Is my tank over stocked??

[idle0095]

i have a 75 gallon setup with live plants and gravel. i have a Cascade 1000 canister filter and a Cascade 700. Onto to fish
Pacu 5"
Pacu 8"
Pacu 13"
Pleco 14"
Pleco 5"
Tire track eel 5"
Oscar 6"
Oscar 6"
Werid eel 5"
Convick 2"

now i know i can have 72" of fish but do i have too many? Im getting ride of the big 13" Pacu soon. with him gone am i over stocked still?

[Willow]

For now, it's not so bad. But your Oscars are going to get to be over a foot long each, and the Plecos will be about 18-24 inches. Your other Pacus are going to get to be bigger (I don't know much about Pacus, so I don't know their maximum size). I don't know much about the other kinds of fish, but I assume they're not full-grown yet. You're going to have to upgrade soon, or get rid of some more fish.

[blcknwitecuban]

pacus get HUGE like very very big, pleco , eel, and convixt can stay i think.. not sure about the "weird eel". but the pacus and oscar will have to go

i dont think it is possible for you to financially get a tank for the pacus.

and do u jknow what kind of pleco it is?

[flamingo]

I'd get rid of everything but an oscar. XD

[Scuba Kid]

Originally Posted by Willow

For now, it's not so bad. But your Oscars are going to get to be over a foot long each, and the Plecos will be about 18-24 inches. Your other Pacus are going to get to be bigger (I don't know much about Pacus, so I don't know their maximum size). I don't know much about the other kinds of fish, but I assume they're not full-grown yet. You're going to have to upgrade soon, or get rid of some more fish.

No, it is pretty bad...
Your tank is pretty overstocked, and on top of that overstocked with fish that will need hundreds of gallons full grown. Pacus shouldnt even be sold as they can get 3-4 feet in length! You have a lot of large, big waste producing fish in there, and given their sizes, you are pretty overstocked. Those pacus will need to go very soon.

[flamingo]

3-6 feet

[Scuba Kid]

Originally Posted by flamingo

3-6 feet

Sorry Mr. Dylan.

[flamingo]

Why thank you Betsy . (sorry to derail)

[redpaulhus]

Pacu and "planted tank" should never be in the same sentence - its more like "cow tetra and salad bar".
Pacu and 75g should never be in the same sentence.
"Oscar with live plants" usually translates as "Bull mastif with chewtoys" -- most adult Oscars will uproot and carry around most common live plants.
Oscar should only be in the same sentence as 75g if "oscar" is preceeded by "one" (and "water change" is preceded by "weekly" )

You could spend $5000 or more on filters - it wouldn't change anything, the tank is too small, and ALL filters simply turn waste into nitrate -- only water changes (and large volumes of water to dilute the nitrates) keep nitrates in check. The cascades will probably be physically sufficient for a little while, but they may become biologically challenged soon, as your little babies grow (your "big" pacu probably hasn't hit puberty yet).

There was a great series of articles in either FAMA or TFH in the 80's, about a single pacu who outgrew a number of tanks (450g, etc) til he was in an 800+ gallon tank that needed to be built in-place in the basement of the house because it would could not be brought in thru any of the doors.
That was for a single pacu.

[redpaulhus]

ps The "inch per gallon" rule is a sad joke, mostly perpetrated by folks who like to sell medications and "replacement fish" to people who own anything larger than a neon tetra or guppy.
A single 10" oscar weighs at least as much as a hundred 1" tetras or guppies, eats more, uses more oxygen, deficates more and excretes more ammonia....

[Scuba Kid]

Originally Posted by redpaulhus

ps The "inch per gallon" rule is a sad joke, mostly perpetrated by folks who like to sell medications and "replacement fish" to people who own anything larger than a neon tetra or guppy.
A single 10" oscar weighs at least as much as a hundred 1" tetras or guppies, eats more, uses more oxygen, deficates more and excretes more ammonia....

Exactly. Would you ever keep a 10 inch oscar in a 10 gallon tank? No, this is exactly why the inch per gallon rule is BS.

[idle0095]

the only reason i have the oscars is because someone gave them to me. the big pacu will be getting out of my tank soon. what fish do you think i should have for a planted tank?

[Scootydoo]

Heres a tip I find is true like 99% of the time, If there is even a possibility that you think your tank is overstocked, it is.

[swordtailbreedr]

the one inch rule works for small fish, and is a rule of thumb. for fish like small tetra and danios, rasboras, it will work. it is good so that newbs know they can fit about 5-10 small fish is their new 10g tank-it just needs to be expplain MUCH better

[flamingo]

Actually, the one inch rule doesn't work for anything to begin with.

[bomb-]

Your tank is way overstocked. You may think it is fine right now because you have a nice-sized tank and your fish are small, but later on, you will run into a major issue.

Your Pacu fish can get up to like 3-5 feet depending on how much they get fed, sometimes even bigger. I saw a monstrosity of a Pacu that was almost 7 full feet.

Your Plecos are another issue. Depending on what type he is, he can get pretty big. With your Pacu fish and others, it is a major issue. A regular Pleco can reach up to two whole feet, but they can get a whole lot bigger than that.

Your Tiretrack Eel should be fine. He will keep out of the way and will stay of a relatively decent size.

Your Oscars are another issue. You can get rid of the Pacu fish and just keep these babies, which is what I would do. They can get BIG!