pinky93

I'm getting my ten gallon soon and i'm moving the fish from my 3 gallon(it's just a starter).I just wanted to kno if i am goin to overstock it with my:
10 platies
3 guppies
1 gourami
3 snails
3-4 amano shrimp

Shenel

COBettaCouple

i'm afraid that would be EXTREMELY overstocked.

Platys (2" each) = 20"
Guppies (2" each) = 6"
Gourami (not sure, do you mean a dwarf or regular?)
Snails (high waste producers)
Shrimp (not much on the bioload)

I think you'd be looking at a bioload that would need 30-40g.

Kevin

just the platys alone wil have your tank overstocked...
you might have heard this before but a good rule of thumb to measure is 1" of full grown fish per 1 gallon of water

capekate

Hi Pinky...
Do you have ALL those fish in your 3 gal right now Or are these fish from another tank?? I cannot believe that you have all those fish in a three gal tank, and a gourami tooo? YES I agree with flbettacouple.. you are WAYYYY overstocked!
~ kate

pinky93

It's a dwarf gourami.I'm moving them very soon but they seem ok.i calculated how many fish i can keep in a ten gallon and for platies is 2" each and the guppies are also 2" each.For a ten gallon is that a good amount

Kevin

you could probably do 2-3 platys, 2-3 guppys, 1 dwarf gourami, and your shrimp
that might have you a little overstocked, just make sure you do a water change every week and you should be okay

capekate

Hi Pinky
if you calculated right you would see that your numbers are higher than the 10gal would allow. Even right now, if you just measured what the sizes are for adults and divided that in half you would still be overstocked.
10 platy= 20 inches, 1/2 size = 10 inches. (already at limit).
3 guppy= 6 inches, 1/2 size= 3 inches.
dwarf gourami = 4 inches 1/2 size= 2 inches.
snails and shrimps, depending on how many lets add 3 inches.
So you are up to... around 18 inches of fish for a ten gal tank... will be overstocked.
Now having 18 inches of fish in a 3 gal tank currently... is not ok and I find it hard to believe that your fish are oki. I have to wonder what your water perematers are? Are you doing daily water changes? testing the water?
Your future ten gal tank is overstocked with your fish... if you wanted to get rid of the dwarf gourami and half the platy, get rid of those waste producers, the snails and the shrimps and just kept say.... 5 platy and three guppies and do regular water changes, then IMO you may, barely be ok.
~ kate

pinky93

Is that for a my 3 g or the 10g?

Kevin

thats for your 10g.
you should consider getting a 15-30 gal. tank if you want to have acouple of each fish you named

pinky93

It's still a bit foggy I have a book here that says how to calculate the number of inches of fish u can keep. It says for a ten gallon the measurements are 20x10x12 Inches(2400 in sq) and then divide by 30 and i got 80. So if i i can have 2" of per fish can't i keep all in a 10g?

pinky93

Ok this is a easier calculation:
50x25x30cm =1250cm sq(don't multiply the depth)
1250 divided 30 =42cm
With this can't i keep all my fish in the 10g

Kevin

no, most experts say 1" of adult fish per 1 gallon
so i you wanted to keep all of your fish you would need around a 30-35 gallon tank

Cody

way overstocked take it from me...i learned from my mistakes and...see its fun having more fish \they might look happy or live..but..it could hurt them in the long run and....well stocked tanks stay cleaner. that will give you more time to enjoy it...and less problems to fix..if you do get a snail or any algea eater...wait a while for some algea growth and have spare waffers...good luck..went from a 5.5 to a 20 and alot of fish later water quality issues beginers mistakes...im getitng ver good at this...and i want a bigger tank...i love keeping more the one tank also it keeps you interested...im hopoing to get a 55 gal in about a year or two..and i might retire the 5.5..and use my 20 for fry.....this was one of the best hobbys i ever started

COBettaCouple

The formula for calculating the inches of fish from tank inches is: one inch of fish for each twelve square inches of surface area. You have 200 square inches of surface area which results in 16" of fish using that formula.

pinky93

Ok I'll try that but they seem fine.Regular maintenance and water changes and they are fine;i have no ammonia and no nitrites. I'll try your formula.Thanks a million!