Overstocked

Hi All,
Forgive my naiveity with this one but I have progressively worked towards overstocking my new fluval edge 2. I began with regular cycling and set up before adding 5 small male guppies. 2 weeks later I included 2 small Cory's to eat food that has settled on the bottom and 4 neon tetras which appear to use/produce minimal waste. Now 4 weeks later and no issues at all with fish health or ph levels, I have returned home to a surprise of an additional 3 small mollies and a silver shark. This sounds like a lot of fish but please remember all are around 10mm long. A total of 15 fish in 50l. Please help.
I can return fish to my supplier but would rather not. I am currently running a 50% water change weekly. Will my fish live or have I doomed them? What markers should I watch and what measures can I take to ensure their survival. Please help

Hi,

You'll need to check what size the fish grow to when adult; that will tell you how many you can keep. As an approximate guide you should use 1" of fish (don't count the tail length) per gallon or 1 cm of fish per 2 Litres. So for the 46L Edge that gives you 23 cm total length of fish. Shrimp and snails don't contribute too much bio-load.

For testing your water quality you need something like the API Master Test Kit ... http://www.amazon.co.uk/API-Master-Test-Freshwater-120g/dp/B000255NCI ... that will allow you to monitor the Amonia (which must be 0), the Nitrite (0) and the Nitrates (0-40+). Ammonia and Nitrites are the bad ones....if your tank is properly cycled and not over-stocked they will be zero. Best to get one of these kits ASAP rather than waiting a few weeks and losing or hurting your fish.

Note that if you add rocks, substrate etc your volume will be less than 46L.

30% water change per week should be OK

Regards,

Rick

Thanks heaps Rick,
Extremely helpful! I made a quick decision and rather than put the fish I had under any unnecessary stress I removed a few fish and sold them back to my local pet store owner whom I have good relations with.
I removed 2 mollies and 4 guppies leaving me well under my cm/l limit. The fish seem happier and water clarity has improved greatly. I have ordered a master test kit and have just finished a filter mod mentioned on here to improve filtration rate.
Hopefully this has put me in stead to look after my fish properly!

On a separate note the bristle nose catfish I have spends alot of time hiding in logs, under live driftwood etc. is this normal behavior? Thanks again Rick!

Well done. You'll find the test kit will give you much more knowledge and confidence about you fishes' health.

Remember never to 'clean' the fiter sponges under a tap, only use old tank water you've collected during a water change. The main role of these sponges is to provide a large living area for the benficial bacteria that breaks down the amonia into nitrites and then into nitrates - tap water kills the bacteria. The sponges do collect some waste products, and these can start to clog the pores of the sponges and so reduce flow, so do a quick 'clean' maybe once a month. Most of the rest of the waste ends up on the substrate.

I've got 4x pygmy corys in an 84L tank; at first they used to lie out in the open watching the world go by, but they're quite timid and got scared by the water change activity so now hide away during the day and only come out at night to look for food etc. This, apparently, is normal behaviour ie hiding during the day...if I had a larger group eg 10+ then they would feel more confident and probably come out more.

All the best,

Rick

PS: A couple of Nerite snails is great for keeping the algae of the glass; I've got two in my 23L Edge.

I've had 5 guppies and 4 neon tetras for 3 weeks. I do a 25% water change once a week. All is good! I think 9 fish might be the limit. I would love to add a bottom feeder, but doubt its a good idea. Good Luck!