Stocking problems?

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Jatoigue3

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 20, 2012
Messages
9
I currently have....

1 Oscar
1 Rainbow shark
3 clown loaches
1 bristle nose catfish
3 Giant danios
6 buenos aires tetras
3 bleeding heart tetras
1 black mystery snail
1 gold mystery snail

Is there any problems with having this much stock in a 55 gallons long tank? I haven't had any problems as of yet but any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Yes, major problems, maybe not for now but I hope you have a plan to upgrade. Oscars alone should have a minimum of 75g I think, but you'll hear they need more than that from a lot of people. They get huge. You're super over stocked or will be soon IMO, go to aqadvisor.com and put in your fish, tank, and filter (use the adult sizes so you know what you'll be running into in the near future) and see what it says, it's a good place to start and then post what it says on this thread.
 
most of your stock i'm not familiar with... but i can say that your Oscar may be a problem later on, due to his/her size and the temperment of the fish.

also the clown loaches. they are amazing fish, i have some in my 55 as well but thankfully they're all small right now but they have the ability to reach up to 1'.

that being said, eventually you will need a larger tank. for myself i'm setting up a 125G soon and i'll be adding 2 more loaches to mine for a total of 5 clown loaches. some people will say you'll need more than 125 but i'm not gonna go crazy with stocking in the 125 so i'm sure i'll be fine.

i'm sure there are other members who can add to what i've said or have info on the rest of your stock.
 
Yea I was just about to edit and add my thoughts on the clowns too, I have one in my 55 with other loaches (he shoals with them) but I know I'll be upgrading very soon, long before he needs it. Also, just another thing, say goodbye to your snails haha, they'll be loach food. A lot of people actually use loaches to get rid of pest snails because they're so good at gobbling them up
 
i'm not entirely sure the loaches will eat mystery snails... the ones i've seen at Petsmart and other LFS are pretty big... but there's always the chance it could happen
 
HopefulHobbiest said:
i'm not entirely sure the loaches will eat mystery snails... the ones i've seen at Petsmart and other LFS are pretty big... but there's always the chance it could happen

You're probably right, I don't have first hand experience on the mystery snails and loaches because I didn't want to just buy my loach an expensive lunch, I do know they eat most snails though
 
i will say though, i've never seen how big a full grown clown loach can open its mouth but i'm sure at that point it would try for a mystery snail lol.

i hand feed mine so i have no doubt they can crack a snail shell... you can definitely feel it when the nip you lol
 
Well they are about half his size...not yet able to fit in his mouth...lol
 
Loaches actually learn to suck snails out of their shells. So usually only small snails are targets BUT they will harass the heck out of any snail with long antenne like mystery snails. One snail that is mostly safe except for larger or very skilled loaches are nerite snails. Nerites are a true trapdoor snail and can pull up high in their shell and lock their door tight. My yo-yo's gave up on mine. Pond snails on the other hand have very thin shells in comparison and are very easy for loaches to eat once they learn the skill set.

As for the oscar I personally would rehome it. It is going to grow too large and too aggressive. When full grown there are very few fish that can be housed with them. I also wouldn't add any more clown loaches unless you plan a tank upgrade in the future. What I would do now is up your tetra school to 6 as they do much much better is schools of a minimum of 6.
 
Thanks everyone for your advise and suggestions. I went to that aqadvisor.com site and it told me that my tank was severely overstocked so now I just have to wait and get me a bigger tank or my Oscar eats the tetras whichever comes first...lol
 
Jatoigue3 said:
Thanks everyone for your advise and suggestions. I went to that aqadvisor.com site and it told me that my tank was severely overstocked so now I just have to wait and get me a bigger tank or my Oscar eats the tetras whichever comes first...lol

At least you know now "'Cause knowing is half the battle!" Haha. Even if your Oscar eats the neons you still need a larger tank and there will still be some issues. You really aught to just make your decision now if you want a community, semi-aggressive, or aggressive tank, then decide what you will rehome, separate, or move to a larger tank
 
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