Am I overstocked?

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Nim Dibbley

Nim Dibbley

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 13, 2010
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I have seen this question asked a lot, but I couldn't find a tank similar enough to mine to get an idea.

My 240 (8x2x2) has been up and running for about 7 months now and i have been adding monster fish left and right, but I am not sure if i can add anymore. My filtration is a wet/dry filter sump. All my fish are currently small, but that is temporary...A lot of research has gone into almost everything so I think I am ok, but not sure so here it goes:

1. Red tailed giant gourami - 5 inches
2. Silver Arowana - 8 inches
3. Green terror - 5 inches
4. Oscar - 4 inches
5. Pictus cat - 5 inches
6. Asian upside down cat (Mystus leucophasis)- 5 inches
7. Black Ghost Knife - 7 inches

The last 3 fish are on night patrol and i don't see them at all during the day. I drop food in there at night specifically for them. I might get my 55 gallon up and running again to move the BGK to just so i can get more enjoyment out of him.

I would like to add a bichir of some sort. Not sure if i should add anything or if i should call it quits. (It is so hard to stop once you get a 240 gallon tank in your dinning room...)

What do you think?
 
i swear when i looked into arowanas that they only seemed to get about 2 feet or so and the 2 foot wide tank was sufficient. but going through the forums here, it seems like 3 feet is more likely....so...is adding a bichir to this mix a good idea or bad idea?
 
So, adding a bichir isn't going to magically overload your tank, you will be fine. Your issue is not so much an issue of overstocking as improper tank size... An arowana might not get much bigger than 3 feet, but you can't keep one in a 55 gallon even though it's following the old "inch per gallon" rule.
 
Although I don't have any personal experience, there are a lot of those whole "rule of thumb" things you could follow to answer your question. For every inch on the fish, you need to have so many gallons; I can't remember the exact amount, it's something like that though... But what I do know is one: oscars, which are foot long fish, require 75g for one and an extra 30-40g for another. So you could use that as a guide for your fish. The bigger ones, anyway. And two: Fish are native to living free in the rivers,ponds,lakes,etc. No matter how big of a tank almost, they're going to seem a little trapped probably. So your best bet would to give all fish in the tank PLENTY of bubble room, no pun intended. You seem to have a lot of fish, but as you stated before, they haven't grown to full size yet, and that IS a pretty big tank. If I were you, I would definitely find the arowana another home, as those suckers get HUGE. Put the ghost knife in it's own tank (with plenty of hiding spaces) and it should be happy. I'm pretty sure the other fish can live happily ever after. But really, about the aro, don't take my word for it, take this whole site's word for it haha.
 
Jimmy16 said:
Enjoy the aro until it gets 24 inches then you can rehome him if you want IMO.
Click to expand...

Yup, always an option. I don't generally recommend it but you do have a 240, not like a 55. You could probably keep the aro a year or so (maybe a little longer) before it outgrows the tank, depending on some things.
 
I don't see any problem adding the bichir.
 
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