can anybody tell me if my tanks are overcrowded???

[Plec0maniac]

First: 130gallon tank. 5feetx2feetx18" 6 - Leopards@9", 3 - L24@7", 3 - L160@8", 2 - a. adonis@6", 1 megalancistrus@8nches. and 5-6pcs of spotted bristlenose or L183@5nches

Second: 130gallon tank. same specs. 2-L002, 1-L005, 1-l007, 3-L014, 2-L015, 1-L018, 3-L025, 2-L028, 2-L029, 2-L034, 3-L046, 1-L048, 2-L052, 2-L066, 1-L081, 2-L128, 2-L140, 1-L177, 2-L200, 2-L204, 1-L226, 2-L262, 2-L264, 6-L065, 3-L091, 2-Lda33, 1-Lda32, 2-L254, 2-albino hypostomus@4", etc.

Third: 75gallon tank. panaque tank. 3-L330@3", 2-L27@4", 1-L27b@10", 1-L27c@8" nd 2@5", 2-L90@7", 1-L90a@7', 1-L90c@4", 1-L90d@7", 2-panaque "ucali"-not sure!@5", 1-L190@6", 2-L191@6", 1-chocliodon sp.@7", 1-hypostomus,"u spot"@7", 1-albino hypostomus@8", 2-carachama de bola@5".

Forth: 75 gallon tank divided into three. one for 6-L134@4.5", one for 6-L260@4", and the last is for 6-Lda19@2.5".

Fifth: 75 gallon tank diveded into two. One with 26 albino bristle-nose at 3" and the other is for 6-L269@5-5.5".

Sixth: 75 gallon tank. 6 breeders of sturisoma aureum, 3 sturisoma barbatum, 3 lamonthycthys filamentosus, 2 Reniloricaria lanceolata, 1 pintada and 1 nigrofaciatum.

Lastly: 35 gallon tank with blue dempsy or nandopsis octofaciatum, and 4 L232.

All are with powerful powerheads for extra aeration and current.. Execpt of my pseuda tank.. Are they overcrowded cuz this might lead to my fishes not growing properly...

[Yann]

Hi!

I would say yes that your tank seem overcrowded!
I would cut down the population at least in half in all of them.
Remember when thinking at a population for your tank, take in mind the maximum size of each fish once adult!!!
Even if the filtration might be ok, with such population you must be changing quite a huge amount of water and very often to keep the nitrates level as low as possible.
I wonder how much nitrates there are in your tank.
You can be sure it is one of the reason for your fish not growing properly...
Overcrowding can be a source of stress for the fish.
You must make sure you have enough caves and stuff for them to hide but it will not empeach any territorial dispute.
You must make sure every one has his share of food: you might either not feed enough to insure proper growth or overfeed and this way you have huge amount of waste and bad water quality.
In quite dangerous situation. because a disease and such situation can easily break out with almost every fish being touch.
Such set-up for me is like a minuted bomb, everything goes well but some day it will blow out.
To me a long term keeping in not thinkable
So it is either buy some more tanks or choose what fish you want to keep and which you want to sell.
If you just want to have a broad diversity of fish, keep one of each, if you are willing to try breeding them, keep one or two species with several individuals from each.

Cheers
Yann

[The Master]

You have to forgive my friend Mr. Yann. He is the nephew of the most respectable pl*co supplier in town. That is why he gets a lot of these unusually large pl*cos when his uncle's shipment first arrives. He gets first dibs on them. He will definitely have a large diversity of them.

But please tell them that you still have cories in most of those tanks where even your cories outnumber your pl*cos 5-1, I heard. OVERCROWDED, that is an understatement. More like Claustrophobic maybe.

Don't even think of breeding these fish. With the type of tanks you have, I wouldn't even give you even a 1 out of 10 chance of getting it done. Most of your fish will look really stressed.

Please send all of us here pictures so that we can really judge if those tanks are overcrowded. Come now, don't be afraid.

[Plec0maniac]

My corys are now placed in another tank, which makes it better. Yeah they might be quite over crowded but it seems that they're all doing ok! I've place alot of bog wood and rocks to prevent aggression. So far so good! I also have extreme filtration... aeration and filaration is not a problem. Nitrate and other bad bacteria aren't a prob. also bec. I keep my tanks checked every week, and 30% water change everyother day, filtration media changed or cleaned every week!! I provide my plecs with the best food available for there growth, nutrition, and treats! I'm planning on buying a large tank for them, maybe during the mid of the year..

I love my plecs, and I think that they are doing fyn. Everybodies growing and that they are happy...

* The Master sorry to say but Ive quite been able to breed a certain sp. successfully and I think four times olready! Dont worry I'll post some pics soon...