nm103

I have a 55-gallon but I think that I have too many fish in my tank.
I tried following the one-inch rule but I think I got a little carried away.
I have two 75-gallon filters running and 60-gallon oxygen pump.
I have 35 fish with about 97” inches worth of fish. Below is a list of the fish in my tank. So why question is do I have too many fish in my tank?

2 False Julii Cory Cat
1 Albino Aeneus Cory Cat
2 Peppered Cory Cat
1 Elegans Cory Cat
2 Zebra Danio
1 Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami
1 Dwarf Gourami
1 Giant Gourami
1 Green Cobra Guppy
1 Blue Delta Guppy
1 Yellow Tux Guppy
1 Orange Guppy
1 Platinum Lyretail Molly
1 Black Molly
1 Red and Black Platy
1 Orange and Black Platy
1 Clown Pleco
2 Boeseman's Rainbow
2 Black Neon Tetra
4 Black Skirt Tetra
4 Tetra
2 Unknown Yellow and Black
1 Pictus Cat

ahill3780

As I am mostly unfamiliar with the majority of FW fish I will leave this answer to others who are more knowledgable on your list.

Usually the bigger the tank you have, the more you can get away with stretching the rules a bit. Over-crowding a 55 gallon a little is not as bad as overcrowding a 10 gallon would be. But being a saltwater man myself I tend to think along the lines of a 55 gallon being a 'small' tank with 75-150 gallons being moderate.

55 gallon tanks tend to be tall and more narrow in width. Most fish spend more time swimming side to side rather than up and down so with a 55 gallon their room for motion is more limited than that of, say, a 75 gallon which is almost half again the width of the 55 gallon.

Just my .02

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Jay

I would say you are really pushing it. There are several concerns to be considered when you are managing a heavy fish load...

1. Stress from overcrowding leading to poor health (disease), Fin and Body damage from aggression (especially during the feeding frenzy). Even in a community tank there is a pecking order.

2. TDS/DOC (see Ahill's list of terms) and osmotic problems from the shear quantity of fish waste, food waste, bacterial waste etc., can lead to fish death/disease. Large weekly water changes will help here (50-60%)

3. Any stress on your biological filter (nitrogen cycle bacteria) and the tank could be overwhelmed with nutrients that can cause you massive algae problems. How do you stress your bio-filter? Forget to detox your tap water when you do a 50% water change.

Keep a close eye on it, test for ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites frequently. Elevated nitrates in a non planted tank are also an indicator of deteriorating water quality (TDS/DOC).

FYI I have, give or take a few, 28 fish in my 75. Mostly small tetras and rainbows. But my tank is heavily planted and the plants suck up an enormous amount of nutrients, I do weekly water chances, my mechanical filtration is about 2x.

I do not know what your maintenance routine is, but I would suggest a frequent and through one.

You are going to have to make some decisions based on this information and your own observations, I am not one to say buy another tank, you should never have done that!, bad aquarium person!! As far as mistakes go I think you can manage this one.




Regards,
Jay