So...Am I overstocked?

[Badger]

So, someone left a comment on my post in the Welcome forum, kinda sounded to me like they thought I was overstocked. Overstocking is very bad. I'd rather not be overstocked, and I thought I was good for now. Most of the reason I am asking is because an LFS had albino plecos for $6 and I'd really like one, even though I know I don't need another pleco...

In my 36 gallon bowfront aquarium I have currently: 1 blue lobster (medium size), 2 dwarf blue paradise gouramis, 5 neon tetras, 2 zebra danios, 4 guppies, 2 small plecos, a Borino Sucker, 2 adult swordtails, one tiny baby swordtail, and about 6 ghost shrimp.
I have lots of plants, a Cascade 600 internal filter, and a dual tube light with power-glo bulbs in it. No fish have died recently, everyone seems to be happy, no fin nipping, I watch them for hours every day, feed them different foods and such a few times a day, keep the filter at about half power and use the spray bar for lil bubbles. Water temp is at 77 and stays there. So...overstocked? other problems? ph is at 7.6 I believe, and I am working on getting other tests such as nitrates and nitrites. I wouldn't stray too far from the inch per fish rule, but the fish grow and it's hard to line em up and measure them...they tend to flop around...
Help is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Burks]

I can't help answer your question but does the Blue Lobster play nice with the other fish? I see them at my LFS and they look cool. Not $18 cool but.....

 

[Badger]

Heh, mine hasn't eaten a fish for a long time. Having said that, I wouldn't trust him with a small expensive fish. When he was liddle, he would eat a little tiny neon once in a while. Maybe he's a peacekeeper...
$18? I paid $20 for mine, on sale... I'd say he's very worth it now. Most entertaining thing in my tank, climbing plants, following ghost shrimp around, standing on top of rocks like he's the king of the world, cool stuffins....

 

[Jchillin]

I guess I missed your post in the Welcome Wagon so let me say Welcome to AA here.

Just a couple of questions so I understand where you are. How long has this tank been running? When you say plants, are these live or fake? You have small plecos. Do you know what species?

It's possible that you are overstocked. You also have a lot of bottom dwellers that are not only aggressive (blue crayfish) but are also large waste producers. That, coupled with the livebearer's (you could suddenly have a ton of swordtail/guppy offspring roaming about), could conceivably knock your biological balance off kilter.

 

[DepotFish]

You seem well-stocked to me, but one small pleco could work. The inch per fish rule is for their grown size. You do not measure the exact fish you have in the tank. You stock by adult size inches. Right now you have 69" of adult fish in the tank.
Here's a 2D scaled picture of your tank and residents (fully grown). Now there is no depth in the picture, but it gives you a sense of space. I don't know what kind of plecos you have, so I kept them at 5".

 

[Badger]

Jchillin: the tank has been running for about 3-4 months, all live plants, I'm not sure what species of pleco I have, but they're pretty dark colored and looks like the cheap type everyone has, the ones that can get really big (I don't plan on keeping a huge pleco in this tank). I keep my babies in another tank when possible, I have a calendar marked with when the livebearers have babies, and move the mother into a breeding tank. I did recently miss a day and one of the guppies had babies, but they were all eaten except for one. Is the crayfish the only aggressive bottom dweller? I can move one pleco out, I'm rememering that I only put him in there because of a large algae problem.
DepotFish: Cool diagram, thanks for the info.