how much is too much?

[firsttime-fishkeeper]

hey all

right now ive had alot of fish dying since the last post (all the mollies are gone) and wondering if i shud get anymore fish...

right now i have 2 ghost catfish, 5 neon tetras and one chinese algae eater whos doing well but probably gna cause more deaths in tank if i get more fish (killed 2 of my ballong mollies T_T)

thanks

[eklikewhoa]

Re: how much is too much?

What size tank?
cycled yet?

[firsttime-fishkeeper]

Re: how much is too much?

the tanks a 37L (i think) so that makes it 7 gallons and it is cycled

[eklikewhoa]

Re: how much is too much?

I think it's overstocked

[firsttime-fishkeeper]

Re: how much is too much?

a couple of other people have said that as well so i guess its just gna stay that way then.... when evrything else dies out (hopefully a long time away) ill just get a group of schooling fish and a bristlenose catfish

[PhishPhreek]

Re: how much is too much?

if you're going to keep chinese algae eaters then you need to feed them the alge wafers or they will try to suck the slime off of your other fish.

Back when I was a kid we called mollies - plague rats.
most of them were bred and raised in brackish water and when we tryed to keep them in freshwatter tanks they became stressed and pickes up any diseases within a 50 mile radius  :?

Isolate new mollies for at least a month before you add them to a comunity tank!

[firsttime-fishkeeper]

Re: how much is too much?

haha ill remember that next time.... cuz out of the 4 i used to have 1 commited suicie (stuck under log) 2 got killed by the algae eater and one of them might of died bcuz of not giving birth =P

[Anonapersona]

Re: how much is too much?

You need to find out just how many fish a 7 gallon aquarium can hold.

Rule of thumb -- 1" of fish per gallon. Understand that this is for actual gallons in the tank, so use a jug and measure what you actually add to the tank, odds are it is about 6 gallons, after you added gravel and decorations and such.

Then that is 1" of adult sized fish per gallon , unless you are planning on none of your fish ever reaching adulthood. So, 1 6" ghost fish is all you can have.
Or 2  3" black mollies.
Or 3  2" tetras.

Since almost any schooling fish is very uncomfortable in groups of less than 6 (small numbers make them wonder just who ate the other guys) you can't have enough schooling fish to make that work, and most of them are about 2" at adulthood.

Hard to have just one molly or guppy or platy, they always seem to multiply (sure, this one is a male, trust me, I sell them all the time, he says) and two is too many for that tank.

I think a 7 galllon tank is about right for one betta. Betas are fun, they have real personality. If you need a fish collection, get a bigger tank. 29 gallons is a nice size for a starter. Lots of room for an assortment of fish.

[Mzungu]

Re: how much is too much?

Actually, the 1" per gallon rule really only applies to the smaller fish. A 6" fish would have virtually no room in a 6-7 gallon tank.