Multi-part aquarium question concerning how many fish and wut types of fish?

Question

I own a 55 gallon and a 10 gallon aquarium. In my 10 gallon aquarium i have a 5 inch pleco. Is this pleco to large for this 10 gallon aquarium? I am aware they can get to 1 1/2 feet in a large aquarium. My pleco has stopped growing and he is stable in size, so i think he should be fine in the 10 gallon. Also, I would like to add more fish to my 10 gallon aquarium. I think I want to add live bearing fish, but i am not sure which type to add. I have been told by friends that guppys reproduce like crazy, so i dont think i want to add guppys. I am leaning towards platys or swordtails, are these good choices for me? I dont want the live bearers to reproduce and quickly crowd my 10 gallon aquarium. How many live bearers can i add? I know i should have more females than males, and i know the basic 1inch of fish to 1 gallon of tank, but i have heard this rule is invalid and i dont think it would apply to my aquarium. WHEW...long question. Thank u for any answers!!!!!!!

WOW...1 hour online and 6 answers...you guys are great

Answer 1

yeah, your pleco stopped growing because it's growth is already stunted, even if you would put it in the 55 gallon it won't grow anymore, you can expect that they might live maybe for another year or so,
Stunting a fish means, that it will grow optically to the size of the tank but not internal, the organs keep growing just if the fish itself would grow to the size they are meant to be

As for livebearers, all of them reproduce like crazy, if you don't want that just go with all male guppies, platies, ballon mollies and you don't have to worry about reproduction

And as everybody thinks males fight, that isn't true either, the livebearers I mentioned are all peaceful fish and won't fight with each other

As of how many, maybe 5 male guppy's, 6 neon tetras (they are schooling fish) 3-5 platy's, maybe 6 zebra danios

But don't put more then 15 fish in there, choose wisely

And I also would take out the plecos and put them in your 55 gallon tank and replace them with 3 cory cats, like a pepper cory (bottom feeder)


Hope that helps


Good luck
EB

Answer 2

First, if the Pleco has stopped growing at 5 inches, it is probably stunted (which means you are killing it unless you move it to the 55 gallon tank). If you want livebearers, but you don't want babies, just get all males. This works with all livebearers because they all have sexual dimorphism (males have larger tails [Guppies] or pointed tails [Mollies, Platties, and Swordtails]). If you wanted male Guppies, you could have about 15 (if they are the only fish in the tank), or for Plattiesor Swordtails, you could have about 7 (if they are the only fish). Good luck with the new fish!

Also, because Guppies are very thin, clean, peaceful fish, the one inch of fish per gallon of water rule (which should never be applied to fish keeping) is not applicable. Guppies don't fight over territory so 15, there would be no problems with crowding. Platties and Swordtails are a little different because they are a bit messier and larger, so they need more space.

Nosoop4u

Answer 3

Yes, your pleco is already too big for your 10 gallon. Plecos are very messy fish who create a lot of waste for their size and it's not only the length of the fish that counts, but their width and mass as well. As you probably know, plecos are very wide fish, so they actually require more "gallons per inch" than most fish.

This is why the "one inch of fish per gallon" is only a rough rule of thumb and not to be taken as a hard and fast rule. It is necessary to take into account the maximum growth potential of a fish, the waste it produces and it's full mass, not just its length. That being said, it's a fairly decent guideline for beginners who are getting skinny fish and would otherwise pack their tanks full! You can use the guideline for most livebearers, just remember to figure the inches of fish as the full grown length excluding fins and if the fish is exceptionally wide or messy, add a little extra. You should start out slowly, with 2-3 fish, and add 1 fish every 2 weeks or so. I wouldn't want to put any more than about 6-7 guppy-sized fish in a 10 gallon.

Most livebearers reproduce fast and furiously. Mollies and platys and swordtails can be just as bad as guppies when it comes to dropping masses of fry, they just don't do it quite as often. If you want to avoid breeding fish in your 10 gallon, your best bet is to stick to a single sex environment. An all male guppy tank can be very beautiful and it's pretty easy to tell the males from the females. Then you won't have any fry, so no problem. If you want platys or swordtails, I suggest you do the same - stick to either all males or all females. I suggest all males because otherwise you take the risk of getting a pregnant female and ending up with fry in your tank anyways (some of which may be male).

