Overstocked or no?

[chunkoflove77]

Hey everyone! So my buddy was giving me grief about having an overstocked tank. However aqadvisor says I have room to grow. I have a 29 gallon high and a Marineland 35

currently have 8 zebra danios, 5 sterbai corys (1 died today), Bristlenose Pleco, and a blue panaque pleco (stays Small).

aqadvisor said I should be able to add a few more corys and build up that school and either a handful of honey Gouramis or a gold gourami and a pair of blue rams.

is aqadvisor right, is my buddy right or is it somewhere in the middle?

currently:
8 zebra danios
5 sterbai cory
2 small Plecos (super red/blue panaque)

thinking:
2-3 corys

4-5 honey gourami
Or
1 gold gourami
And
2 rams

 

[Derek88242]

You are close to overstuffed. I would bring your cory school to at least 6. You have some room for mid/top swimmers. I would suggest also honey gourami maybe just start wait a pair and see how that goes. It also wouldn't hurt to increase your filtration maybe by adding another hob or sponge filter.

 

[chunkoflove77]

You are close to overstuffed. I would bring your cory school to at least 6. You have some room for mid/top swimmers. I would suggest also honey gourami maybe just start wait a pair and see how that goes. It also wouldn't hurt to increase your filtration maybe by adding another hob or sponge filter.

I know the filter I have is made for a 50-75 gallon tank so I am hoping I don't need filtration for a 125 gallon haha. But I agree with more mid/top guys

 

[erbear]

Is your tank planted? If your tank is handling the bioload and you have plenty of plant growth keeping nitrates low you can fudge a little on the 1 inch per gallon "rule."
Good luck!

 

[MacZ]

I'm a bit confused. You say you have two tanks but only give the stocking for one. Which one is it now? The 29 or the 35 gallon?

In a 29 tall you are limited out. Footprint area is a bit small for the cories, and as they have to gulp air frim time to time, the higher the tank the longer they take between gulps which can be detrimental. The danios also have a bit to small of an area to swim, but with 8 it's ok.
The bioload of the plecos added on that, I would call the stocking done.

In a 35, though, 3-4 honey gouramis additional to what you have would work. How is the cover situation? Floating plants? Decorations that break the surface? Gouramis need a lot of plants in general and cover on the surface, as they usually live in the top part and do not very good without cover.

Just a word of advice: Aqadvisor and the like only go by bioload vs. volume and filtration of the tank. Things like the level where the fish live, the messiness of their feeding habits and most of the bahaviour are left out. And I bet the programm told you to stock up the cories because (and it's correct) the group size is a bit small.

So, in you place, I would prefer to put it all in the bigger tank.

Can you post a picture of both tanks? Seeing a tank in question helps a lot when optimizing.

Edit:

Is your tank planted? If your tank is handling the bioload and you have plenty of plant growth keeping nitrates low you can fudge a little on the 1 inch per gallon "rule."
Good luck!

The inch per gallon / cm per liter rule is outdated.

 

[Gh05t]

Stocking is one of those things that really has so many variables there is no specifics to it. It really comes down to bioload, required space, filtration capacity, and your work ethic. In my opinion your tank is not overstocked at all. Most of the fish(outside of plecos) are small and very low bioload due to mass. Think of a 2" danio vs a 2" tiger barb...the tiger barb will produce far more waste than a 2" danio because the barb is 3x more mass than the danio. This is why the inch per gallon situation is really just asinine.

I assume you have a Marineland 350? You said it is rated for 75G and that is typically what those are rated for...you can help your situation by maximizing your filtration capacity with that filter. Those standard cartridges are ...slowly replace those over to sponges and media bags...you can easily triple the amount of media on your system without buying a new filter. This helps you to handle a larger bioload within the aquarium...thus a higher stocking because bacteria has more spaces to colonize and the larger HOB is turning over your aquarium volume at a more rapid rate than would a smaller filter.

The fish you have are small, peaceful, and don't require a larger tank...that is not an issue. Your issue is the amount of fish you have...if you optimize your filtration, incorporate live plants to handle nitrates....(overstocking is managed with bacteria breaking down waste but you get excessive nitrates as a result) and doing larger WCs...therefor it is possible to safely "overstock" an aquarium *IF* you are aware of the process.

Personally I would not hesitate to add a few more danios, couple more corydoras and a focal point fish or two. Some live plants, improved filtration, keep up on waterchanges tank is fine. I have ran very heavy bioload aquariums on "overstocked" aquariums by using a lot of filtration and live plants that had little nitrate and required minimal upkeep. Nobody should rag you on your aquarium stocking choices if you are willing to manage the bioload.

 

[chunkoflove77]

Stocking is one of those things that really has so many variables there is no specifics to it. It really comes down to bioload, required space, filtration capacity, and your work ethic. In my opinion your tank is not overstocked at all. Most of the fish(outside of plecos) are small and very low bioload due to mass. Think of a 2" danio vs a 2" tiger barb...the tiger barb will produce far more waste than a 2" danio because the barb is 3x more mass than the danio. This is why the inch per gallon situation is really just asinine.

I assume you have a Marineland 350? You said it is rated for 75G and that is typically what those are rated for...you can help your situation by maximizing your filtration capacity with that filter. Those standard cartridges are ****...slowly replace those over to sponges and media bags...you can easily triple the amount of media on your system without buying a new filter. This helps you to handle a larger bioload within the aquarium...thus a higher stocking because bacteria has more spaces to colonize and the larger HOB is turning over your aquarium volume at a more rapid rate than would a smaller filter.

The fish you have are small, peaceful, and don't require a larger tank...that is not an issue. Your issue is the amount of fish you have...if you optimize your filtration, incorporate live plants to handle nitrates....(overstocking is managed with bacteria breaking down waste but you get excessive nitrates as a result) and doing larger WCs...therefor it is possible to safely "overstock" an aquarium *IF* you are aware of the process.

Personally I would not hesitate to add a few more danios, couple more corydoras and a focal point fish or two. Some live plants, improved filtration, keep up on waterchanges tank is fine. I have ran very heavy bioload aquariums on "overstocked" aquariums by using a lot of filtration and live plants that had little nitrate and required minimal upkeep. Nobody should rag you on your aquarium stocking choices if you are willing to manage the bioload.

thank you!
We have plenty of live plants and driftwood. All natural. And you are correct. Marineland 350 filter. So I have a feeling that the filtration and live plants are going to help on that. I will have to look into the other filters down the road

 

[Gh05t]

Honestly that filter is more than sufficient for your aquarium...no need to waste money on a new one for it when you could shove a ton of media in there.

If you want to feel better about your stocking situation look at many of the african cichlid tanks...youll easily see 25 5-6" fish in a 55G in order to curb aggression.