Mikka

Ok I was told that my tank was WAY overstocked and I would like some clarification. I have a 10g tank, in this tank I have 1 pleco, 2 swordtails and 3 danios. I was told (not from fishlore) that a good rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gal of water. Which in my case would be 7 inches (2 per swordtail and 1 per danio) BUT do I count the pleco because the pleco eats algae and not fish food?

Melissawater

Welcome to FL Mikka!
What kind of pleco do you have? Even though it only eats algae it still does take up room and therefore should be counted, but there are more experienced people here who can help you more on if you are overstocked.

Lucy

Hi Mikka, if I haven't said it before, welcome to FishLore
The 1" per gallon is more of a guide line than a rule. It only works for smaller fish. You have to go by the adult size fish, not their size when you buy them. Swim room and Temperament must also be considered.
Swordtails can grow up to 5" and the danios 2". That's 16" of fish, not including th pleco.

Your pleco (if a common) gets huge, up to 18", they create too much waste for a 10g tank. The pleco cannot live on algea alone. You'll need to supplement his diet with algea wafers.

Best of luck with your tank.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!
with a plecos bioload, even if a small one , is about 5 times the size of that tank...if its common pleco, they need a 55g tank as small plecs and even larger as adults...they can go to 2 feet...but juvies do not belong in 10 gal tanks because of their poo...lucy

Melissawater

Lol well put Shawnie!

Mikka

This is a picture of my pleco named Pico He has grown quite quickly but we were never told that we needed to substitute his diet nor anything else that all of you had said. I thought we had asked the right questions and gotten the info that we needed. I have been thinking about getting a couple of ghost shrimp to help with the "between the gravel" gunk but now I don't know if that is a good idea or not. That would explain why the female swordtail is acting like a witch on wheels since they are overcrowded. I don't really have a way to remedy the overcrowding of the tank at the moment Would adding back in their plants make the situation worse? I had to take them out to treat for ICH.

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Amanda

That's a comnon pleco, it would be best if you could possibly take it to a LFS for re-homing.

Mikka

What is an LFS?

Lucy

Is the other swordtail a male? With live bearers, there should be a ratio of 3 females to 1male to keep the female from being harassed. Unfortunatly, you don't have room to add anymore fish.
The plants may give her more places to hide.
Ghost shrimp don't add to the bio-load, but they can be sensitive to water parameters.

You should check out Craig's List or Frecycle.org. You can usually find some good deals on used tanks.

Edit: LFS=Local Fish Store.
Here are some other common abbreviations you might see on the forum:
Abbreviations, Initialisms, Acronyms, and other Lingo

Mikka

Yes the other swordtail is a male, and yet again that ratio was never told to us even after we asked about schooling and ratios of males to females and things like that. Are ghost shrimp easy to suck up when you are doing a water change?

I actually JUST did about 6g water change to get some of the coppersafe (from treating ich) out and to clean the gravel a bit, aside from the mouthful of dirty aquarium water all went well. We have a bigger 29?g tank but we can't get that set up just yet because we have to move the whole livingroom around. But now I am thinking that we might just want to see if someone will trade us for a bigger one.

Lucy

You can use carbon to filter out the copper. Shrimp are sensitive to it.
They'd be easy to suck up when vacuuming.
Ghost shrimp are really hard to see sometimes and they can hide. You could look right at them and not see them.
I used to move mine to a 1g so I didn't suck anyone up. Those babies can jump....high! So be careful.

Many of us know all about moving furniture to make room for tanks.
The 29 would be great for your fish, but the pleco will need a 55g.
You could use your 10g as a quarantine tank.

Mikka

How come the pleco needs to be in a 55g? as opposed to the 29? If the 1 inch to 1g guideline is in play? My other half is the one that got me really into aquariums but we really dont have room for the 29 AND a 55. We will after our roommate moves out though. But places will probably freeze before that happens. I am at a loss as of what to do!

Amanda

The 1 in. per 1 gal. is a guideline NOT a rule.
Common plecos get HUGE. Over 18", and need a VERY large tank. I have one in a 55 right now, but he will be moving to a 150 gal. very soon because of his size.

Amanda

I also see that you have a goldie in a 1 gal.? The goldfish would do VERY well in the 29 gal. you have. They really need a good sized tank as they get very big.

Lucy

Agreeing with Amanda here. In post #3, it's also explained this is a guide line and only for fish that stay small.
It has many flaws, like you wouldn't put a 10" fish in a 10g tank.
Perhaps you can trade him for one of the smaller plecos? Maybe a bristle nose, they're pretty cute and get to be about 4" (more suited to your 29g than the 10g)

Mikka

I know some fish will only grow as big as their surroundings... I take it plecos aren't like that? I am going to see about getting a WAY bigger tank like lucy said from freecycle or craigslist. after the roommate moves out will we beable to start trading up and such because we will be getting new furniture and have another room in our house opened up. what fish are good for the tanks that I have that will make the tank look pretty but still make the fish comfortable?

Amanda

What that is called is Stunting. It's very painful & cruel for the fish - and greatly limits their lifespan.
The goldfish really should be moved to the 29 gal. ASAP.
The pleco would need a 55 to itself, if you wanted more fish you'd need killer filtration, as they produce A LOT of bio-load.

Mikka

What type of filtration would I need to have the pleco and other fish (up to how many?) in a 55g? I see a lot on craigslist people selling fish that have outgrown their tanks. I m going to try and find a cheap but bigger tank.

Amanda

A canister filter would be best for big waste producers.
CL is a great place to look for tank, freecycle is good sometimes too.

Mikka

Would you be able to guide me to a site that would tell me more about canister filters. and on CL I have found a 70g tank with stand for 65 bucks!!! No filter or gravel or anything though. Hopefully they still have it. I will see if they will want to trade for a cheaper then that price.

Amanda