Do i have too many fish in my tank?

D'Cecilia

Large Fish
Apr 22, 2009
115
0
0
#1
i currently have a 10 Gallon tank whit 3 Guppies, 1 female betta, 4 neon tetra, 4 red wag platties, and 6 ghost shrimp. They all seem to be happy and have enough space to swim around, just wanted to know if i am overstocking or if i could get more fish in there.
thanks.
 

Jun 21, 2008
493
0
0
#2
You're already a bit overstocked. A good general rule of thumb is the 1 inch per gallon rule. This refers to having roughly 1" of adult fish per gallon of water.
So: Guppies 2.5x3=7.5 Female Betta 1x3=3 Neon tetra 1.5x4=6 Platy 2x4=8
Total, you have about 24.5" of fish in there. That's plenty. I wouldn't add any more. But, if you keep up with the water changes and have good filtration, you might be ok with what you have. Anyone else have thoughts on that?
Also, have you cycled the tank? If not, you should check out the link in MissFishy's profile, it has lots of good info.
 

D'Cecilia

Large Fish
Apr 22, 2009
115
0
0
#3
oh allright thank alot! ahha
other people have told me the same thing :D
but it sometimes gets kinda confusing, specially
since i barely started to get into it, ahah :D
its so much funner that i tought it would be.

yeah, ive had the thank for about a month and a half,
and all seems to be allright :D

thanks alot for your help.
 

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
Sep 2, 2008
1,471
0
0
36
DC
#5
Be careful with all those live bearers too. If you have male a female guppies or platies you tank will be even more overstocked soon. What kind of filter do you have on this thing?
 

sombunya

Large Fish
Jul 25, 2008
304
0
0
67
So. Cal. USA
#6
I've seen professionals keep 5 inches of fish per gallon in a 20 gallon tank. Very expensive fish too. They use lots of filtration and feed lightly. For a home aquarium, no way.

Watch your water parameters and do regular changes with properly treated water.
 

Moshi-Cat

Medium Fish
Apr 28, 2009
64
0
0
Pinellas Park, FL
#9
Yes, the tank is overstocked. If you keep up with the water changes it might work. Moving them all to a bigger tank (20g-29g) would be easier for you, though. Luckily you didn't pick out any teritorial fish. Then you might've had a bigger problem, although the livebearers might cause you some trouble if the babies survive the other fish's appetite.
 

Moshi-Cat

Medium Fish
Apr 28, 2009
64
0
0
Pinellas Park, FL
#12
Quite possible, jo3.

D'Cecilia, I know you're tempted to get more fish. They're all so pretty, right? I don't know what your tank looks like, but a month and a half is not long enough for full cycleing to take place. If you add more fish now it might crash. In fact, it might crash because of how many fish you have already. If you want more fish, get a bigger tank. I have 2 10g tanks. You can't keep a lot of fish in them. My community tankhttp://www.myfishtank.net/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/678/ppuser/13685 is actually slightly overcrouded as it is. Even though it doesn't look it, when the danios get fully grown they will be maxing out the carrying capacity of my tank. Remember that your fish are going to get a lot bigger, so what looks fine now is going to be overcrowded later.

Bottom line? No more fish in that tank, please!
 

jo3olous

Large Fish
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#13
Quite possible, jo3.

D'Cecilia, I know you're tempted to get more fish. They're all so pretty, right? I don't know what your tank looks like, but a month and a half is not long enough for full cycleing to take place. If you add more fish now it might crash. In fact, it might crash because of how many fish you have already. If you want more fish, get a bigger tank. I have 2 10g tanks. You can't keep a lot of fish in them. My community tankhttp://www.myfishtank.net/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/678/ppuser/13685 is actually slightly overcrouded as it is. Even though it doesn't look it, when the danios get fully grown they will be maxing out the carrying capacity of my tank. Remember that your fish are going to get a lot bigger, so what looks fine now is going to be overcrowded later.

Bottom line? No more fish in that tank, please!
Just to add to what you said. Putting Zebra Danios in a tank shorter than 2.5-3feet is crowding. They are active swimmers and need room, even if they don't grow large enough to physically outgrow a 10G. I recommend nothing less than a 20G for zebras.

here's a tidbit for your pictus:
The tank should be fairly large as the Pictus is an active swimmer and needs plenty of open spaces. Although a 36 inch may suffice I believe the standard 48 inch, 55 gallon would be better. Generally an easy to care for fish the Pictus cat should present few problems. Preferring to be kept in schools when young, they tend to form smaller groups when mature. When kept in small groups this nocturnal fish will be seen out and around more often during the daylight hours. Feeding is not an issue as the pictus will accept all types of food, being an insect eater it is beneficial to feed live food on occasion and frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp when live is not available. The tank should be planted toward the rear and include large areas of open space for swimming as well as areas for hiding such as caves, driftwood and roots. The substrate should mimic its home and consist of fine sand or gravel. Clean, soft and slightly acidic water with strong filtration and a good current is ideal. They are great tankmates for the larger community cichlid aquarium, smaller species such as neons will be eaten. A note of caution, the spines are very sharp and can cause injury to you and the fish if mishandled. It is better not to use a net but rather some sort of plastic container (or bag, watch for leaks) when buying or moving this fish.



