Do you consider this Overstocked?

[ChileRelleno]

Do you consider this Overstocked?
I consider it moderately stocked, with heavy filtration and added benefit of live plants.

Standard 55gal AllGlass aquarium.
2 18" 15w T8 fluorescent strip lights, Flora-Glo bulbs
1 300w Won Bros Pro heat IC Titanium heater.
1 Coralife Digitude thermometer.
1 AC 300
1 Penn Plax Cascade 1200
1 Coralife 3X 9w turbotwist UVS
1 Second Nature 640 powerhead (fitted with prefilter, pumps approx 50-150gph for UVS)
Temp 77.5'F
Water Chemistry: pH 7.0, NH3-0, NO2-0, NO3- <10, GH 5'dgh & KH 4-5'dkh
Various driftwood, a couple little rock work caves and moderately planted with low light plants, Java Fern, Java Moss, Dwarf Sword & Balansae.
Substrate is a mix of smooth river gravel and pool sand.

Stocking
1 Cleithracara maronii - Keyhole cichlid.
6 Corydoras delphax - A uncommon species of spotted Corydoras.
6 Gasteropelecus sternicla - Common/Black Striped Hatchetfish.
12 Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi - Black Neon Tetra.
12 Paracheirodon axelrodi - Cardinal Tetras
12 Hemigrammus bleheri - Rummy Nosed Tetra
3 Bunocephalus coracoideus - Banjo Cats
1 Microglanis iheringi - South American Bumblebee Cat
1 Panaque maccus - Clown Plecostomus

 

[taylorodw]

Well it's 54 fish in a 55 gallon... so at first look it does seem, at the very least, heavily stocked.

But I notice you have some fish which heavily favor certain tank regions, such as hatchets, corydoras, the pleco... Banjo & bumblebee cats are sedentary, and least bottom dwelling... keyholes stay in the lower region... It seems like your "active swimmers" above the substrate are all tetras.

All in all, with your filtration I think you are okay. Certainly a crowded tank, especially on the lower levels.

Edit: The "big boost" of plants eating your nitrates comes with weed-like stem plants, FYI, if you are looking to reduce maintenance on the tank. Seems like you keep your nitrates low, though.

 

[ChileRelleno]

Well it's 54 fish in a 55 gallon... so at first look it does seem, at the very least, heavily stocked.

But I notice you have some fish which heavily favor certain tank regions, such as hatchets, corydoras, the pleco... Banjo & bumblebee cats are sedentary, and least bottom dwelling... keyholes stay in the lower region... It seems like your "active swimmers" above the substrate are all tetras.

All in all, with your filtration I think you are okay. Certainly a crowded tank, especially on the lower levels.

Edit: The "big boost" of plants eating your nitrates comes with weed-like stem plants, FYI, if you are looking to reduce maintenance on the tank. Seems like you keep your nitrates low, though.

Ya see, that's just it, that's where the debate usually starts, the ill conceived one inch per gallon rule.

Yes, I zoned the fish/tank purposefully,
Hatchets-top/mid
Black Neons-top/mid
Cardinals-mid/lower
Rummies-mid/lower
Keyhole lower/mid
Banjos stay buried 95%
SA Bumblebee seldom leaves 'his' cave
Clown Pleco stays in/around the driftwoods
Cories roam the bottom.
Also, the Tetras keep pretty much to their separate shoals.
It works very nicely.

All total, these fish's mass doesn't equal 1/4 that of a large cichlid, e.g. Oscar, and they don't produce nearly the bio-load either.
Combined with the heavy filtration...
I just don't see it as even near heavily stocked, nor crowded.

It is well balanced.

 

[thincat]

You seem to already know the answer to your question. What's the point?

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Its a moderately stocked tank, but youve got a lot of smaller bioload and sized fish (neons, rummys) and not a whole lot of larger bioload fish (keyhole) So with the filtration you have id say your ok, but id have to agree with thincat...seems like you have it all figured out lol

 

[ChileRelleno]

You seem to already know the answer to your question. What's the point?

Guess I should've explained in the OP.
On another forum it was considered overstocked, I wanted a second opinion.

