overstocked?

[mikemou]

Hi,
I have a 55 gal long sparsely-planted community tank with a relatively low bioload until recent weeks when I became fish-buying happy.
I used to have:
6 zebra danions;
3 neon tetras;
3 adult Koi angels;
2 Bos???? rainbow fish;
2 CAE;
1 guppy.
They were all happy and healthy.

I added the followings this past 2 weeks:
1 Bos???? rainbow fish;
5 lemon tetras;
1 blue(?) dwarf gourami -- mercy-killed yesterday(see other thread);
1 orange(?) dwarf gourami;
2 juv. black angles.

I started noticing mildly increased level of restlessness of the angels and rainbows after the 2 small angels were added, there were more chasing arounds, too. But no visible agressiveness or hostility between them.

Did I overstock it?

Oh, BTW, if this tank is still in good shape, I'd like to add amano shrimps to take care of the algae buildups because my CAEs have lost interests in them.

Thanks!

 

[TomK2]

Well, the more fish, the more maintenance. You can deal with the stock you have now. As the fish grow, you may find the need for more water changes, gravel vacs, and filter cleaning. Watch the angels, it doesn't take that much chasing around to lose an angel, see my how to decimate your angelfish population thread Especially when the angel fish are different sizes and ages. Look at your tank. Does it look a little empty? if so, it is probably stocked just right. Does it look busy? probably a bit over stocked. If it looks crowded to you, think how the fish feel Right now, my tank looks busy, so I am overstocked slightly. but I water change like crazy to make upfor it.

 

[RoK]

Sounds like you're fully stocked now. The "dwarf gouramis" you speak of are actually more likely Trichogaster trichopterus which aren't dwarf gouramis and are actually the Blue and Gold gourami (the gold and blue are the same species).

 

[mikemou]

...Does it look busy? probably a bit over stocked. If it looks crowded to you, think how the fish feel...

Yeah it is a bit busy in the mid/top part of the tank, the lower/bottom part looks fine.
I'm hoping my LFS will take the two CAEs back to make room for Amano shrimps. Also they are very territorial. Not my kind of fish.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[RoK]

I'm hoping my LFS will take the two CAEs back to make room for Amano shrimps.

That would be a good idea.

 

[X the Outsider]

You are overstocked. Not at the moment, but IF all of those fish reach their max size you'll have issues. Remember 1 inch per 1 gallon of adult size fish.