too much?

[aidanchick]

I am just curious to what your ideas are regarding these type and this many fish in a 10gallon tank... if it is too much, then I wont get them..

I currently have -

3 - sunset platys
3 - neon teteras
1 - red golden gourami
1 - Otocinclus

I want to add -
1 - redtail shark
1 - plecostomus
*because, I love how those fish look and act.

Would that be all right? or should I just go with one and not the other, or none at all?

 

[RacerFish]

hi aidanchick,
whoa! i think your tank is way too small, for all those kinda of fish . The rule aquariam experts use is 1 inch per gallon, and also the bigger the fish then one inch, it will need more water. Here's  a chart i read in one of my aquariam books.

a fish this size-             1"        2"        4"         6"      12"
equals this many 1" fish-1         8         64        216   1728    
gallons of water needed  1        2         5          10+     50+

according to this chart, your already overstocked. hehehe well i'm not much a of a fish expert, but i think you may have to many fish already. I would stick with the fish i have, and do alot of water changes like twice 10-20% just keep up with the water quality. also plecos get to be 20" long and red tail shark i think like 4" and thats already overstocked.  

RacerFish  

 

[ronrca]

And both fish that you want to add, the redtailed shark and pleco, will out grow the small 10G. The redtailed shark can grow up to 8.5".

About the 1"/gallon rule. It is actually only a rule of thumb and can not be used in every case. If you look in the articles section, there is an article called "How many fish?". I think that your are not too bad off right now but definitly do not add any more.

 

[Avalon]

I agree with ronca. The fish you would like to add need a larger tank, even if they are small when you get them. While you could probably get away with having them for a few months, eventually, you will have to take them out.

You could add more fish (I suggest 3 more neon tetras) and be ok. I would make sure that your filter is capable of handling the load. You can go beyond the "rule of thumb" for fish quantities, but filtration and fish compatability is crucial if you want to do this. Right now I have 40+ 1/2 inch sailfin dalmation mollys, plus their mother, in a ten gallon. They've been in there for almost 3 months, and I've not lost a fish yet (knock on wood). My filter is much larger than necessary for a ten gallon, and I credit my success to it.