Stocking Issues and Stressed Fish

[Sjasmin888]

I have 4 fish tanks. Two 20 gallon, one 10 gallon, and one 5.5 gallon. I need to find the best way to keep all of these fish in these 4 tanks. Yes I am aware that these fish in this percentage of water is overstocked, all tanks are heavily planted and I stay on top of my water changes. I need to rearrange my inhabitants because of a single stressed ram that I am unwilling to get rid of.

Here is my current stocking of all 4 tanks and the temp set for each one(I can't change temperature in these tanks):

20 gallon/ 80 degrees
1 otocinclus
1 bristlenose pleco 1.5 inch
1 green phantom pleco 4 inch
5 zebra danios
1 kribensis 4 inch(male)
1 german ram 3.5 inch (male)
2 banjo cats 2 inch
1 banjo cat 3 inch
1 twig catfish 8 inch

5.5 gallon/ 76
3 german rams 2 inch (female)
1 rope fish 4 inch
1 rope fish 6 inch
6 assassin snails

10 gallon/80 degrees
2 german blue rams (mating pair, no young as of yet)

20 gallon/76 degrees
8 golden wcmm
1 rainbow shark 5 inches
1 kribensis 4 inches (male)
3 hillstream loaches

I really, really need to separate 1 of the female rams in my 5.5 from the rope fish. They stress her too much. Pleas help!

 

[Sjasmin888]

Pics of the tanks

Pics of the tanks in the order I listed them in the original post.

 

[TeenyFish]

Okay... as you seem to have noticed, you have some stocking issues.

. Ottos need to be kept in groups of at least 6 for optimum health and happiness, and to better promote natural behaviour.

. The bristlenose is in its minimum tank size as it is. It'd be okay left in there, but, it needs the number of tankmates reduced. A lot.

. GP pleco need a minimum tank size of 60g. (Or the footprint of one, anyway).

. Zebra Danio need a minimum of 6 as above.

. Kribs should be kept in pairs for their health etc.

. The banjo cat's are in their minimum tank size, and again, whilst technically okay, 3 of those, plus 2 pleco, plus other cats, and ropefish... it's way too much.

. 8 inch is huge for a twig... anyway. Again, technically okay in the 20g, but not with anything else.
It's also a high-maintenance fish. Should be with its own species so it doesn't get pushed out at feeding time, and requires pristine water.


. The rams need at least a 20g tank, are territorial, and shouldn't be housed with anything other than perhaps a school of dither fish.

. Rope fish grow to 3 foot long, and need at least 150g.

. 6 assassin snails is probably pushing it for 5.5g. 2 would be ample.


. Rams still need 20g.


. WCMM need much much cooler water, around 64*. Keeping them much higher than that will drastically shorten their lifespan.

. Rainbow shark is in it's minimum tank size. Hillstream loach is not a good idea in with this as it'll bully them.

. Krib as above.

. Hillstream loach in their minimum tank size. They also need much cooler water, as the WCMM. They also need super-filtered with bubblers and whatever else to super-oxygenate the water.


Your ram is stressed because of the teeny tank she's been put in, with other fish that have no business being there.

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but the reality is that one stressed ram is only the start of the problems.

How long have these tanks been running?

How long have you had all these fish?

You need to consider either investing in like a 200g tank, or three 60g tanks, or returning 90% of your fish and starting again with fish better suited to the sizes you have.

You have some beautiful tanks there (I especially personally love the last two), and they'll make beautiful homes for some lucky fish. Just, not the fish you have currently.

 

[Autumnsky]

You do have stocking compatibility issues and some over stocking. You need a much larger tank(s) for many of the fish you listed.

Ropefish do NOT belong living in a 5.5G /Unless you meant 55G? You don't really have any fish which would be a good fit for a 5.5G.

So the obvious recomendation would be to get a MUCH larger tank. But a 40G breeder to start off for the Ropefish would be fne for a little while. They will need a much larger tank and appropriate tank mates which won't become dinner. They are a fish which will eat other fish they can fit in their mouths.

