is my tank overstocked?

[tzahroxi]

i have a 40 gallon with two large filters on it and a moderate amount of plants (anubias, crypts, swords, and lilies).
i currently have 1 male marigold sword, i female pineapple sword, two female mollies, around 10 or so adult and sub adult platies, who knows how many fry from the platies (normally around 10 or so that i can distinguish, which i regularly net out and donate to a lfs), two corries left over from a school i had of them, a clown pleco, several nerites, and several shrimp.
ive been thinking of moving my embers into the 40 cause they dont seem to get along with the betta they are with, they dont fight but actively avoid each other.

[Levi_Aquatics]

It depends on how frequently you want to do water changes. The more fish you have the more water you will have to change.

[tzahroxi]

On 1/10/2022 at 11:03 PM, Levi_Aquatics said:

It depends on how frequently you want to do water changes. The more fish you have the more water you will have to change.

i do weekly water changes already, is that too much? i use to do the same for my bettas but now i can get by for several weeks without changing the water. but with my 40 even with weekly water changes and even when there was less fish my nitrates have always been around 40

[Levi_Aquatics]

I would probably add the fish and see how that affects the nitrates. If they get too high you could always remove them.

[lefty o]

i dont think its over stocked, even adding a pile of ember tetras.  if you maintain water quality, its no issue.

[Isaac M]

Hello @tzahroxi, I am not sure how many ember tetras you are moving over but they do not add much bioload. I would move them, especially if they are stressed with the betta. You will just need to make sure you can keep up the water quality. 

I noticed that most of the plants you mentioned feed from the roots (lillies, swords, crypts) or are slow growing (anubias). I would suggest adding in some faster growing stem plants, floating plants and/ or riparian plants(something as simple as pothos can do wonders) to help you keep the nitrates lower so you can either do smaller and/or less water changes while keeping up the same water quality. 

[tzahroxi]

On 1/10/2022 at 11:21 PM, Isaac M said:

Hello @tzahroxi, I am not sure how many ember tetras you are moving over but they do not add much bioload. I would move them, especially if they are stressed with the betta. You will just need to make sure you can keep up the water quality. 

I noticed that most of the plants you mentioned feed from the roots (lillies, swords, crypts) or are slow growing (anubias). I would suggest adding in some faster growing stem plants, floating plants and/ or riparian plants(something as simple as pothos can do wonders) to help you keep the nitrates lower so you can either do smaller and/or less water changes while keeping up the same water quality. 

would salvinia work, i have some in with the embers (9). i have a coworker who is willing to give me some water lettuce in the spring when they do better.

[Isaac M]

Yes salvinia will work as long as it grows successfully in that aquarium. 9 ember tetras should do great in a 40 breeder with that stocking list, I would make these changes. I would just say keep in mind that floating plants will cover the surface and block out some light from the plants below so just keep an eye out to see if your plants are getting enough light. 

[Mydonkeyfish]

If you have a picture that would be helpful but as.long as they look happy and are in a clean enviorment they should be good.

My 55 has 8 giant danios, a pleco, a crayfish and a three spot gourami which are all big fish but since i have a canister filter and a hang on back rated for a 75 and a lot of water sprite my animals have plenty of clean water to swim in

😁

[Mydonkeyfish]

If your tank has too many fish and you cant move them yet just do more water changes!

Good luck👍

[gardenman]

As long as the tank is stable it's not overstocked. That's my philosophy. As a tank ages the amount of stock it can support tends to increase. You tend to have a bit less of a margin of error with a more heavily stocked tank and bad things happen faster but stocking largely depends on what your tank will support without difficulty. My tanks are all vastly overstocked by any "normal" measure, but all are stable, have a nitrate level between 25-50, zero ammonia, zero nitrites, and I rarely lose a fish. It works for me. I also vastly overfeed my fish compared to many. Do what works for you.

[tzahroxi]

Sorry it took me a bit to get home and take a picture but here is the tank. I’m breaking down my 10 and moving the floaters in

[Patrick_G]

Nice looking tank! Are you adding fertilizer? That could account for the 40ppm Nitrate levels. I’d probably try some stem plants along with the floaters. Plants like water wisteria and Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus are easy to grow and use up a lot of Nitrates. 

[tzahroxi]

On 1/12/2022 at 2:56 PM, Patrick_G said:

Nice looking tank! Are you adding fertilizer? That could account for the 40ppm Nitrate levels. I’d probably try some stem plants along with the floaters. Plants like water wisteria and Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus are easy to grow and use up a lot of Nitrates. 

i use to have the octopus one and it nearly took over the tank but when i trimmed it and replanted the trimmings it died. i tried some root tabd but they didnt help much and it eventually died off. i just put the salvinia from my 10 into this tank cause im rescaping the 10 due to me hating the set up and a clump of hair algae forming (btw i did see some fragments of hair algae come into the 40 when moving the salvinia, will it me ok. i typically dont have any problems with algae already but im a bit worried).

i do add easy green and iron to the tank on a weekly basis.

[Clemson Tiger]

I have 7 rainbow fish, 10 neons, 4 bumblebee platys, 1 gold dust Molly, 3 plecos, 1 angelfish, 1 betta, 2 nerite snails, 5 panda corys, 1 episto, and a powder blue gourami. My tank is HEAVILY planted. I would say my tank is at capacity, given they’re all going to grow- even so, IF I feel the tank seems to be shrinking- THAT means I get to buy the 125 I’ve always wanted!but I doubt it- if I exceed what I’ve got now, I’d definitely be pushing my carrying capacity.

I have them in a 40-breeder, two HOB filters plus a box filter with a nice air stone. I’m filtering my tank more than 11 times in 1 hour. Personally, I think my population is right where it needs to be. I’m going to throw it out there and say for your capacity- you’re underpopulated- meaning I think you can have much more. I’m not opposed to water changes- so it doesn’t bother me. Water change day is when the plants in the house get watered. Enjoy!