Have I maxed out my 10-gallon tank?

Question

This is a multi-part question so bear with me ...

PART ONE: I "inherited" an over-crowded 10-gallon tank from a friend who was moving and could not take her aquarium with her. After buying an additional five-gallon tank to help relieve the over crowding and (sadly) waiting for the tanks to normalize, four months later, I now have two tanks, a 10-gallon and a five-gallon. The five-gallon contains one three-inch goldfish by itself and the 10-gallon has ...

2 pink gouramis (1.5-inches each)
2 cherry barbs (1-inch each)
2 neon tetras (0.5-inches each)
1 tiger barb (.75-inches)
and 1 plecostomus (2-inches)

Should I add more fish as I realize that some of these are schooling fish? If so, which fish should I add?

Note: These surviving fish have co-existed peacefully for five months now and are the original fish that I inherited.

PART TWO: One of pink gouramis has a yellow dot on his back. It has always had this dot since I've had it (five months) and it is about twice the size of when I fist noticed it.

Is this normal? A link to the picture of the fish ... http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g191/kornika1/HPIM0138.jpg

I apologize for the quality of the photo but it's hard to get a fish to stay still.

PART THREE: When considering the "1-inch per gallon" rule, do I include the size of a pleco in the total?

Answer 1

Both tanks are overcrowded. They will survive half decently for a while, but they will definitely not thrive our live out a normal lifespan.

2 pink gouramis (1.5-inches each) - these SHOULD be 5-6" long and gouramis can at times be aggressive. they belong in a minimum of 40 gallons. They are also a semi-aggressive species that, as it gets older, will become less and less tolerant of fish that invade its space (and in a 10 gallon, that is impossible to avoid)
2 cherry barbs (1-inch each) - fine for a 10 gallon tank
2 neon tetras (0.5-inches each) - fine for a 10 gallon tank, but you need more of them. neon tetras are schoolers and are not comfortable in groups with less than 5 individuals
1 tiger barb (.75-inches) - also a schooler, and an aggressive, nippy one at that. should be in groups of 5+, in a tank at least 20 gallons, and only with fish that can hold their own against a nippy tiger barb.
and 1 plecostomus (2-inches) - common plecostomous grow to 18+ inches and are huge waste producers. they belong in tanks no smaller than 100 gallons and frankly, do better in ponds when they get to a certain size.

Please consider doing some 'revamping'. If you go to a small petstore (ie not a large chain petstore like petsmart) you can certainly trade some of your fish for better fish for your tank. How about something like:
1 dwarf gourami
8 neon tetras
3 cherry barbs
So stocked, your tank will be active, healthy, and non-aggressive. Your fish will be healthier, more colourful, will live longer, and your tank will look and smell cleaner. I know your tank has been okay for 5 months, but please know that 5 months is not that long, considering that many of these fish can live into their teens.

OR, get a 40 gallon tank, keep the fish you have but get a few more neon tetras and tiger barbs, and get rid of the pleco.

The 5 gallon with the goldfish is not appropriate. Even the smallest, fancy goldfish can grow to 6-9" and need at least 15 gallons of water EACH to cope with huge amounts of waste they produce. Like plecos, they are poop machines, and will not live long in a tank that small.
If you want to keep your 5 gallon up and running, your options would be
1 male or female betta and an african dwarf frog OR a mystery snail, OR
3 white cloud minnows, OR
3 african dwarf frogs, OR
A breeding colony of cherry shrimp and lots of plants (very pretty).

Regarding the yellow spot on the gourami's back, it looks to me like colouration. I can't see it very well, but it does not seem like an injury. Keep an eye on it and look for symptoms like redness, fuzzyness, scale loss, and general stressed-looking.

About the 1 inch per gallon rule... I will start by saying that that rule is totally bogus. It can apply to small, thin-bodied fish like tetras, sort of. Like, you can put 8-10 neon tetras in a 10 gallon tank. But even then, there is a base of swimming room required, so you could put 10 neons in a 10 gallon tank, but not 1 neon in a 1 gallon tank. And would you put a 10" oscar in a 10 gallon tank? Of course not, it would probably break the tank at the seems! Each fish has different requirements - some fish swim a lot, some fish only stay within a small territory. Some fish do not eat much and do not poop, and other fish are poop machines. Some fish school, some will use up the whole tank. Some use the top, some use the bottom, etc etc. Each fish has to be taken into consideration when deciding how to stock a tank, and it's more than a basic math rule of 1 inch per gallon.
Even if you do by a math rule, you must allot the pleco 5 gallons per inch of ADULT SIZE.