 

[DragonFish71]

Personally I think it is a well balanced stocking list as stated above. You have all levels covered with small bio-load producers, filtration to fit that load and from reading other posts you've made, I'll assume you take great care in maintaining the tank. Mixing those 3 factors and my conclusion is that you have reached that zen balance we all go for


Lemme just add that my 55g is over stocked by most peoples standards. We have about 60 neons, 5 glowlight tetras 5 black neons, 2 hatchets, 5 harlequin rasboras, 4 albino corys, 4 endlers livebearers, 1 chocolate/albino pleco (about 3 inches full grown) and 1 forktail (pseudomugil furcatus) rainbowfish. Filtration: UGF with 2 powerheads and 2 Aquatech 60 HOBs. Water changes once a week, 50%. But with all those fish, the filtration more than keeps up with them (not much poo when I clean the gravel either). We have not had a death in that tank other than the 2 suicides that jumped out the back (forgot to put on the back plastic strip). And for those about to friggin tweak, yes, we are putting all these guys into a 115g once it's up and cycled.

 

[taylorodw]

I just don't see it as even near heavily stocked, nor crowded.

It is well balanced.

So how much do nitrates rise in one week?

 

[HN1]

I actually like the stocking very much for a well filtered and maintained (which I know your's is) tank. I want pics!

 

[ChileRelleno]

So how much do nitrates rise in one week?

Generally doesn't get above 10ppm.

I actually like the stocking very much for a well filtered and maintained (which I know your's is) tank. I want pics!

Pics.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f19/some-of-my-55gal-sa-community-inhabitants-130272.html

 

[taylorodw]

Generally doesn't get above 10ppm.



Pics.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f19/some-of-my-55gal-sa-community-inhabitants-130272.html

To me that's around as much as I feel comfortable with, rising in one week... But personally I err on the side of caution.

If you feel bold and achieve success, more power to you! I just consider your tank to be as stocked as I would ever like to go, most likely.

Consider the footprint... 3x banjo cats, 1x bumblebee cat, 1x pleco, plus 6 cory cats. Also the keyhole is likely to find a "home" although without a mate it won't claim a large territory IMO... It's a 4x1 tank right? I don't know, I wouldn't put in any more bottom dwellers, that's just me though.

 

[ChileRelleno]

To me that's around as much as I feel comfortable with, rising in one week... But personally I err on the side of caution.

If you feel bold and achieve success, more power to you! I just consider your tank to be as stocked as I would ever like to go, most likely.

Consider the footprint... 3x banjo cats, 1x bumblebee cat, 1x pleco, plus 6 cory cats. Also the keyhole is likely to find a "home" although without a mate it won't claim a large territory IMO... It's a 4x1 tank right? I don't know, I wouldn't put in any more bottom dwellers, that's just me though.

I've no intention of adding any new species or increasing current stocking levels.

I get where your coming from, but, yes, lets us consider the footprint and the bottom dwellers.

The 2.5-3" Banjo's stay buried 95% of the time, the 3.5" SA Bumblebee cat stays in his cave with approx 8" square of floorspace, the 3" Clown Pleco hangs in/around the driftwood which takes up maybe a fifth of the footprint and the 2" Cories roam the entirety of the tank's bottom.
The Cories literally swim unimpeded over the Banjos/Bumblebee and around the Clown.
Hmmmmm... The only ones who really require room to move about, do so with no direct competition.

The Keyhole roams the whole tank, the whole tank is his territory, and the other inhabitants are not apparently considered trespassers.
That was different when I had a breeding pair, when breeding, they'd defend about a square foot around the nest's vicinity.
But when not breeding, they benignly ruled the whole tank.

 

[severum mama]

Keyholes are such underrated fish. I really like the look of yours, and I think your stock list sounds really interesting.

 

[ChileRelleno]

Keyholes are such underrated fish. I really like the look of yours, and I think your stock list sounds really interesting.

Yes, they are.
I acquired mine after two online friends related their experiences with'em.
Awesome dwarf cichlids, feisty lil buggers, during breeding I was confronted whenever I approached the tank... Even to feed... Fearless lil'fish.
They're not overly aggressive, never saw damage to other fish, even when defending the nest, a quick nip/shove and the offender saw fit to make a hasty retreat.

The stocking was very purposeful, not only in zoning the tank, but in contrasting the Tetra's colors/patterns.
The tank is busy, but one sees three very distinct shoals.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Keyholes are such underrated fish. I really like the look of yours, and I think your stock list sounds really interesting.

+1 the keyhole is gorgeous and it looks like everyone has their own space.