manda

I have a 5.5 with three female platies.
Some have told me that i am over stocked and will need a new tank in a year or so. and some say i am fine.

what do you think?

jri4

you are close, use this rule: 1 inch of adult size fish for 1 gallon of water in the tank The platies get to be about 2 inches each times 3 platies, equals 6 inches in a 5.5 gallon tank. Technically, slighty overstocked, just keep up on aquarium maintenance.

What does everyon else think, I am just one month into this whole thing!

manda

well, i dont go by the inch per gallon rule. its out dated and not the best way to tell in my opinion.
some things to consider is the fish size, activity, how much waste they produce, etc.
i am new to platies. I really dont know much about them, oviously they are not complicated fish because all of the caresheets i can find are very basic.

thanks
hoenstly just right now two of my platies dont seem happy. they are all young females so the are not crowded. i have had these fish for two days, and two of my platies are constanly swimming up and down the corner of the tank rubing their noses
this tank is not cycled, Biospira will be here tomorrow. but with only having them in it for two days i doubt that is why they are being wierd.

COBettaCouple

jri4 is right - 5.5g for 3 is at best close to overstocked, but it depends on your Platy's adult size.
What type are your platys? We have 4 in our tank and they do reach different adult sizes, our Gold Twinbar is bigger than the Blue Mickey Mouses. The reasoning for the 1" rule is the basic proportion of fish waste being constantly produced in the water that they swim in and the resulting ppm of toxic chemicals. Giving 1" per fish allows the ppm to be less and makes water changes less frequently needed.

The platys could be reacting to ammonia levels - what are your water chemistry numbers? They also will work at establishing a pecking order when you first put them in their tank. What do you treat your tap water with & how long was the tank running before the platys were added? What are they eating and what kind of airstone do you have for them?

manda

the ammonia is not even .5
everything else should be at zero. they havent even been in it for a 30 hours. i have had them for two days, yes, but not two full days. i got them yesterday afternoon.

i do not have an air stone, however the tank is of course filtered. i have an air stone and everything i need for it if it is something i should put in.

i have a sunburst platy, black sword tail, and a red wagon platy. these fish are not even an inch.

i did treat my tap water.

COBettaCouple

Yea, the airstone would be good for the Platys. You've got some young ones there. I was using AquaSafe at first to treat our tap water, but I think we'll be using Prime from now on - it's a great product and a lot of the long-time aquarium owners swear by it.

I was just wondering if the tank had been running for at least 2 days before the fish were added and where you were on your cycle when the platys were added. Keep an eye on their gills if your ammonia spikes.

You read this page: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm? Best description of the process that I read. The BioSpira's a good buy.

manda

the tank was running for a week before adding the fish.
cycles cant happen without a sorce of waste... so no there is no way it can go through a cycle before adding fish.

i know all about cycling. this makes my sixth tank that i have cycled. its my first time using biospira though! i decided against cycling with the platies.

jri4

and I read on this websites platy profile that females tend to get larger than males... Just another angle to the topic.

manda

yep, i read that AFTER i got them.
i am sure i can manage a slightly over stocked tank. and if not more the reason to get a bigger tank (30 gallons) but they would have to share if with black neons, and a male betta. i dont see the male betta working out with them.

vin

Actually, there are several ways to cycle a tank without adding fish...You can use ammonia, fish food, bio-spira.....At the risk of sounding rude, you came in asking for advice and people are trying to give it to you. It seems to me that you don't care for the answers you are receiving....As for the fish behavior, the reason they are swimming frantically is because they are reacting to the ammonia that is building in the tank. It will get worse before it gets better if you don't do something to counter the build up of toxic chemicals.

Even .5 ammonia is toxic for fish...That number will only get higher before the conversion to nitrite takes place...which is even more toxic to fish.....I suggest if you haven't already that you pick up a bottle of Prime water conditioner and use this in your tank water when making water changes. I would make them frequently as well until the cycle is complete. Prime will detox the ammonia and nitrites thereby reducing the stress on the fish.

And I agree with the others here who use the general rule of thumb of 1" per gallon of water when it comes to stocking. Now that's not to say that you can't keep what you have, but you will eventually have to perform water changes on a more frequent basis. My tank is slightly overstocked, but I am anal when it comes to tank care and change water and perform maintenance faithfully once a week.