Help! :)

[Ursi]

I have tried many times to work out whether my tank is over stocked, and no matter how many times I sit and work it out I get a different answer, I currently have a 260L freshwater tank with:

4 juvenile angelfish
4 mollies (1m/3f)
5 balloon mollies (5f)
3 swordtails (1m/2f)
5 guppies (5m)
2 balloon platys (2m)
4 neon tetras
1 rainbow shark
1 golden loach
2 plecs

Is this overstocked? I do a 20% water change every 5 days, I also test my water 2 days after each water change and my most recent readings are:

Ammonia - 0
PH - 7.5
Nitrite -0
Nitrate- 10

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[bob mccoy]

the general rule to follow is 1 inch of adult fish per gallon of water. so figure how many inches you have if they were all adults. also depending on the type of pleco you have some will get verry large

 

[Ursi]

I have bristlenose catfish plecs, I'm ashamed to say I didn't realise they grew as large as they do, at the moment they are only about 2 inches, I will need to take them back if they will get too big for my tank. I want to be able to rehome any that will be too big in the long run before that happens. Thanks

 

[Mrc8858]

the general rule to follow is 1 inch of adult fish per gallon of water. so figure how many inches you have if they were all adults. also depending on the type of pleco you have some will get verry large

The one inch per gallon rule is very old and not very reliable every fish is different so please don't use this rule

 

[Fishy monkey]

This is a great tool for working out stocking, I found it in another thread while I was trying to decide my own stocklist

http://www.aqadvisor.com/

 

[Ursi]

Fishy monkey that looks brilliant, I don't have time to do it now as I'm just about to go out, but will fill it in later thanks!

 

[Samzter]

I have bristlenose catfish plecs, I'm ashamed to say I didn't realise they grew as large as they do, at the moment they are only about 2 inches, I will need to take them back if they will get too big for my tank. I want to be able to rehome any that will be too big in the long run before that happens. Thanks

Bristle nose plecos are fine for that tank! They only get 6-8 inches tops. So that's quite small for a pleco. As for your stocking I would boost up the neons.

 

[Samzter]

the general rule to follow is 1 inch of adult fish per gallon of water. so figure how many inches you have if they were all adults. also depending on the type of pleco you have some will get verry large

Ys that rule is so old and people never think of, requirements, behaviour activeness and character of the fish. Never use it to stock an aquarium.

 

[BillD]

The water test numbers indicate that the tank is not overstocked.

 

[Rivercats]

Your fine but agree you need to up your school of neons and also as your angels grow they may or may not try to eat your neons. It is always a risk mixing neons with angels, sometimes it works, othertimes it doesn't. The neons will feel much safer in a larger group. Personally I'd add up to 6 more minimum and do it while the angels are little. Another nifty little trick when adding smaller fish into a tank with angels is if you can get someone to help have one person feed the fish, just a little to distract the angels while the second adds the neons. That is the best way to do it without getting the angels attention. Now once the angels are of good size all bets are off when adding anything on the small size.

 

[Ursi]

The neons I currently have are quite large, I would worry adding any smaller than the ones I already have, I will go and have a look for some the same size as the ones I have now. I'm pleased about the plecos thank you, I've been doing quite a bit of research on all my fish, I knew the basics but reading more about them I find I get a lot of different answers.
My water readings pretty much stay the same, the PH usually is either 7 or 7.5, and ammonia and nitrites are always 0, and nitrate is always 10.

Thanks for all the help

 

[Rivercats]

You could always see if you can get a group of cardinal tetra's. They are larger and neons will often school with them. This could work quite well.

 

[Ursi]

How many do you advise I get of the cardinal tetras. I agree personally that larger tetras if they will school with the neons will be better than adding more neons as 2 of my angels would more than likely be able to eat smaller ones and without being able to compare I would, knowing my luck, buy ones that would be eaten

 

[clearancepuppy]

This is a great tool for working out stocking, I found it in another thread while I was trying to decide my own stocklist

AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

I LOVE THIS. Thank you!!!

 

[Rivercats]

Personally I'd go with a minimum of 6 but I think you could do 8, then the neons will probably feel alot more secure.

 

[Ursi]

I'll do that thank you will post some pics when I get them (planning on buying them next week)