# Am I overstocking?



## joeyk (May 30, 2016)

My 55g long is currently housing 5 neolamprologus multifaciatus and 6 black skirt tetras. I have solid plans on adding 5 more multifaciatus, and 4-6 julie (transcriptus) cichlids. Would adding 18 rummy nose tetras and 5 dwarf neon rainbow fish be overloading? 

I am not sold on keeping the black skirts, they were primarily for aiding to initially cycle the tank. 

As far as filtration goes, I certainly have overkill for what is currently in the tank. I have 2 aquaclear 70s, and an aquaclear mini (which will eventually be moved to a smaller tank along with some/all the multifaciatus)

Would my stock be too much? Would the tank be able to function, at least in the short term until I can establish a separate tank for the multifaciatus?

Edit: I understand that mixing tanganyikan fish with fish that aren't tanganyikan is a little risky to begin with, but my hope is that the numbers will reduce aggression


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

I would not recommend Rummy Nose in a high PH/GH/KH tank. They really need soft water to thrive.

Respectfully,

Stuart


Tankful in Vancouver!


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## Mick2016 (Jun 16, 2016)

As far as your numbers are concerned, I would simply add : Be diligent about partial water changes. I am not a big proponent of the "one inch of fish for every gallon" rule of thumb because aquarium maintenance IS such a huge factor. Tanks that are regularly maintained well can handle a higher volume of occupants - within reason - than the same tank that is not as well looked after. Your filtration system certainly sounds like it measures up.

Let's see if anyone else will chime in on the quantity. :0)


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## Thaim (Feb 6, 2015)

I've kept 9 discus in a 55 gallon at one point. Which is an insane amount of discus for that size of tank but like mike states. As long as your able to keep up with the WC's.


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## Mick2016 (Jun 16, 2016)

. . . and another thing: How are you set for plants and decorations?

Obviously, these items will factor into determining an appropriate quantity for how much "wiggle room" the fishes have - which is also important to consider along with the filtration efficiency and water changes.


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## joeyk (May 30, 2016)

Mick2016 said:


> . . . and another thing: How are you set for plants and decorations?
> 
> Obviously, these items will factor into determining an appropriate quantity for how much "wiggle room" the fishes have - which is also important to consider along with the filtration efficiency and water changes.


I have a fair amount of rocks and caves for the julies (and am considering adding a few flower pots), as well as PVC "shells" for the mulits. As far as plants go, I have 2 jungle Val and 2 java fern that really aren't doing well.

I'm not entirely sure what to do about the plants. I'm considering getting an old coralife light working again, and perhaps some flourish or root tabs to compliment the improved lighting? If that fails, my plan is to potentially look into floating plants instead.


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## Mick2016 (Jun 16, 2016)

Thanks for the added info.

I have not been especially successful with LIVE plants, but I do have a couple mixed in with some silk/fabric FAKE ones (not the all-plastic types). And that works for me.

The decorations are not too much of a problem as long as all of these don't run the full height from the floor of the tank to the upper waterline. If you have any really tall ones, place these toward the back wall of the tank. That way, the mid and upper swimmers will not run into things. The bottom dwellers should be fine weaving around what you have on the floor.

I am not a big fan of plant fertilizers because I try to add as little chemical or artificial stuff to the water as possible. On the other hand, other aquarists swear by using root tabs for their plant food.

Something to remember regarding the floating plants: These are great and relatively low maintenance. Just clip them and remove pieces when they go crazy. However, these do block light from reaching the floor of the tank, so any plants you have in the gravel/sand/pots will get less light. You may be able to compensate for this by simply running your lights for a longer period during the daytime. If you have not already done so, I would highly recommend a timer or two for your lighting system.

P.S. I run fluorescent lighting on one timer from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. On a second timer, an LED blue light with bubble wall - along the tank floor - comes on at 7:00 p.m. and runs for about an hour with the fluorescent light. When the fluorescent shuts off at 8:00, the LED continues alone until 10:00 p.m. Nice nighttime glow by which to watch TV. Then it is "lights out" for everyone. (And I never have to think about it.)


Note: After I posted here, JOEYK, I noticed that there is a separate forum for PLANT inquiries. There will be some useful info over there for you, too.


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## Mick2016 (Jun 16, 2016)

Another note about plants:

Get a couple of MOSS BALLS at $10 each or so. These sit on the bottom of the tank. They look like little green "shrubs." Zero maintenance. They do not "root" so can be moved about the tank at will. They stay fairly small and compact so will not take up too much swimming space. When larger, tear/cut in half. Gently squeeze to re-form into the baseball shape, if necessary. These have the benefits of other LIVE plants as far as the oxygen/CO2 cycle is concerned which *will help with the added volume of fish* (i.e. but without the worries or extra special care that some plants require).


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## Geoffrey (Jun 24, 2015)

I'd like to note that while, yes, moss balls do have the benefits of live plants, these benefits are rather negligible on water quality and O2 levels. Because they're such slow growers they take up nutrients and produce O2 just as slowly (this applies to other slow growing plants as well).


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## Mick2016 (Jun 16, 2016)

Sorry. I did not mean to imply that the aquarium have ONLY moss balls - just an alternate to some of those LIVE plants which are more difficult to keep healthy and thriving . . . and, as a bonus, not taking up too much valuable real estate in the stocked tank.

Here are a couple of links about the benefits of MOSS BALLS:

https://pethelpful.com/fish-aquariums/Benefits-of-the-Marimo-Moss-Ball

11 Benefits of Marimo Moss Balls in Aquariums


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## Geoffrey (Jun 24, 2015)

I'm not saying moss balls don't do those things, I'm just saying those effects are negligible.

Many fast growing, but easy live plants are floating plants such as amazon frogbit, water lettuce, hornwort, anacharis, etc.


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