fishrule101

Hi to all thoses new aquarists!! Anyways I was wondering if my if tank is overstocked because I'm thinking of getting new fish. I have two tetras that were dyed( I did not know they were dyed), one red clawed crab, one ghost shrimp, one paradise gourami, three hi fined platies, two swordtails, one female betta, and one four month blue platy. My fish tank is in a marine scenery so there are lots of rocks like a marine one. I'm thinking of adding a powerhead to make the flow of the tank the same through out. i'm thinking of getting four ghost shrimps so the shrimp is not all by him self,three kuhli loaches, one more female swordtail, another crab, and a blue gourami. Will that be over stocked?? I have a 28 bow front fish tank.

angelfish220

well what do the numbers say...

tetras- I'm guessing - 4
gourami--------------4
platies---------------8
swordtails-----------10
betta---------------2.5
crab-----------------1
and the grand total- 29.5


basically you are stocked a little over, but i think that you could maintain it. the problem is the female betta, she cant be kept in there as she will get very agressive. I would recommend getting a 10 gal for her.

fishrule101

My female betta is really not agressive she just likes to stay at the bottom of the tank and swimming throught the rocks. I didn't get what the numbers you put in ment.

sirdarksol

Yes, I would think that your tank is overstocked (though I'm too lazy to add things up right now, the guideline is 1" of adult size per gallon of tank)

You could add more shrimp, as they don't really have much of a bioload. I wouldn't suggest any other fish or crabs, though.

Edit: I got ninja'd due to a severely slow connection right now.
The betta might get aggressive. (Okay, I would say probably). It may take weeks or months, but including bettas in community tanks usually ends with the aquarist having to get a tank for the betta. The other fish may also nip her fins.

See the first line of this to get what the numbers in the second post of this thread mean.

Lucy

Hi fishrule

I with agree with angelfish about the betta.

I came up with 32" (I could be wrong) for your existing stock excluding the crab and shrimp):


7 platys 14" (2")
2 swordtail 10" (5")
1 Paradise Gourami 2.5" (2.5")
1 betta 2.5" (2.5")
2 tetra 3" (1.5" or larger)
Red clawed Crab....not sure..I read up to 4" but that includes their legs.

I wouldn't add anything else, as you are overstocked.

How old is your tank? Is it cycled?

Lucy

sorry for the double post..angelfish and I have added up the size of your fish times the number of fish you have.
Sirdarksol said he was lazy. lol

angelfish220

the numbers are how long those fish get. one paridise fish get 4 inches long, so they get a 4. one swordtail gets 5 inches you have 2 so that gets a 10 ect...

Supposidly you should have 28 inches because your tank is 28 gallons. course that is just an estimate of how much waste that fish produces.

fishrule101

My tank is about two months old. I was really thinking of getting a german blue ram or a boliavian one.

fishrule101

Lucy i only have three platyies not seven.

Lucy

sorry read that as 4 blue platys not a 4 month old platy, lol, sorry. But it is 4 including the baby?

Your still pretty close but manageable with lots of water changes.

fishrule101

yes thats four including the baby.