So yes you are right your tank is a bit overstocked, not because of their adult sizes and bioload but because of the space they need to be their typical selves.
 

temull2

Small Fish
Apr 28, 2009
48
0
0
#14
I also have a 10 gallon tank and I'm wondering if I have too many as well...

I have two mollies, a female betta, a black moor, a mickey mouse platy, and an unknown.

About the unknown fish...... I bought it at WalMart (the only fish I've bought from there that has survived) and THEY said it was a tetra.. but it looks nothing like any other tetras i've seen... If the fins were longer it could be an angel fish, but I don't think so. It's not aggressive at all.. She's a light pink color, but not the bleeding heart breed (i.e... there's no dot)

None of the fish seem aggressive and they rarely nip at each other (maybe once every day)

My avatar displays all the fish.

Do I have too many? They all seem to be happy. :)
 

Last edited:
Jun 21, 2008
493
0
0
#17
You're already a bit overstocked. A good general rule of thumb is the 1 inch per gallon rule. This refers to having roughly 1" of adult fish per gallon of water.
So: Guppies 2.5x3=7.5 Female Betta 1x3=3 Neon tetra 1.5x4=6 Platy 2x4=8
Total, you have about 24.5" of fish in there. That's plenty. I wouldn't add any more. But, if you keep up with the water changes and have good filtration, you might be ok with what you have. Anyone else have thoughts on that?
Also, have you cycled the tank? If not, you should check out the link in MissFishy's profile, it has lots of good info.
Remember the math I did for you above. 24.5 is about 2.5 times as much as 10, meaning that you have roughly 2.5 times as much fish in there as you should. Why on earth would you add more? I'm hoping that you were joking and not just refusing advice.

temull2 - your black moor is a goldfish, right? (I suppose there could be another black moor that I don't know about). If so, it's a coldwater fish and should not be kept with tropicals, for a couple reasons. One is the temperature difference required, and the other is the fact that goldfish are very messy, and even one doesn't really fit in a 10 gallon very well. It is a 10 gallon, right? Also about your tetra, check out white skirt tetras, it sounds like it could be one of those.
 

D'Cecilia

Large Fish
Apr 22, 2009
115
0
0
#18
Hahaha, thank guys :D
i was just kidding about adding more fish! i just
wanted to see what you would say :D
but thank alot! :D
and yeah i change the water once a week, i take out about
3 gallons at a time, and i only feed them once a day so its
pretty clean in there, and i have a topfin whipser power filter,
i dont know if its that good, but it seems to work allright
at the moment i have no money to upgrade tank OR filters.
but i really want to get a bigger tank. ahah :D so ill be looking
forward to all your expert opinions!
thanks alot! :D
-D'Cecilia

P.S. Im not a kid by the way, im 19, dont know how old that one basketball dude is, and i dont know why it would matter anyways.
 

D'Cecilia

Large Fish
Apr 22, 2009
115
0
0
#19
My typing is off cus i dont give a fudge abotu it :D hahah
you understood what i said, thats all that matters, and dont think
that im like incredibly bad an english, i just dont care how i
type when its ont for school or something importatn, so im
not checking every singel spelling error that i know i have. :D
 

D'Cecilia

Large Fish
Apr 22, 2009
115
0
0
#20
Quite possible, jo3.

D'Cecilia, I know you're tempted to get more fish. They're all so pretty, right? I don't know what your tank looks like, but a month and a half is not long enough for full cycleing to take place. If you add more fish now it might crash. In fact, it might crash because of how many fish you have already. If you want more fish, get a bigger tank. I have 2 10g tanks. You can't keep a lot of fish in them. My community tankhttp://www.myfishtank.net/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/678/ppuser/13685 is actually slightly overcrouded as it is. Even though it doesn't look it, when the danios get fully grown they will be maxing out the carrying capacity of my tank. Remember that your fish are going to get a lot bigger, so what looks fine now is going to be overcrowded later.

Bottom line? No more fish in that tank, please!

dont worry, i wotn put no more in tehre :D