new fish gain a little more size, will your filtration be able to handle the bio load. You might want to try adding more filtration now in order to keep things manageable later. Just a thought. Good luck and enjoy your new fish.