I Am A Complete Newbie To The World Of Aquariums. I Have A Question About The Amount Of Fish I Have

Good morning! I recently set up an aquarium as a hobby for my daughter and myself to enjoy together. I initially got a 5 gallon aquarium, but quickly upgraded to a 10 gallon when I realized that I wanted to keep more fish and add some plants.

I started out with two male platys, and have since added more. I am learning as I go, so after getting a few more platys, I went back to the shop and asked for females specifically because I read that there should be a certain ratio of males to females if I am going to have both sexes.

My daughter also asked me to get two of the "glofish", which turned out to be zebra danios. I noticed that one was constantly harassing the other, and found out that I should have at least 5 of this fish.
So I went and got 3 more longfin danios. Unfortunately, I woke up the next day to find one dead, and another with an injured jaw (he was unable to close his mouth). I euthanized the injured one, and returned the large one to the store because he was injuring my other fish. A few days later another of the danios turned up dead, even though he seemed absolutely fine the day before. I tested the water and everything came back ok.

So at this point I am left with 6 platys (3 male, 3 female, I know the ratio is off but I plan on fixing that), and one zebra danio which seems to be content as far as I can tell.

My question is, my tank seems to be slightly overstocked, or at least almost there. According to aqadvisor, these are my parameters:



My filtration is at 109%.

I know I am really cutting it close, but do I need to decrease the number of fish, or can I get away with frequent water changes and closely monitoring ammonia/nitrite levels until I can afford a bigger tank?

 

You can get away with frequent water changes and close monitoring in my opinion. But I'm a newbie too.

I'm under the impression when you're maintaining good water quality the overstocking issue is more to do with fish feeling overcrowded, uncomfortable or claustrophobic. Of course all these are stressful and can increase the likelihood of illness. Some fish might not necessarily care about this some might die.

I actually had 3 platies in a 4.5g and they died within a week but I was extremely newbie and didn't have a test kit or anything. The filter was way overpowered too!

 

TexasDomer will be helpful with this one. Platies r livebearers so u r gonna have fry..do u have a plan for the fry? Is the tank cycled? What r ur parameters?

 

Welcome to fishlore!

In a 10 gallon I would do 4 male platies maximum.

Zebra danios are very active schooling fish that need a 30" long tank minimum. I have 8 in my 48" tanak andthey use the whole length. They need to be kept in groups of 6+. Your single zebra may seem content but will actually be very stressed and much more likely to get ill or nip the platies.

Water changes do not give fish more swimming room.

 

TexasDomer will be helpful with this one. Platies r livebearers so u r gonna have fry..do u have a plan for the fry? Is the tank cycled? What r ur parameters?

Hi! Yes the tank is cycled, and I didn't plan on keeping fry, but I believe the LFS will take them off my hands. If I need to separate the sexes I will, but I was under the impression that they would be happier with both. I posted an in my original post with what I believe are the paramaters you are asking about. If not, what other information do you need? Thank you for responding!

Welcome to fishlore!

In a 10 gallon I would do 4 male platies maximum.

Zebra danios are very active schooling fish that need a 30" long tank minimum. I have 8 in my 48" tanak andthey use the whole length. They need to be kept in groups of 6+. Your single zebra may seem content but will actually be very stressed and much more likely to get ill or nip the platies.

Water changes do not give fish more swimming room.

HI Thank you! I was thinking about setting up the original 5 gallon that I had and keeping two of my platys in it. Perhaps that will still be too small? If so I have no quarrels with returning some of the fish, I would rather them be happy, although they seemed more crowded at the pet store haha.

 

Your parameters are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Some people include Ph and temperature too

HI Thank you! I was thinking about setting up the original 5 gallon that I had and keeping two of my platys in it. Perhaps that will still be too small? If so I have no quarrels with returning some of the fish, I would rather them be happy, although they seemed more crowded at the pet store haha.

5 Gallons is too small for platies, they really need 10 gallons minimum.

For now I would return the danio and 2-3 male platies or the zebra danio and 3 female platies.

 

I would return the zebra and the female plates as female live bearers are ridiculously prolific and even if you are just overstocked when they start popping babies out you will become very overstocked very quickly.

 

Thank you for all of the advice! You all have been very helpful. I think I will opt to return the zebra and the females, and just keep a male platy tank at this point. I can't wait to get a bigger tank though!

 

HI Welcome to Fishlore. You have gotten excellent advice.

GloFish are marketed poorly. They sell these small tanks and say you can get 1 or 2 and be fine. In reality most of them need about a 20 gallon to be happy. Plus you need 6+ to help them feel secure. I am a little bitter because I was taken advantage of by the company. Fell for the marketing before I figured out the error of my ways.

Sounds like you have already started with multiple tank syndrome. Many of us are afflicted lol

My advice is to research how to do a fishless cycle. Then you can get a big tank, do a fishless cycle, and add tons of fish. The key to a healthy tank is a healthy nitrogen cycle.