Is my tank too crowded??

[Toam]

I'm unsure ifmy tank is too crowded, fill me in

I have a 29 gallon freshwater aquarium, I keep the temperature around 78 degrees, on the left side of my tank is some cave formations, and on the right side is all planted. I use a 50 gallon filter, because I found my 30 gallon kept breaking down, it was a cheapy, so I replaced it.
For Plants, I have two sword plants, fully matured, mixed with some lace plants and a little underwater grass to balance it out, I find my loaches especially like drifting through the planted area and resting on various leaves and stems.
Fish: 2 juvenile clown loaches(1male, 1 female) about 2inches long, 2 golden dojo loaches(both male, the place i picked them up sexed them wrong. 1 horseface Loach(apprx:3 inches), 1 Pleco(7 inches, got him when he was only 2inches) 2 painted tetras, 6 xray tetras, 8 neon tetras, 1 guppy, 2 fancy guppies.
I recently found 2 fry in my tank, and originally suspected them to be guppies, but now I believe they are xray tetras, they are isolatedand fed on brine and mysis.
I use a aqua-glo lite for the plants, and it sure shows off my neons coloring really well as well.

 

[derajer]

I'm sure that you're overloaded according to the 1"/gal rule, but I never worried too much about that. How long has the tank been running? Do you know what your parameters are? As long as ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are all under control then you're fine. Although the Pleco may be a little much just because it will eventually become to big for the tank and it will also most likely eat some of your plants.

 

[Mushroomman]

You are fine in my eyes (having a bigger filter helps too) except for the clown loaches and pleco depending what species, they will get bigger.

 

[Balloon Fish]

looks to me like your overstocked and a bigger filter doesn't really help out with an overstocked tank. The main thing i see that is keeping you way overstocked is the pleco otherwise with the plants and everything else it sounds like you are close to the limit but i'm no expert on loaches...

 

[Mushroomman]

Well what I meant is the filter helps in an extent in size. Its obviously better to, say, have a filter for a 50g on the tank then, say, a filter for a 10g but yes good point.

 

[Balloon Fish]

ya bigger filters are always good unless its an overkill of filtration but i knew what you meant

 

[discus4everGrl]

you are bordering on overload. You say your loachs are juvies so they are gonna grow. A bigger filter is nice, but a 29 gallon tank is only going to allow so much oxygen exchange at the surface and that's tank size dependent as much as filter size. Another thing is alot of bottom dwellers seem to be poop aholics so thats another factor. Since you have a good load at the bottom of the tank, be sure to gravel vac. I wouldn't add anymore fish at this point.

 

[Exevious]

I think its about right.... neon sized tetra can be counted at 2 per inch.

 

[DarkMuse]

Well, I just thought I'd put this into perspective for you. (meant in a nice way). Here is a list of your fish and their average adult sizes (now, granted, they will vary). I got all of the sizes from this site. Fish Profiles

(these sizes are for ONE fish)
Clown Loach: 11.8"
Dojo Loach: 9.8"
Horsefaced Loach: 11.8"
Pleco (assuming its a common one, size ranges with each type): 17.7"
Painted Tetra (which is really a Black Widow Tetra that has been dyed): 2.3"
X-ray Tetra: 1.7
Neon Tetra: 1"
Guppy/Fancy Guppy: 2"

When you add it together for the entire amount of fish the inches comes to 101.5" in a 30 gal tank. I am not one to say what is overstocked, because I have been before, but you do seem to have alot of fish in the tank. You might want to think about getting another tank or maybe getting rid of some of the fish. Of course, like I stated before, each species has a different size that it will get, you might want to look into finding out which ones you have.

To read more about the dyed fish go here .

 

[bfish]

i THOUGHT IT was one " for every square inch of surface area not gallons. surface area allows for more oxegen exchange. that is why retangular tanks are more prevelant. I am sure there are people who are going to bash me on that thought.

 

[bfish]

I may be wrong but 1" of fish per 10 sqaure"s of surface area. 12x40" = 48"s of fish. I think the equation is auctually higher as that kind of is a lot of fish. Deep hex tanks of say 20 gallons cannot support same fish as shallow rectangle tank of 20 gallons. Surface agitation also helps, not filteration. Filters just clean water. Heard of Britas adding more oxegen. Although clean water can carry more oxegen.

 

[DarkMuse]

Check out these 2 articles.

How many fish?

Setting up a new tank.

 

[Toam]

thank you

thank you all for the info, I kinda got the clown loaches with the intent of upgrading to a 50 gallon once they get a lil bigger and probaly moving the pleco in with them.i had thought it might be alright with the different areas the fish end to inhabit, the loaches are all substrate critters, with the exception of the adventuresome clown loaches, whilst the tetras are mid range and the gups are surface folk. looks like i'm gonna have to upgrade though. thanks guys.

 

[adagiolove05]

if anything, the 7" pleco will need a new home soon. for a large fish like that, the 1 inch per gallon rule is taken REALLY loosely. i give my plecs 1" per two gallons after they hit 5 inches long.

 

[DarkMuse]

thank you all for the info, I kinda got the clown loaches with the intent of upgrading to a 50 gallon once they get a lil bigger and probaly moving the pleco in with them.i had thought it might be alright with the different areas the fish end to inhabit, the loaches are all substrate critters, with the exception of the adventuresome clown loaches, whilst the tetras are mid range and the gups are surface folk. looks like i'm gonna have to upgrade though. thanks guys.

You're welcome. Yeah, in about 6 months I'm gonna be able to get a 30 gal (or somewhere around that size). What you'll find out as you wander around here is: fishkeeping is like gambling, once you start it's hard to stop. *twirlysmi