Well, Hi!

[Hair]

Hey, my name is Brandon. I'm 23, and just bought a 26 gallon brackish tank from my sister.

My sister and I both owned aquariums as kids. I had mostly Fancy Goldfish and always some Catfish, and she had Neons, Guppies, etc... Our other sister also had a Betta.

When we moved (when I was around 14), our aquariums were already in neglected shape, and we decided not to set them up again in the new house.

But I have always loved fish and water-life and I have been getting the urge to get an aquarium again. On Saturday I finally decided to go for it and asked my sister (who works at a pet store) about pricing. She told me a 10 gallon fresh water tank would cost around $150 with all of the bells and whistles, and fish. But then she mentioned that she would sell me her system for that price!

I didn't even know she had an aquarium! In the move we lost her Pleco, but I bought a replacement today (I know it might be jumping the gun). Anyways, here is the tank:

26 Gallon Bowfront
Brackish
1 Blood Parot Cichlid
1 Jewel Cichlid
1 Convict Cichlid
1 Electric Blue Cichlid
1 Headstander
1 Pleco Catfish
1 Snowflake Eel

And lots of plants and caves.

So far all is going well, but I wouldn't mind some advice.

Is this fish set-up fine? I know it depends on the fish and their personality, but do these guys all co-exist and are happy in the same water? My sister says the Eel might need more salt than the rest of them, but I have also read that they can live in freshwater.

The Eel does most hide, but I assume that is normal for an Eel.

The Headstander is 50/50. He will sit in his little spot behind some driftwood, and then he'll come out and swim a while. Is this normal, or should be be more active?

The Pleco is new, so I can't tell how he will adjust. Right now he is mostly just sucking on the back of the tank and rarely swimming around. I hope he will become more relaxed and comfortable and cover more ground. My sister's Pleco (as well as all of the Plecos I had in the past) would traverse the entire tank.

My Blood Parot does chase the other Cichlids, but I have read that Blood Parots have poor jaws and cannot do much harm. This seems to be the case as none of my fish have any visable injuries. So are they safe?

What fish can I add to the tank? My sister said some Puffers and Angel Fish will do okay as long as they are large enough to hold their own. Is this true?

Is there more room in my tank? I am very obsessive (more so than when I was a child with fish), and have been monitoring my tank stats. I am not against doing water changes constantly. Given I will be taking good care of the tank, can I add more fish? Or for a 26-gallon am I pretty much at the max? BTW, the Cichlids are all about finger-length with the Blood Parot being the biggest at almost 4 inches. The Headstander is slightly longer by skinny. There seems to be a lot of room left, so I am more concerned about waste.

I tested the amonia today and it was high (4-ish), so I did a 50% water change and will continue to monitor and change. The Nitrates and PH are fine.

I must say, the Python is amazing. I am willing to do a water change every day with this thing! I wish I had them when I was a kid!

I also have a small Betta tank my sister gave me when she sold me her Brackish. I bought a blue female today, and I love her.

I am going to get a 10 gallon freshwater community tank as soon as my Brackish tank is running smoothly and well-adjusted.

Sorry for the long into and many questions, but I am loving having fish again so much! This forum has been great for learning (I have been lurking here for a few days).

[Tornado]

I would say for a 26 gallon you are overcrowded quite a bit there. I wouldnt add any new fish until you get a bigger aquarium. Cichlids as you know tend to be territorial and like their space, in a 26 gallon with that many fish, they dont have that personal space.

Your fish appear to still be fairly young, and will grow even bigger. The only fish I have personal experiance with that you have is the Convict, and they will get upwards of half a foot long, and prefer more room.

I would keep a close close watch on your Amonia levels, and keep the tank well aerated.

About the pleco- it may appear he isnt very active, or as active as you wish he would be, but remember Pleco's are generally nocturnal, and get really active at night, when the lights are out.

Welcome to AC!

[Glasstapper]

Yes, this is a great site to learn. Have you already read the Ebook? It's full of helpful information, and I learned quite a lot from that one alone.

I, too, obsess about my tank. I'm trying to be patient through this cycling process.

Anyway, welcome and enjoy!

[Severus]

I would say you are overcrowded and as soon as you can try to get a larger tank. You are probably gonna run into some aggresion issues down the road. Good luck with everything and let us know how things work out. Also Welcome to AC

[kimmers318]

Ummmmm, am I the only one who is wondering about this group of fish in a "brackish" set up? Plecos/catfish do not tolerate salt for long periods of time, haven't kept any of the other fish, but have not heard that they are brackish either. I have always thought they were freshwater.

[William]

I was thinking the same Kimmers. I am sorry to say that it isn't really a good setup. It mixes fish with very different demands and behaviour. The snowflake eel (shy is normal) is a brackish water fish while the head stander and the pleco shouldn't be kept in brackish water.

Also most of those fish grows to large to be kept in a 26 gallon tank.

I would recommend finding new homes for those fish and start over with a new setup or atleast remove either the moray (snowflake) and make it freshwater or the pleco/headstander and keeping it as is.

Sorry to tell you this.

[mvivas96]

hello,
i am new to this site, and have some questions of my own about aquarium fish and possibly overstocking a tank.

[mvivas96]

i had a 29 gallon community freshwater tank with the following fish:
2 clown loaches
4 cory cats
2 dwarf guarami's
1 hi fin lyretail swordtail
1 pleco
1 black molly
and 8 red-eye tetras.

i have since upgraded to a 55 gallon tank, and i am wondering if this combination is still overcowded to a 55 gal tank?
any info would be appreciated,
thanks.

[Tornado]

Hello Mvivas and welcome, for those 19 fish, in a 55 gallon, I wouldnt say you are overcrowded. Im assuming your loaches are still pretty small however. You are sitting good in my opinion with that stock. For a 29 gallong, yea, you would have been a bit overcrowded, but still not as overcrowded as hair's tank. Although you have more fish than he does, he is stocking a lot of cichlids, and fish that can grow rather large. Your 8 red-eye tetras for example will only get 2.5 to 3 inches long at full adult. Same with your cory cats. The only fish that could get pretty large there are the Pleco and the 2 clown loaches, but they grow very slowly to my understanding.

[Hair]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I was going to start another aquarium once this one got stable, but maybe I will use the new aquarium to split up the fish I have now. Re-homing is also an option.

I must say that the fish all seem very happy. There seems to be a lot of space, and the tank is very lively. But I guess the problem is that it would not last.

Do not be sorry William (or anyone else). This advice will allow me to fix or at least improve the set up before things get worse.

[Lady Hobbs]

Yikes. This tank isn't even cycled yet if you just moved it. The Parrot will get about 6 inches alone. Way too many fish to start with.