Clown pleco now or wait....

So I'm planning to go get some von rio tetras to finish my school today. I currently have 2 von rios (I did have 3, but 1 didn't make it) and a small pearl gourami in the qt tank that I'll be moving to the main tank today. I'm starting to see some algae in the main tank so it might be time to get the clown pleco we had been planning to get. I'm just worried the bioload of the pleco plus 5 von rios would crash the cycle in my QT tank. Thoughts? Qt has been running for 2 months and is 14 gallons. Cycled with heater and filter.

Currently in QT that will be moved to main today
2 von rio tetras
1 pearl gourami

Potential new QT inhabitants (to be added after the current inhabitants are moved).
5 von rio tetras
1 clown pleco

 

They are not going to crash your cycle. There may not be quite enough bacteria to handle the higher bio-load and you may experience a small spike in ammonia. This low spike can be taken care of by doing water changes. The bacteria should quickly catch up with the higher bio-load.

Once a tank is cycled extra bacteria should grow much quicker than it did when the tank was originally cycled. Try not to overfeed the new fish to keep the amount of ammonia produced down to a minimum. If the ammonia spikes it shouldn't last much longer than 2 or 3 days. the ammonia spike doesn't mean the cycle crashed. It just means we added a higher bio-load and the bacteria needs to catch up to it.

 

Your stocking for a 14 gallon tank is a little overstocked in my opinion. Pearl gourami should really be in a 29 gallon at least since they can get to 4-5 inches long. I think if you keep the school of von rios and maybe the pleco temporarily it should work ok

 

Your stocking for a 14 gallon tank is a little overstocked in my opinion. Pearl gourami should really be in a 29 gallon at least since they can get to 4-5 inches long. I think if you keep the school of von rios and maybe the pleco temporarily it should work ok

This is a quarantine tank not their permanent home.

 

They are going into a 55 us gallon tank I've been getting 3-4 fish at a time and putting them in the 14 gallon QT for 4ish weeks and then moving them over to the main tank.

Thanks everyone for your help. My son will be super excited if he can get his pleco today. Hopefully they'll have them in stock

 

They are going into a 55 us gallon tank I've been getting 3-4 fish at a time and putting them in the 14 gallon QT for 4ish weeks and then moving them over to the main tank.

Thanks everyone for your help. My son will be super excited if he can get his pleco today. Hopefully they'll have them in stock

Ok, my apologies I didn't read that.
Good luck with the pleco hunt!

 

Ok, my apologies I didn't read that.
Good luck with the pleco hunt!

No problem I have no issues with ppl making sure its a good situation for the fish.