Planted community tank + breeding projects

A few months back I set up a 60l planted community aquarium. It was my first proper aquascape, not everything went as planned but I'm pleased with the results regardless. After setting it up, I began a fish in cycle and slowly more fish. After today the tank is staked with;
6x corydoras swarzi
2x Bristelnose plecos
1x galaxy koi betta (male)
6x platinum half beaks
4x otocinclus catfish
4x forktailed rainbowfish
5x cherry barbs (newest addition)
4x tiger endlers
5x red cherry shrimp
* Bristelnose, red cherry shrimp and endlers are in the tank temporarily*

The tank has been running well, water perimeters do not fluctuate at all and all the fish are active and some exhibit breeding behaviour. The heater is set at 26°C accompanied by an internal filter. The tank is heavily planted, with stem, epiphytes, amazon swords and floating plants. I currently do water changes every two weeks together with plant trimming.

Soon, I'm planning on setting up a smaller 40l breeding tank for endler's, shrimp and BPs. I talked to my LFS, and one of the employees said that they will gladly take the fry. From my research these, BPs or guppies won't predate on baby shrimp, so ideally I could get a good number of each. I'm planning on breeding for profit, however bare it might be, so that I can afford to expand.

Someday I plan to breed platinum halfbeaks, cherry barbs and forktailed. Here are some pictures of the tank! Any advice would be appreciate!

 

I'm sorry ... am I misreading or counting poorly? You have 32 fish plus shrimp in an approximately 15 g tank & plan on breeding endlers, BNP & neocardina shrimp in a 10 g?

If this is the case, I'd recommend sorting out which of these animals are your very favourite - one or two types perhaps, determining their tank needs, providing them & returning the rest.

Breeding endlers, BNP & shrimp in a 10 g is a bit beyond me I'm afraid. I'd keep BNP in a minimum 20 g & plan on adding several more tanks for endler spawn grow out b4 they can be surrendered to a LFS. Or not breeding at all.

Perhaps consider housing your betta in the 10 g & the barbs with shrimp in the 15 gallon, whilst considering an upgrade to 20g for the barbs? You'd be able to enjoy them in less confusion, as well as learn their individual attributes & needs that way.

If you need help sorting out what to keep, what to return or how best to house the animals you do have, there are plenty of experienced fish keepers here who will help you along the way.

Wish you the best on your fishkeeping journey & sorry that reducing numbers has to be the 1st advice you receive.

 

6x corydoras swarzi
2x Bristelnose plecos
1x galaxy koi betta (male)
6x platinum half beaks
4x otocinclus catfish
4x forktailed rainbowfish
5x cherry barbs (newest addition)
4x tiger endlers
5x red cherry shrimp

Oh boy...

* Bristelnose, red cherry shrimp and endlers are in the tank temporarily*

yeah...

Instead of choosing that many species, which are mostly kept in inappropriate numbers, it might have been better to do maybe 2-3 species in appropriate numbers. Just going by bioload and space requirements you are massively overstocked. And it shows. Several of the fish in there show the stress colouration of their species.

Also tattoo this on the inside of your eyelids: A community tank is not a breeding tank and vice versa.

Good luck also from me, you'll need it.

 

Where did you get the idea 32 fish would be ok in a 15g tank. Did your pet store tell you this was good? And a water change every 2 weeks? Nice you’re removing those fish for breeding. Bushy nose need at least a 20g apeice. Breeding in a 10 will not work. There’s usually 40+ fry. So for them you’ll need a 40g breeder. But the shrimp will do well in either of these tanks. But by themselves cause all the others will probably eat the shrimplets if not the shrimp. So again I’m just wondering who told you this would work.

 

Alright let me explain myself. I never intended to keep this many fish in one tank. Bristelnose plecos, endlers and shrimp are in the setup temporarily, and will be moved out very soon. I get that this tank unsustainable long term and wasn't planning on keeping the stocking levels as is. I was never planning on breeding any fish in this tank, purely house some species temporarily.

Oh boy...

yeah...

