Overstocked??

[Sparklymoo]

Hi, I am new to the forum so hello all!!

I have asked several aquatic shops and googled to find out if I am over stocked ..... But everyone and every web page seem to say different!!

So..... I have a 300L freshwater aquarium with good water levels and is planted. The tank has been running for 6 months.

I have :

2 angelfish
1 gold shark
4 white cloud minnows
2 freshwater crabs
2 algae eaters
4 dwarf gouramis

I have been told by one shop that I have loads of room left and by another (half a mile down the road) that I am awfully overstocked!!!!

I just want an experienced aquarist to tell me some facts as I am getting mixed messages, I looked on think fish but read a thread on here that said they were terribly unreliable!

Cheers in advance!!

 

[Alyxx]

Welcome! I don't think you are overstocked, however there are no true freshwater crabs. The crabs sold as freshwater all actually required brackish water, and they are not fully aquatic and need a land area to walk on. They will die if they can't get out of the water, and if there is no salt (marine salt, not freshwater aquarium salt) in their water. They need their own separate habitat with a sandy land area and water at a salinity around 1.008. Also, white cloud minnows are cold water fish that do better at lower temperatures than your other fish need. Also, what kind of algae eaters do you have? If they are common plecos then yes, you are badly overstocked since they get to 2 feet long sometimes and need at least 120 gallons each.

 

[Sparklymoo]

Arghhh!!! The aqua man lied!!!! See, my local fish shops are so controversial!!! They all say different things!! I was told (2 months ago) when I got these crabs that they do not need a surface to get out of the water on and hey would be fine, he said "they'll only climb out if you give them a platform ". Looks like they'll be moving house!! They are Siamese algy eaters, I had a HUGE common plec some time ago and wouldn't have one again seeing how big they get!! the white cloud minnows seem really happy, thy were the first fish I put in to cycle the tank and they are lovely things!! I am glad that it doesn't seem overstocked, only I wouldn't like to live in a tiny room with too many people in, so why should my fish
Cheers

 

[jcolon]

Agree with Alyxx on the type of Algae Eaters? Common Pleco's get LARGE.

 

[Austin.b]

Arghhh!!! The aqua man lied!!!! See, my local fish shops are so controversial!!! They all say different things!! I was told (2 months ago) when I got these crabs that they do not need a surface to get out of the water on and hey would be fine, he said "they'll only climb out if you give them a platform ". Looks like they'll be moving house!! Cheers!!

Can you attatch a picture? There are some true freshwater crabs that dont need any land. They go through their whole life in pure freshwater. they're called microcrabs and I have two of them in my shrimp tank

 

[Sparklymoo]

Can you attatch a picture? There are some true freshwater crabs that dont need any land. They go through their whole life in pure freshwater. they're called microcrabs and I have two of them in my shrimp tank

They are red clawed micro crabs. I can photo them. When they come out from under the bogwood!!!

 

[Sparklymoo]

Crab cuisine coaxed them out

 

[djtypykuhl]

Oxygen exchange rule: Length x Width on tank = surface area
(ex. my 10g is 20x10, so 200in sq.)
take surface area divided by 12.5
(200/12.5 = 16)
Natural oxygen exchange by surface are can support this many inches of fish
Live plants help you push this rule a little, because they add more oxygen to the tank

***this rule is only concerned with the oxygen levels. you may need to research idividual fish species to see how much waste they produce, whether or not they can manage in a tank with loads of fish, etc.***

 

[Alyxx]

I think those crabs will be ok, as long as they are what the store says they are. If you can, get their scientific name from the store to be positive. Common names get confusing. I forget about those micro crabs, I've never seen one in real life and I only heard of them the first time a few months ago. I have never seen pictures of red ones before, though. Just be sure they are really micro crabs and not regular red claw or fiddler crabs!