What Size Tank Do I Now Need?

[lclayton]

Before anyone points out that I am massively overstocked - I know, that's the point of the post!

So my friend's parents had fish that they had lost interest in entirely and wanted rid of (to the point that they couldn't remember the last time they'd changed any water, fed them once or twice a week, and didn't even know what they had in there.) The tank itself was also tiny and pretty grotty and I didn't want to take it, so just took the fish, sort-of QT'd them (well, in a storage tub for a few days) and they're now in my tank. All in pretty good condition all things considered and it's going well. I'm monitoring my readings carefully, doing good water changes and feeding sparingly. It's fully cycled and heavily planted. So really the only issue is they're a bit crowded.

But... it's only about 24G (3ft long) and now I have a LOT of fish in there:

11 neons (actually suspect 2 or 3 are cardinals but haven't got a good look)

6 corys

4 WCMMs.

4 harlequin rasboras

3 otocinclus (I have plenty of algae they're working on)

2 young platys (but they can go asap, no more babies, please!!!)

1 endler guppy

5 shrimps

I think that's all of them!

Well I wanted a new tank anyway and have room for a much larger one. So what would be a) the bare minimum I could get away with, and b) what would be ideal for a more generous living space for them? Can't go TOO mad, not made of money.

Must stop doing this

[Hidr]

I would say about a 55 gallon. However if you were to plant the tank with TONS and I mean tons of plants using Walstad style tank then you would be ok with that many in that in a 30 or 40 gallon. But when I say tons I mean no room to plant more tons not just a few here and there. I mean enough to cover the entire bottom or pretty close to it.

Good luck

Until then do daily water changes and light on the feedings.

[johann_pond]

I think Hidr is aboslutley correct. I would look for a used 55, or as she said....plant, plant and plant some more.