How many fish?

[lisaz]

I have in my 20 gallon high:
1 male Betta
4 neon tetras
5 harlequin Harlequin Rasbora
1 bulldog pleco
and
a few pain in the butt snails that came with my driftwood.

Everyone seems to get along fine now.
Hatter (pleco) did kill a neon tetra and Chester, the other pleco that I had but now everyone has their 'zone' and seem happy.
(He killed the poor neon in the 5 gallon which was too small and he never did like sharing the floor or walls or driftwood with Chester. Yeah, he will forever be the bottom king, it is part of why I did not get kuli loaches when the snails started.)

On occasion a Harlequin or a tetra will start to follow Wallie (Betta) into his area but he turns and chases. Sometimes the neons chase each other all around, I joke that they are getting 'friendly' and once in a while it breaks into Harlequins and Tetras chasing each other until Wallie swoops down and breaks it up.
It seems like they are playing.
(?)
Hatter just sits on the bottom watching from under his driftwood. LOL
I have never seen any of them nip each other and I watch my tank all the time. I also never see torn fins or damage to any of them.
They all kind of grew up together as they were all small when I got them. They went from a 5 gallon to the 20 gallon as a group.

There are Plenty of hiding spaces and plants that loop down (Wallie likes to sleep in these "vine hammocks") so even if things got hostile there are retreats to go to.

I have been told that I should have a bigger tank.
There seems to be plenty of room for them, they are all active, eat well, good colors and no damage that I can see.
I do eventually want to get more fish, but I already decided that in order to do that I would have to get a larger tank. I am in no rush though. I love my little fish family of misfits and want to learn a lot more before expanding.
I have realized by reading so much here that I have been misinformed before so I want to ask if you all think that I have too many fish in my tank and if I need to get a bigger tank soon.
If I keep the current fish population do you think it will be ok keeping them in the 20 gallon for 6 months or so? I'd like to get through the holidays and a few months into the new year before shelling out a lot of $ for a much bigger tank since I do not want to just do a gradual climb up to the size I want.
I would also like to introduce new fish into the tank as I move my established group in to reduce territory fights.

I would appreciate your thoughts on this since many of you seem very experienced in actually keeping fish, not just reading graphs.

Thank you!

Lisa

 

[Mark Hewitt]

As long as the Pleco doesn't grow to be a monster, you certainly aren't overstocked at the moment. You've actually got less and smaller fish than I have, in a bigger tank.

I wouldn't worry about them chasing around, my fish do that all the time but there isn't any harm in it, yes I think they are territory marking but it's playful too.

As for getting a bigger tank, keep an eye on your water parameters, if they are the ususal 0 / 0 / <20 1 week after a water change then you're doing fine.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Well IMO i would say you tank is well stocked. I would watch the Betta though he is a omnivore and will eat (rarely) smaller fish. But i think it's fine. The pleco will be fine in that tank sincee it only gets to be only about 10cm big. Myabe get a few more neon (2-3) Just for comfort matters. Other thank that i think it's fine!

 

[lisaz]

I like when they chase each other. I really do think it is mostly playing and just showing off.
Right now I am in the midst of a bacterial bloom so I am testing my water (being the paranoid person that I am) every day and doing small water changes every other day. I am no where near ready for more fish, I had no clue how much I did not know! LOL
When I am ready (and more secure) I want to do it right. Set the tank up, grab some substrate from my current tank and add it there and use the filter media in the new tank (even if I just drop it in for a few days) to get the cycle going.
Once I get all the levels right I want to add Wallie then a few new fish the Hatter then new fish then move the others over.
After that I might start the 20 gallon over with new fish.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

When I am ready (and more secure) I want to do it right. Set the tank up, grab some substrate from my current tank and add it there and use the filter media in the new tank (even if I just drop it in for a few days) to get the cycle going.
Once I get all the levels right I want to add Wallie then a few new fish the Hatter then new fish then move the others over.
After that I might start the 20 gallon over with new fish.

If possible a good way to do it will be to do an overlap, i.e. if possible run the filter from your new tank in your old tank for a few weeks before the switchover, then move both of them across to the new tank and leave the old filter in there for a few weeks after. If that works there should be no cycle for you to worry about.

 

[lisaz]

Thank you!
I really do like the people here.