Answer 4

All the live bearers will breed incessantly, guppies, mollies, platies, swordtails. If you don't want them to breed, get all males. Females have a good chance of being pregnant already when you buy them. Plus, they can still have fry for up to about 6 months-even with no males in the tank, all from that 1 encounter with a male.

For a 10 gallon, if you go with guppies, I would say 5 would be good. The others platies, mollies, or swords I would say 4, they all tend to be a bit larger then the guppies.

Move the pleco to the 55 gallon if possible, otherwise get rid of him. You don't want to stunt your fish. Their outsides stop growing, but their insides will continue to grow, causing the fish to take on a distorted shape, and shortening their life span considerably-to like two years as opposed to 10+ years.

And, it's not 1 inch of fish to 1 gallon, it's 1 inch of ADULT size fish per gallon. Not a great rule really, but I personally feel it's ok to use only with smaller community type fish-like guppies etc., not goldfish or cichlids.

Answer 5

Where to start ? OK, The one-inch rule is good if you are dealing with fish that only get about an inch long. When you start getting into wider fish, it goes out the window. Since most of the fish you are talking about are small lets say its OK to use the one inch rule.

First your pleco is too large for a 10 gal tank. Its torture to keep it in such a small tank. If its stopped growing that means its starving or the water quality is bad. Feed it cucumbers and squash and get it into the largest tank that you have. If it begins to outgrow your tank take it back to where you bought it. Fish stores often trade big plecos for smaller ones that fit your tank better. Don't torture, stunt, or starve your fish, take them to someone who can give them proper care and a proper sized tank.

If you don't want to deal with a lot of baby fish stay away from livebearers; guppies, mollies, swordtails, platys. That said platys and swordtails are the slowest of the livebearers to reproduce. My platy pair of six months has had four litters and now I have about 30 platys. Better than guppies but not much. Swordtails will likely reproduce at an acceptable rate.
Platys in a 10 gal. will overcrowd in the first spawn.

To keep the livebearers from overcrowding never allow males and females together. They will likely come home from the pet shop pregnant but keep them separate after that and hope that they don't stay pregnant, which fish can do. Getting young ones will better your odds in not getting a perpetually pregnant fish.

If you put in a bunch of females with one or two males you are asking for loads of babies in a healthy tank.

Try to keep the number of fish in your 10 gal to about 6 - 8 if they are all about an inch long. Less if they are bigger. Less if you want a healthy, low maintenance tank.

Think about a pair of Cory cats for bottom feeders. They NEED to be in pairs of the same species. Do the best that you can. Count them into your fish total when figuring tank support.


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Good Luck !

Answer 6

I agree, do not get guppies, they are breeding machines! I had to get a 55 gallon tank to seperate the guppies from my tropical fish, so now they guppies are alone and crowding in the 20 gallon tank. I would go for swordtails, they are a nice fish. But make sure to ask if the pleco and swordtails would get along

Answer 7

Your pleco should be fine in the 10 gal. tank but will get much larger if it has more room. All live bearing fish such as guppies, swordtails, and platys will drop live young about every 28 days depending on conditions. They generally need live food or a high quality commercial food to insure breeding.
Also the 1 inch of fish to 1 gal. of water is a good rule of thumb. Although some may disagree. I like live bearers especially guppies because the males are so colorful. A good ratio is 1 male to 2 females. If you go with swordtails or platys just be sure to keep a cover on your aquarium as they are jumpers. I've awoken many a morning to find one of my prize swordtails on the floor.

Answer 8

you can add some more to your into your tank as long as they are 5in or under. your friends are right i have guppys they have about 20 babys every 4 weeks live birth. im on vacation they probuly had 200 babys by now i have a wall that is made as a tank so they sould be fine. any way ithink 5 bearers should do

Answer 9

what type of pleco is it?
if it's the common pleco you can sure bet it will get bigger and that it has stopped growing is a sign of stunting (stunting=BAD!)
if it's one of the bristlenosed pleco then you may be fine with just the 10 gallon, can you describe it to me?