think I may have over populated

I have a 20 gallon tank. I aquired it when my mother moved and decided she didnt have the time for the care. After days of running and slowly changing the water I did a full water change. Used what I had as far as conditioners. The tank came with 2 glofish and 5 neon tetras. I have since added a 3rd glofish since my fiance wanted it a jullian cory catfish, 3 brilliant rasboras. And a gold algae eater. Which after looking here have found prolly not my best choice. But I am worried that I maybe have over populated. I'm not sure of max sizes of these fish as adults. Can someone please help. With some ideas

 

It seems crowded.If you think it's too crowded I would give some fish away or sell them.Or you could just wait for them to die naturally and not add more fish.

 

I was figuring that. I only wanna get rid of the tetras and glofish but the original 2 glofish were purchased for my niece and the tetras for my nephew by my mother. I would like a larger tank but am limited room at the moment.

 

HI slayer980 & welcome to Fishlore☺

It would be helpful to fill out your profile so members can help answer questions. That being said - you have stated you have a 20 gal - is it planted? what type of filtration do you have?

You need to return or re-home your golden algae eater ASAP - they need a minimum 30 gal tank & are considered semi-aggressive - your other fish are not - so they will do well in a community tank.

Your rasboras ideally like to be in a school of 6 - neons 6 (I think 5 would be close enough) & cory cats prefer 6 or more & it would help if you knew what type as they grow to different sizes.

IMO - if you had an abundance of filtration - & upped your corys to at least 3 & kept a close eye on your parameters you would be OK.

Let other members offer advise & glad you are here!

P.S. I see you posted as I was replying - it is considerate of you to think of your niece & nephew - unfortunately you really need to let go of the algae eater & wait for a larger tank later.

 

At the moment I'm using my phone and it won't let me update my profile. My tank is not planted. I did some research on my golden after I got it and now regret it. And cannot return it. As far as the cory cat. The label said juliI cory currently filtration is hob rated for 20 gallons and an undergravel filter. Suggested by a friend who has had his take for the last 10 or so yrs but recently all his fish died.

Any good recommendations for a good algae eater for my tank.

I have hob rated for 20 gallo s and undergravel filter. No live plants in the tank either. I'm very new to fishkeeping and apparently got some bad advise from the store who are supposed to be knowledgeable. And also the label for the cory said juliI cory

 

Any good recommendations for a good algae eater for my tank.

Otocinclus - Otos for short are good but they are sometimes hard to care for unless you have a well established tank - your best bet would probably be a Nerite snail. They won't self populate in a freshwater tank - I bought my first one the other day - so many on the forum say how effective they are.

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I have heard mixed reviews on undergravel filters - most not so good as they tend to trap waste material under the gravel where you can't get at to clean it unless to take the tank apart. HOB rated for 20 is not extra filtration unless that is where the undergravel helps & I would rather someone would advise you.

I have canister filters which for me works best. ie: I have a canister rated for a 70 gal on a 55 gal.

Could you re-home the rasboras - get 2 more julI corycats & add a few plants & maybe add another HOB pending what others advise.

 

Thanks. I hope I can get this resolved soon before I start to have an issue in my tank

 

Any good recommendations for a good algae eater for my tank.

What I always tell customers is to never buy a fish just because you want it to perform a job for you. So long as your parameters are kept in check as well as your light schedule and cleaning schedule, you shouldn't have any algae issues

Only buy a fish because you love it. Not so it can do work that you can easily do :3

Sent from my Z998 using Fish Lore Aquarium Fish Forum mobile app

 

I forgot to ask you slayer - do you have an API Master Test kit - it has tests for ph, ammonia, nitrites & nitrates. Very important to know these parameters & I apologize - probably should have asked you that from the beginning. Others will also ask anytime you seek advice (if it is not listed in your profile) as well as whether you know the Nitrogen Cycle.

You need to keep the tank vacuumed, do frequent water changes and keep your parameters at the levels described in the API kit.

Perhaps you can list your gold algae eater on a craigs list or something similiar. Also this forum has a buy/sell/trade section. Recently the rules changed for members & number of posts - depending on where you are located - that may be an option.

 

I might be able to re-home them. I think a friend of mine has a spare 10 gallon. And equipment I could use temporarily. I appreciate all the help as I'm new to this and really want it to work. I love watching them in the mornings when I get home from work. Ive seen the same about undergravel as well.

 

I don't have a master test kit at the moment I just recently found out about them. I have to wait till I'm home from work to update my profile. It wouldnt allow me to edit it on my phone. Ive only had the tank running since feb 16th and do roughly 3-5 gallons of water weekly.ussually dumping the water from when I vaccumed. Ive been reading about the nitrogen cycle a lot today and need to go attain the master kit

 

Welcome to Fishlore slayer980!! This forum is a great place to learn! There are lots of kind and knowledgeable people here who are happy to help!

 

Hey and welcome to fishlore.

Others have already give you excellent advice, I would like to add my opinion on filtration. If you plan on keeping this tank for a while, go and check SunSun canister filters, for very little money you can get awsome filter that is silent, highly costumizable and very efficient.
Instead of having 3 filters, that will take up space and require more maintenance you can have this one, and keep the other 2 as backup.

If you chose to change to other filter and remove the current 2 you have, keep in mind to conserve/add the old filter media in the new filter, so you don't lose the bacteria that is filtrating the water.

Best wishes

 

Thanks teleil I may have to try that.

 

so I found a home for my gold algae eater. my friends fish all died a while ago and he is re cycling his tank for live plants and he is gonna take it from me in a cpl weeks. he has a nice 46 gallon home for it.

 

Very good!!!

 

I'm thinking I'm gonna take the glofish out after I get a smaller tank for them. I only have 3 so I'm thinking a 5 gallon would do nicely. would I be wrong to think that or would it be fine for them. I would like to keep the 3 rasboras with the 5 tetra and add a cpl more juliI corys. the one I got a yesterday seems to be doing nicely. if someone could take a look at the pics of my gae and tell me if that's what it actually is thank u cause from the descriptions of them I'm not exactly sure if it was maybe labeled wrong

 

There are different types of GloFish... danios and tetras. The danios really need a long tank as they are very darty. Probably a 20 gallon long. The tetras are GM Black Skirt tetras, and also need a larger tank. Both are schooling fish, and are much happier in groups of 5. That being said, you could probably do a small group of them in a 15 gallon tank.

 

thx