Am I Over-Stocked???

[janky]

I have a 55 gal with 2 mid-sized angelfish and 3 babies. We have a school of 10 xray tetra, 1 dwarf cockatoo apisto, and 1 dwarf eunotus (blue cheek) apisto. For bottom feeding I have two plecos of smaller breeds (hi-fin spotted and gold nugget).

Am I at capacity?

I know the angels will get big and I have a buddy who actually wants a couple of them. (I do want to keep all of them if possible)

The reason I ask is because I want to add 1 GBR or maybe a couple more of the xrays to the school. Bad idea?

I feel like they all have plenty of room in there, and the bioload isn't bad - my tank stays at zeros across the board with 15% WC weekly.

Either way I want to make sure my fish are happy and healthy in their home, so I figured I should ask

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

I think you're good with stock
Hifin spotted plec? Can you post a pic? If its a common sailfin pleco they get as large as a common plec
& 55G is the minimum for that gold nugget, I wouldn't be sure to rather large plecs would be good
Your nitrAtes are at 0?
Perhaps once the baby angels have grown & are rehomed you might be able to add more fish

 

[BBradbury]

Your "Overstocked" Question

Hello janky...

Water property readings of zero across the board should be a concern. You want zeros for ammonia and nitrite, but you should have a trace of nitrates in the water.

You need to be changing half the water in the tank weekly, if you expect to have stable water conditions.

I'd suggest you look into replacing your water testing kit, asap.

B

 

[janky]

Well, the color looks very close to the zero, I dunno it's color coded so it could be "trace" amounts. I only really test the nitrates once a week or so.

 

[janky]

and here's the pleco... I think he's a spotted hi fin

he looks identical to this guy when he's all colorful and has his fin flared up

http://pet.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pPETS-6963444dt.jpg


I'm really hoping he doesn't get like a foot and a half long - I don't want to rehome him

 

[absolutangel04]

What kind of test kit do you have?
Figuring out your water parameter situation is important, but that aside for a moment, behaviorally speaking, you should be fine with a gbr and a few more xrays IMO. So, assuming your test kit is a good, liquid one, I think adding those fish would be fine.
I am not sure about your pleco. Some of them look very similar, especially when young.

 

[janky]

I have the API liquid test kit. But I assumed everything should be zero... when i test the nitrAtes it always comes out a bold, almost dark yellow but not quite the orange color that indicates 5 ppm
So i always just assumed that was 0 or close enough.
the ammonia and nitrIte have been zero for quite some time.

The good news is that I did some searching on CL and found a 75 g cheap. I know a couple people that wanted a new tank, so if I can sell them mine I will break about even on the deal and get a bigger tank!

if I can pull that off over the weekend then we should have plenty of room for the stock and I wont have to worry when the pleco gets bigger.
I looked him up and it's definitely a leopard or hi fin spotted. Apparently they get like 14-18 inches!

 

[Paulcm10]

yah that should be okay. as long as you keep up with your pwc