Instead of choosing that many species, which are mostly kept in inappropriate numbers, it might have been better to do maybe 2-3 species in appropriate numbers. Just going by bioload and space requirements you are massively overstocked. And it shows. Several of the fish in there show the stress colouration of their species.

Also tattoo this on the inside of your eyelids: A community tank is not a breeding tank and vice versa.

Good luck also from me, you'll need it.

It seems to me you misunderstood what I was saying. What are these "stress colouration" you are referring to?

 

What are these "stress colouration" you are referring to?

Fish change colour depending on their situation. Some become pale, some become darker than the usual, standard colouration. And that's the point. I see several individuals of the Pseudomugil, the Puntius, the Dermogenys and the Corydoras who's colour is off, indicating they were not doing ok at the time when the pictures were taken.

Otherwise the statement that the status quo is temporary and that some fish are going to be removed for breeding purposes alone is very much mistakable, as it does neither indicate the status to be a necessity nor that you know what you're doing. The post made the impression you proudly overfilled the tank with fish and are going to proceed breeding some of them in tanks far too small for that purpose.
The result is the reaction it caused, as to most of us here there were many red flags. You might not be aware, but if you had seen what the regulars here on the forum have seen posted here, you would very much understand our reaction.

 

Ok but even removing the mentioned fish you’re still over stocked. I’m just wondering if you were told this was fine. How you came up with your stocking? Your tank looks very nice and the fish are on the small size. With the right maintenance and filtration this may work but wc every 2 weeks won’t do it. How much water are you changing? To do this right a 30-55g would be best.

 

Alright let me explain myself. I never intended to keep this many fish in one tank. Bristelnose plecos, endlers and shrimp are in the setup temporarily, and will be moved out very soon. I get that this tank unsustainable long term and wasn't planning on keeping the stocking levels as is. I was never planning on breeding any fish in this tank, purely house some species temporarily.

It seems to me you misunderstood what I was saying. What are these "stress colouration" you are referring to?

But you are intending to breed endlers, BNP & shrimp in the 10 gallon? That too would essentially be a community tank & far too small for the purpose.

I get that your end goal is breeding for profit & you've had some reproduction in the past. What I suggest is that fish keeping & especially breeding, is a long term endeavor & while you're eager to get to it, there are lots of layers of learning on the way.

For example, even given a tank disaster, it would be out of the question to have so many animals in a 15 g. Instead, emergency buckets & bins w/bubblers would be used until an appropriate sized tank could be set up. Adding 5 new fish to such a situation as you've chosen to do is just a no-go. Mostly, our fish's health & comfort is the #1 priority, not our desire for this or that animal regardless of well being.

You have a lovely tank & clearly have put a great deal into learning about aquascaping. Now you want to house & breed fish. Great! Slow down & learn b4 you do it. Clearly you have the capacity to succeed, but not at this rate. Choose one or two creatures. Focus on housing them humanely rather than just prettily & once you know them - know the nuances & needs - then plan an appropriate breeding set up if that's still your goal.

There's so much info here & so many dedicated, knowledgeable fishkeepers. You've been here a year & met them! Let the community help you succeed. That's what everyone is here for.

 

Update: I removed about half of the fish and put them in a temporary 80l plastic tub (cycled) with a sponge filter, heather and plants. In terms of tank sizes, I use liter as a unit of measurement, so I got confused with conversion to gallons. I have bred live bearers, bristelnose plecos and gouramis in the and sold them to my LFS. I admit the tank was too small to house all these fish and I plan on getting more permanent setups suitable to house the fish I already have. The tank has been staked as seen on the pictures for only 3-4 days, so non of the fish were harmed and are much more active now. The only reason the tank was so heavily staked at the first place, was because I was forced to buy these fish before I had a perfect setup for them due to circumstance beyond my control.

Regarding breeding projects:
I plan on removing pleco fry, regardless of the tank the parents my be housed in, and raising them up in separate grow out tanks. Same with endelrs, if I'm able to tell when the female will be ready to drop fry.

Thank you for your concern, but I had no wish to harm the fish and non were. I will update this thread regarding future breeding projects