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Have a 50 gallon, heavily planted, driftwood, some natural rocks, HOB, UGF, thermostat with heater, powerhead.....

Currently living in there are:

1 Bala Shark. (large but grew up surrounded by small fish so he doesnt exactly see them as food).
4 Tetra Pristellas
1 Emperor Tetra
4 Zebra Danios
2 Red (Cherry) Zebra Danios
2 Platys
4 small Glass shrimp
1 Farlowella
1 Striped Raphael Cat
1 Ottoncinclus

How close to overstocking am I on this tank or do yout hink Im over or under?

Thanks.

Im asking this primarily because Im interested in moving some tetras from another tank into this one.

The bala is going to get too big unless it's stunted. That's a potential 12"+ fish and could fill a tank that size all by itself. Add in the fact that it's a schooling fish and prefer others of it's own species and it really does not belong in most tank setups. Eventually it will get big enough to see the smaller fish as food. The raphael also has the potential to eat any smaller fish although it won't get nearly as big.

Other than that the tank isn't stocked too badly. The pristellas and danios are schooling fish that would prefer a few more of their own kind if possible. Especially the pristellas since there are 6 danios even if they are of slightly different looks but only 4 tetras. If you have some random leftover tetras that you don't want to fill out their schools you could stick them all together in the 50g so they at least have company. Most tetras(not including a few odd ones like emperors and cochus blues) prefer a large group of the same species. Usually the minimum suggested is 6 of all the same species and preferly color as well but having some other tetras even if they aren't the same species is better than being alone. You'd be best off doing something with the bala first though.

I agree with Sham. The bala must go.
12 inches is nothing, these fish usually acheive 16 inches in captivity with no problems. They are schooling fish and definitely should be kept in groups.
Id remove the bala and increase the schools of fish,
the pristellas and emperor tetras should be kept in groups of 6.

If you take the bala away you will have plenty of room for some more fish.
Bala sharks really need a tank of 150 gallons or more at maturity and they risk being stunted very easily in small tanks.


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Its ironic because I bought the 50 gallon to accomodate the Bala, graduating him from a 20 to a 50 where he can really swim. Its interesting though because he is about 6 inches but doesnt targe any of the samller fish, Ive always thought its because he grew up since very little with tetras, maybe it has something do with that.

The Pristellas I would like to make 6 and I could move some of the other tetras from the 20g, that was my intention altogether so that could work.

The pristellas would be happier with 6 of their own kind but emperor tetras technically aren't schooling fish. They are one of those odd tetras that don't enjoy large groups. Not exactly antisocial like the cochus blue can be but they much prefer a pair or trio to 5 or 6 fish. It's not really a priority to add more emperors although they do seem to prefer some company to being completely alone. Even when I had 8-9 in a tank they never hung out in more than a trio and seemed rather upset when they all ended up at the same end of the tank.