Will I have too much fish?

[Sasquatch]

I've got a little question about my aquarium.

As mentionned in my sig, I have 5 platies and a bumblebee catfish in my 10g tank. It's also pretty heavily planted with a bunch of Hygrophila, some Hemianthus (which has yet to take off, but ....) and two other "fern" type plants.

What isn't mentionned in my sig is that ATM we have two baby platies as well. They're only about 1/2" long right now, but they're growing.

My question is: When the fry get to adult size, will I have too many fish in my aquarium?

Right now, our water quality is good with no ammonia or nitrites and the nitrates under control, but as the fry get larger, is this likely to overload the tank?

Thanks all.

[muffin]

Well.. you are probably stocked to the brim as it is right now. The general rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish to each gallon of water.. you have 10 gallons of water and probably over 10 inches of fish right now.. Just keep ahead on your water changes and it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[freshwaterfishlover]

How long is your Catfish? Depending on your Catfish size you maybe already over stocked.

[minabird]

Since your tank is heavily planted, the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates resulting from the 2 growing baby platies should be used by the plants as nutrients and your water quality should be fine while they are growing. Just keep regulary checking your water parameters to make sure your ammonia and nitrites remain at 0. Any excess ammonia and nitrites not used by your plants will slowly rise and you should see the trend long before they get to toxic levels; then you'll know you've maxed out your tank's bioload and need to start either increasing your water changes or move 1 or 2 of your fish.

Other than the water chemistry, the only other overstocking concern would be space for all of your fish to live in peace. As the babies get bigger, watch for signs of aggression; that will be the most obvious sign of overcrowding.

[Sasquatch]

As it stands, with the 5 platies, we're at about the 10" mark, the catfish is about 2.5".

We bought the catfish to avoid this problem, but the two fry were too big for him to munch on by the time we moved him out of quarantine.

Our water chemistry is good and we'll start pruning some of the Hygrophila, so in growing they should take up some of the nitrogenous wastes. If the other plants can do something, all the better.

As far as space goes, things are good now. No aggression between the fish, except for the usual skirt chasing by the male. If anything, the catfish needs to assert himself and fight for his food.

[Drumachine09]

Well.. you are probably stocked to the brim as it is right now. The general rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish to each gallon of water.. you have 10 gallons of water and probably over 10 inches of fish right now.. Just keep ahead on your water changes and it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

There is no predefined rule. You could put more than 10 inches of fish in a 10g, provided they produce little waste. You wouldnt want to put a 10 inch fish in a 10 gallon, would you? you could get away with, ive seen, up to 15" of fish in a 10g. They were one inch fish, but that still is enough to discredit the rule. The best way to find out how much you can have is to ask sombody with experiance, even if you think you know better.

[Sasquatch]

Well, the problem seems to have resolved itself.

We went to a friends birthday party yesterday and got home a little late. The lights had already gone out in the tank when we got home. We threw in some brine shrimp for Bumblebee, but it may have been a little too late.

We checked the tank this morning and couldn't find the two remaining fry ...

Guess he did his job afterall! :1:

[Severus]

Your stocked to the limit but you can easily pull it off. Just keep up with regular maintenance. Since you lost the two fry you should be fine.

[muffin]

There is no predefined rule. You could put more than 10 inches of fish in a 10g, provided they produce little waste. You wouldnt want to put a 10 inch fish in a 10 gallon, would you? you could get away with, ive seen, up to 15" of fish in a 10g. They were one inch fish, but that still is enough to discredit the rule. The best way to find out how much you can have is to ask sombody with experiance, even if you think you know better.


I have seen a 10 inch and a 7 inch fish together in a 20 gallon tank... I thought the guy was crazy... he was selling the tank on ebay.. fish included... I would have bought it but I didn't have a 55+ gallon tank..
Obviously fish need swimming room...

[bettaboy691]

what sex are your platies, if you have 5 platies, my guess is either, more than one male, resurting in aggression between the males, or 4 females, all thats having fry over the months, you tanks going to become over stocked heavily(if its not already now) all it takes is one fry to survive,hiding to escape the catfishes jaws. maybe considering swapping your platies for other fish you live that dont breed as easy?

[Sasquatch]

I have one male and 4 females.

To date the catfish has been able to gobble up the fry that have been produced. Considering that the two he ate last night were 6-7 weeks old, he'll have plenty of time to root out any fry hiding out in the tank.

That said, we're going to up the water changes to twice a week (20% each time). Between that and the proliferating plants, it should take care of our nitrogenous wastes.

Thanks all for the input.