Dasha

Still cycling and still figuring out the fish...

Here is my dilemma: based on the 12 square inches of surface per inch of fish formula, I could get away with 37.5 inches of fish (tank: 36x12.5x17). That is pushing it since I estimate to have about 33 gallons of water. Please help me...

BTW, my husband expressed a with to have a "big, showy fish". I'm thinking keeping him happy may be good for my new obsession. Hence the dwarf gourami. I think angels are nice too, but way too big and messy.....

See the chart in the attachement,
Dasha

sgould

37" of fish in a 33 gallon tank would be slightly overstocked, but probably manageable. I would just stay on top of regular water changes and you should be fine.

Isabella

Angelfish are not messy. At least none of my Angelfish ever were. They don't disrupt anything in the tank. Unless you have meant messy in terms of a lot of waste production? If you overstock any tank, you'll have poor water quality with any fish, not just Angelfish Angelfish are very interesting fish to observe. A 33 gallon tank is very good for a pair of Angelfish if you wanted to have two. But Gouramis are very nice too, and it's totally up to you what you'll choose. The benefit is that you have a lot of space to play with, unlike with a small 10 gallon tank for example.

Your husband wants some big and showy fish, but I wouldn't recommend anything larger than Angelfish (and other similarly-sized fish) in a 33 gallon tank. Anyway, angelfish are already pretty large compared to many freshwater species.

The most important thing is - of course - not to overstock. Always keep in mind that your gravel and decor take up a lot of space in your tank too. You need to subtract this taken-up space from your available space for fish in the tank. Also, remember that it's not just the length of fish that counts when stocking a tank, but it's also a fish's body mass. There are different fish species that are the same length but have different mass (i.e. some are thin and others are "fat", but both are the same length in inches). The thin fish will produce less wastes than those more massive ones. Also, one Angelfish, for example, will produce more waste than, say, 6 small fish like Neon Tetras.

So, all of this needs to be taken into account when stocking a tank. It's not just "going by the rules". The rules are only general guidelines, they're not exact. Some common sense is required too

Good luck with the tank. We wanna see some pics when the tank is done! (I know it's going to be nice, especially if it will have live plants and the 6,700K lightbulb I told you about.)

COBettaCouple

aw , common sense? that leaves me out.
what bulb is that? i'm interested for our 30g tall.. and wouldn't mind live plants IF we could have better luck with them.

Dasha - have you looked at Paradise Fish?

Isabella

FLBettaCouple, when you see an Oscar - for example - in a 10 to 30 gallon tank ... that looks so obviously wrong, doesn't it? That's what I basically mean by "common sense". What did you mean by your comment, because I don't think I understood you?

The lightbulb is the one that has a Kelvin temperature of 6,700. This is a very natural-looking light. It's very intense compared to other lightbulbs below 6,700K. And I believe it's one of the best color ranges for growing plants (at least it is in my experience). A lot of companies have lightbulbs with 6,700K. Hagen, Coralife, Current USA ... all have them. Some of these 6,700K lightbulbs have low while others have high wattage. You choose the wattage that suits your tank size. In my 75 gallon tank, I have 1.73 WPG of light. For better plant growth in a low-light tank, at least 1.0 wpg is helpful. I'd say for low-light plants, you should have at least 1.0 - 1.5 wpg but not more than 2.0 wpg. Over 2.0 wpg you will need CO2 injections.

COBettaCouple

LOL.. just being facetious about common sense. funny you mention the oscar.. i'd love to get some, but yea, 30g is too small.. they'll have to wait for a 75g or bigger.

i've seen a number of FL bulbs at the DFS site that say they enhance plant growth, ranging from under 3000k to 8500k. Right now the 30g has a 15w bulb in it that's well in the purplish range of light it seems.. i thought about 6500k was the best from working with light temps in video editing, but those bulbs left me a bit confused. I'd say your tank says loudly: 6700k!!!

Kevin

i saw that flbc mentioned paradise fish...i have 2 in my 29 gal. tank and thought i would share my thoughts on them...as far as i know there are 3 diff. colors-red, blue, and black...i have the blue ones, the most colorful are the red ones, but they seem to be a little more aggressive

these fish are very hardy and look gorgeous, i have cycled my tank w/ them and 1 blue gourami...and haven't had any problems with their health

here is some info on them, they are very cheap...and readily available
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=1007

feel free to ask me any other questions about them if you are interested