Rehome some fish...???

Another option is to write down on a paper which fish are the ones you really want to keep, see if their NEEDS like tank size, substrates, temps and sizes, mating or separation of males and females, etc. match, to see what can go together.

If you have something that does not fit into the plan then it needs it's own appropriate tank or a new home.

 

[TeenyFish]

Another option is to write down on a paper which fish are the ones you really want to keep, see if their NEEDS like tank size, substrates, temps and sizes, mating or separation of males and females, etc. match, to see what can go together.

If you have something that does not fit into the plan then it needs it's own appropriate tank or a new home.

+1 for this idea.
It's what I had to do when I started out and realised I'd overstocked a tiny tank.

If you post it here, we can help you sort out what goes where.

 

[Autumnsky]

+1 for this idea.
It's what I had to do when I started out and realised I'd overstocked a tiny tank.

If you post it here, we can help you sort out what goes where.

Yup, we are here to help.

 

[Sjasmin888]

I started the hobby with one 20 gallon in November 2016. The twig and green phantom will be moved to my mother's 60 gallon tank within the next few months. The two ropefish are being moved to a 14 gallon until they get big enough to go in my friends 90 gallon (he has two already, but his Africans may mistake these little guys for food). My breeding ram pair have been in that 10 gallon since February and water quality has always stayed good and they actually only stopped being visible and active when I removed the glo danios I had in there as dither fish. The 5.5 gallon tank was never meant to house fish to begin with, it was a temporary home for the assassin snails while I treated their normal tank for inch, to which I lost not a single fish. Hillstream loaches and wcmm are housed in cooler water because of oxygen content in cooler vs. warmer which I have very adequately taken car of with two filters rated for 30 gallon tanks, a powerhead, and a full length of back wall bubble wall. I am in the process of setting up a 29 gallon tank to pull bioload out of my current ones, however it is a used tank and i need the time to adequately clean it. I am currently only trying to move fish around to combat aggression until I can get that tank set up which was the purpose of my asking for help. I am very much willing to put in the time to keep my water quality stable and be sure all my fish get enough to eat. I am just truing to do a temporary fix until I can get my bigger tank cleaned, filled and cycled.

 

[Sjasmin888]

I suppose I should have stated in the original post that this is simply a two week fix to keep a single ram from dying of stress before she can be properly homed.

 

[TeenyFish]

The point is... there isn't a temporary fix because none of the tanks are really suitable for, well, anything.

Tank size isn't just about the size of the fish and it's surroundings, or it's bioload and cleanliness. It's also about the activity level.
You could be kept in a 6 foot square room for life, keep it supremely clean, be given plenty of food every day... doesn't mean you'd be happy about it.

Same with temperatures. Even in cool water, HS loaches require tonnes of oxygen. It's also about the temp they're naturally found at. If HS and WCMM were supposed to be in tropical waters, they'd be found in tropical waters.
You could spend the first 30 years of your life in Alaska, then move to South Africa. Would you survive the temp? Absolutely. Could you adjust? Sure. Would you be as happy/comfortable as if you'd moved to, Idaho? Probably not.

There's a difference between surviving and thriving.
You care about your fish, that much is clear, but there's a lot of fish here in unfair situations. Under your care, they may well survive a lot longer than with someone who wouldn't be as diligent, it just seems if you care enough to do all that, you would care enough to actually want them to be happy.

The answer to your question: put the ram in whichever tank you think will work best for the temporary fix.

The answer to your post: rehome your fish, either personally or elsewhere.

They're your fish, your tanks, and you can of course do what you like. All we're here for is to give you information.

 

[abw0004]

You need to get those Rams rehomed immediately. Take them to your LFS. They will take them. WAY too small tanks for those fish. Those are extremely sensitive fish. They say minimum 20 gallons for Rams and they mean it. Absolutely nothing smaller than that. And no more than one pair per tank under 40 gallons.