Is this over crowding?

Question

I have a 30 gallon, tropical tank with a large piece of driftwood, a fake plant (quite big), a fake log, a fake rock with a hole in the middle (donut shape) and some shale rocks, and a few live plants (smallish)

I have:
11 neon tetras
3 zebra danios
2 leopard danios
2 guppies (1 male and 1 female)
4 male endlers livebearers
1 crab (asian i think)
1 spotted pleco (small stil)
and 2 small angel fish (2.5 inches with the tail)

Answer 1

The basic rule of thumb when dealing with regular tropical fish tanks is 1 inch of fish per 1 gallon of water. In your case you could comfortably keep 30inches of fish in your tank. Remember though that you want to go by their adult size when doing this and not by the size they are now. Just with your neons, danios, and guppies you just about have a full tank if not full.

When you put too many fish in your tank it is like having a family of 10 living in a 2 bedroom apartment--someone is eventually going to either leave or get kicked out. It's the same with fish. If they get too crowded they usually die from illness or high levels in the tank, even killed by their tankmates.

Also, each fish has a differently swimming area. You can differentiate this by looking at the way their mouth is shaped. If the mouth point upwards they are a top swimmer. If the mouth points straight in front of them they are a mid swimmer. If their mouth points down they are a bottom swimmer. Making sure you don't overcrowd these areas is important as well.

Check your levels weekly (nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, etc) to make sure that everything is in the safe zone. pH isn't particually important for most your fish, however, it can make breeding difficult and also can be stressful on your angelfish.

Make sure you are doing no more then 7.5 gallons a week for water changes--and setting up the replacement water the night before can be helpful in naturally removing the chlorine--still use dechlorinator though. Using a gravel vacuum is very helpful at bringing down the levels in your tank as well by removing un-eaten food, waste, etc.

NEVER remove more then 15 gallons from your tank. The fish work very hard at producing natural bacteria in the tank (like an immune system). When you remove too much of this it would be like removing their immune system making them more susceptible to illness and/or death.

Another thing you want to make sure you do is replace your carbon filter cartridge once a month. If you are finding that it is becoming very slimey or full of food or algae rinse it off every week or two. If you are finding that there is a lot of algae, try moving your tank away from windows or placing backing on the side where the light is hitting. If there is a lot of food in the filter there is a rule of thumb for that as well.

The fish stomach is only about as big as their eyes and their memory is only about 2-3 seconds long. So, fish can basically eat themselves to death if there is too much food given everyday. It is MUCH better to under feed your fish rather then over feed them. Make sure you are only feeding about 30 seconds worth of food no more then twice a day. 30 seconds meaning they are eating the food for no more then 30 seconds. Now your container of food will say differently, but they are trying to sell a product--the less people use the more money they don't make.

One last thing--if your tank is on an outside wall--and if it is possible to move--move it. Keeping your fish tank off of outside walls will help keep your tanks temperature steady. This is especially important with angelfish who are very particular to their environments conditions.

I hope that all of this was helpful--if you every have any other pet related questions, please don't hesitate to ask us directly. Good luck with your fish!

Thanks
Tidy Tanks Aquarium and Pet Services

Answer 2

Yes. The angelfish will need a bigger tank (55 gallons). You should only have 1 in the tank, otherwise if they're both males, they'll kill each other. Zebra and leopard danios should be in schools of 6. Female guppies should outnumber males 2-1. Get 1 more female so she doesn't get harassed. Plecos grow up to 2 feet in length before long so they should be in at least a 75 gallon tank. The angels will eat the neons and guppies. Get rid of the pleco and the angels and you've got yourself a nice community tank.

Answer 3

Yeah it does sound a little overcrowded.

I'd get a 50 gallon (or even 60 or 70 if you can afford/have space for) to have a comfortable set up (at least until the pleco gets larger), and I'd also consider housing the angels separately (unless they seem peaceful) as they can sometimes cause problems.

Good luck!

Answer 4

If you do weekly 20% water changes and keep the gravel as clean as possible,that's not overcrowding as far as the numbers go,although the Angelfish would benefit from a larger (deeper) tank. I wouldn't keep Angels in anything shallower than a 29 gallon tank. They seem to feel more secure.

Answer 5

You nee a 90 gallon tank, but you can get by for now with daily partial water changes. The tank will get dirty fast so clean it twice a week with a vacume tube and if your fish start show ing signs of distress buy a ph tester and follow the directions. most fish stores can sell books that give great advice. most of your fish are small and that helps out alot, change water by 1/4 tank at least every other day youcan get by with weekly vacume too

Answer 6

...OTHER than the problems you could face from the pairings you've got going on...

Yeah. You need about 55 gallons to deal with all that, and more once that pleco gets larger (and it's not even SIZE, it's the waste they put out)

Edit: Whoa, wait. You've got ONE female guppy with FIVE MALE LIVEBEARERS? That poor girl! Honey, get a 100 gallon tank, get about 8 more female guppies and you should be alright.

Answer 7

thats a lot of fish!!!!! depends if there all small then for now they'll be of because theres lots of swimming space but when they all get big then it might be a problem