Help with a 20 gallon

[Eyesheild21]

Hey, this is my first post here, although i have been lurking around for information here for a while. I wanted to know if my 20 gallon tall is really overstocked or can it work.

First, i have had this tank for ~ 2 years. It has 2 20 gallon filters, one was cycled when i bought the tank and one is a 4 year old filter at that time, so 6 years old now. The tank has 3 anubius(broad leaves, with ~6 or more leaves per plant), ludwigia(~ 10 -15 single stalks around the tank), and crypts.

The tank started off as an species only neon tetra tank. I bought 7 neon tetras from a local store, i was told they were special and they don't grow as big as the ones from petco/petsmart. Its been 2 years and they haven't grown as big as normal neons. I also bought 5 neon tetras from petco and there is a noticeable different between the 2.

At this point i was gonna get a few more tetras and that was it but then, my betta sorority in my ten gallon tank was moved into the twenty because the tank was leaking, I left them in the 20 because they seemed happier. I then, also received 2 adf (been in 20 G for 6 months now) from friend. Other inhabitants are 4 ottos(been in there for 7 months)

So what do you guys think, would this work. This complete setup has been going on for about 4 months, last addition was the crypts. I haven't had a death or a illness in this tank at all. Only problem is a little nipping from betas but its very minimal. Last time i checked levels everything was fine.

Anways sorry for long post here is a list of my fish
ADF x 2
Neon x 12
Bettas X 6
Ottos x 4

If you guys want a picture I can post.

 

[Fishanatic]

Hey, this is my first post here, although i have been lurking around for information here for a while. I wanted to know if my 20 gallon tall is really overstocked or can it work.

First, i have had this tank for ~ 2 years. It has 2 20 gallon filters, one was cycled when i bought the tank and one is a 4 year old filter at that time, so 6 years old now. The tank has 3 anubius(broad leaves, with ~6 or more leaves per plant), ludwigia(~ 10 -15 single stalks around the tank), and crypts.

The tank started off as an species only neon tetra tank. I bought 7 neon tetras from a local store, i was told they were special and they don't grow as big as the ones from petco/petsmart. Its been 2 years and they haven't grown as big as normal neons. I also bought 5 neon tetras from petco and there is a noticeable different between the 2.

At this point i was gonna get a few more tetras and that was it but then, my betta sorority in my ten gallon tank was moved into the twenty because the tank was leaking, I left them in the 20 because they seemed happier. I then, also received 2 adf (been in 20 G for 6 months now) from friend. Other inhabitants are 4 ottos(been in there for 7 months)

So what do you guys think, would this work. This complete setup has been going on for about 4 months, last addition was the crypts. I haven't had a death or a illness in this tank at all. Only problem is a little nipping from betas but its very minimal. Last time i checked levels everything was fine.

Anways sorry for long post here is a list of my fish
ADF x 2
Neon x 12
Bettas X 6
Ottos x 4

If you guys want a picture I can post.

Hi, welcome to Aquarium Advice!
To my point of view, you are fully stocked. Maybe abit overstocked due to ottos, but I don't think so. I would try to retire from adding more fish at this point due to the number of bettas and neons. Someone might correct me, but this is my opinion.

 

[Eyesheild21]

Thanks for the reply, your right i shouldn't add anymore fish and i don't want to add any more either. Im concerned with the tank "crashing" because i heard overstocked tank can work out for a while but can crash and kill allot of fish. Yet i don't know if i am overstocked and if so how overstocked i am.

 

[Mlani]

The thing that jumps out to me is your stock. You say you have 6 betas? In the same tank? Don't they attack and fight to the death? Or am I misinformed about that?

 

[Samphotog]

The thing that jumps out to me is your stock. You say you have 6 betas? In the same tank? Don't they attack and fight to the death? Or am I misinformed about that?

Female bettas can form a sorority and be together

 

[Mlani]

Female bettas can form a sorority and be together

I didn't know that. Learn something new every day. Thank you

 

[Eyesheild21]

They are female bettas, although they still are aggressive, some , like myself,believe they can be kept together. I got lucky and got passive ones though. My friend had one aggressive one in his sorority and it destroyed the rest, so it is very circumstantial. I was told to keep an odd number but one day i say a yellow female betta, never seen a yellow one before so i ended up buying it. They do peck at each other now and then, but nothing serious , they have been together almost a year, the yellow has been there for 6 months.

 

[Samphotog]

I didn't know that. Learn something new every day. Thank you

You can learn lots of interesting things around here! I only learned that the other day. I spend way too much time on here

 

[Fishanatic]

Thanks for the reply, your right i shouldn't add anymore fish and i don't want to add any more either. Im concerned with the tank "crashing" because i heard overstocked tank can work out for a while but can crash and kill allot of fish. Yet i don't know if i am overstocked and if so how overstocked i am.

Watch for the parameters but it shouldn't or is very unlikely to crash. The bacteria should adapt to the amount of waste. It will crash if it gets suddenly overwhelmed by too many toxins. Just make sure to keep the water changes up and to test by weekly. Adding additional filtration can't hurt, and upgrading is a very good option