Edit: regarding what the guy above me said. Your schoolers DO need to school. Stick your head in the ocean - schooling fish don't just school when they're scared, they school ALL the time. In a fishtank, they don't need to, but try telling them that. They only feel safe with many others around them, otherwise, they stress. He was, however, correct in stating that you must clean the water diligently, especially with so many fish that are too big for the tank. Please look into properly stocking your tank, and in the meantime, clean 30% of the water at least once every 5 days to keep ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels down. When your tank is properly stocked, 20-30% once per week is fine.

Answer 2

both tanks are way overcrowded. Yes, you should count the pleco as a fish in your tank, he is the most messy one you have by far, except the goldfish. Common plecos get VERY large, 1-2 feet in the right aquaria, and you should probably get rid of him, unless you're planning to upgrade to a 75 gallon or so . The goldfish as well needs to find a new home, he will get very large and goldfish are huge waste producers. I would get rid of those two fish, put the tetras in the 5 gallon, and you could then add 3 more tetras to that. With the ten, I would keep only the fish you have, and even then, with the 2 gouramis, and 3 barbs you will probably still be a little overstocked, but if you overfilter and do regular water changes, the fish should be fine. I know that pleco looks small now, but im telling you, he will be very very large, and they grow pretty quickly. I had a 2.5 inch pleco that hit 11 inches in a little less than a year. I am a big pleco fan, and if you can upgrade to that 75 i mentioned, i think you would love him!

Answer 3

You need to look at the size of the fish when they are fully grown adults, not when you get them from the store (youths). The fish you have in there are probably already limited with swimming room, so i would try to put them in different homes, since they will grow. You might be fine right now, but don't live by the 1 inch per gallon rule, you also have to consider the wheather the fish is aggressive or not, and how much room they require to be happy.

Answer 4

A Pelco should always be included in the total. As the total assumes you are feeding them all enough food. Most pleco are bottom feeders and will eat almost anything. In many tanks the left overs are easily enough for them. (Of course most tanks are overfed.) Also realize there are about 70 breeds of pleco in the trade. Some get not much bigger than yours, and some get over a foot in length. To know the type you could look at planet catfish, or post a picture.

Answer 5

the pleco actually counts more towards the 1 inch per gallon as it creates more waste than the others, well actually the goldfish will be the biggest waste creator of them all. also the pleco if a common (or most any other kind of pleco) will grow to at least 10 inches. I would suggest a 20 gallon for all of the ten gallon fish and put the gold fish in the ten for now.

also the 1gallon per inch kind of stinks. i would try more for at least 1.5 per inch. I actually try to keep my tank at 2 gallons per inch.

Answer 6

A 10-gallon tank is pretty small. I wouldn't feel comfortable housing very many of anything in those tanks. 5 gallons is way too small for a goldfish. You have probably stunted the growth of the poor fish and now he will never reach full potential. By the way, goldfish love company. He is probably not only lacking in space but also lonely and bored. If you want more fish, I'd like to recommend you improve the conditions of your current fish first.

Answer 7

You are pretty much at max for both tanks. Be sure the nitrate level remains in the safe zone.

pink gouramis has a yellow dot on his back this could be a number of posiablities. Have you done a water and filter change? Are any of the other fish showing signs of stress? here is a sight designed to help with particular problems with gouramis. Scott can help.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/GouramiDisFAQs.htm

Answer 8

wow..... you're way overcrouded for both tanks,,,, ifyou have the funds, try getting a larger tank (20-30 gallons) and put the mix of ones in the bigger tank. get a few more of each schooling fish and you'll be fine. also, make sure they all have plenty of places to hide.

second, put the goldfish in the 10 gallon. you could put the pleco in with him, they'll be fine together (experience) just keep the tank at the low end of the pleco's temperature range. goldfish like it COLD,,, but the pleco needs a certain temp. the gf will be fine up to like 75, but his color might decrease a bit. also, vacuum the tank often, or the pleco will overeat with the goldfish.

ideally, you'd want three or more of each fish you have (except the gf), and 5 plecos at a time. since you're strapped for space, one pleco will be fine by itself. i'd suggest topping them off to three each, if you get a larger tank.

if you don't want or can't get a bigger tank, then i'd suggest taking some of them back to the pet store, or advetising in the newspaper for the fish to go to a new home.

good luck!! i'f you were closer, i'd take a few!! lol

have a good day

Answer 9

Your tanks is very over crowded. With time, your fishes will grow and there will be less and less space for them to grow. I would NOT get anymore fish and I would even go to say to buy another tank and to move some of those fish to a new tank to prevent over crowding.

Answer 10

The fish that were orginally in the tank can survive, if you filter the water frequently. Second, the fish you have do not need more to school. Fish only school when they are scared. Third, the pleco will outgrow the tank really quick.