|  |  | | 
January 19th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| 180Litre stocking suggestion?
Hi 
I just got a 180 litre tank for christmas (39UK gal - 47US gal); and want to know if my stocking idea would be overstocked.
Here it is...
8 Common Hatchets, (Already own them all)
3 Platys, (Already own them all)
1 Guppy, (Survivor from my earliest fishkeeping endeavour. Not getting more!)
10 Cherry barbs, (Already have 6)
3 Dwarf gouramis, (1 Male - 2 female)
1 Bristlenose pleco, (Already own him - he's only around 3cm right now)
12 corys, (2 schools - or one bigger school)
I tried to use fish from all different layers. a 
So, is it overstocked? If so - any suggestions? I really like Harlequin rasboras - so if you don't think it's overstocked and there's still some space I might think about them in the future. I think I might only ad one school of 8 panda corys in intead of 2 schools. | 
| | |
January 19th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| that would be overstocked. sounds like awesome set up though. the general rule is 1 inch of per gallon so you take the fishes adult size and then subtract that form the tank so lets say you bought 5 2 inch fish that would be 10 inches of fish so you take47-10=37 nice thinking though that sounds really awesome | |
| | |
January 19th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| From what I heard that rule is irrelevant. This forum is the only place I have heard of that supports it. I mean, come on. Do you have a 20cm fish that will live happily in a 20gallon tank? Neither do I!
Thanks anyway though. I'm thinking of adding only 8 corys of one kind - and 8 cherry barbs.  Just saying I don't agree with that rule.
Any ideas on other fish I could take out? So there is more space.(Thinking of donating the guppy and platys to the LFS) | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| well yes we know that . its a general rule of thumb. i mean we dont say hey that oscar would work in a 20 gallon tank. since an ocars is a bout 13 inches. its more about common sense to. i would hope some people dont take it to literaly | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| 180litre stocking suggestion?
Hi!
It just dosn''t work for me. I mean - I'm sure we can both think of an example where there are two fish exactly the same size with completely different bio-loads. And every book and website I ever read always says it doesn't work!
Well - this is why I thought this might work:
Common hatchets: Although they are about as big as a school of Tetras, they have the same bio-load and barely take up much space as they stick to the top. So really they take up as much space as 3-4 platys with a small bio-load!
Guppy: Can't help him - I just wanted to give him a decent sized tank. He dosn't make much difference to bio-load.
Platys: From my old tank. I'm thinking of finding them a new home along with guppy.
Dwarf gouramis: Just a centrepiece fish, really. I have to have at least ONE colourful fish in each tank to prevent my dad deciding to re-populate it with Angelfish, Neon-tetras, and all his favourites from long ago... They do have a bit of bio-load though, and need some space . I appreciate that - and I made room for them.
Cherry barbs: Really just because I wanted a small fish like this. Lots of colour and not much bio-load, you see. They don't exactly school much - and swim within the plants. Taking up literally no space. I also decided to only get 8.
Corys: I'm only getting 8 Sterbai (On of the smaller kinds) corys. They stick to the bottom most of the time - where they have plenty of caves and plants to hide in.
BN Pleco: This guy will be both big biologically speaking and in size. But he does eat algae - which means the plants get a better deal. I did need some kind of algae eater.
Well, thats why I think they'll fit. Notice I decreased the numbers of some fish. I did the calculation - and the fish who seem to take up lots of space; the corys, just stick to the bottom where the only other fish is Pleco. And also - the cherry barbs stick to one corner most of the time and don't seem to swim in the open much. The hatchets who take up a lot of room on the rule-of-thumb stay at the top as well. It makes sense, right? To me, it does. 
I always take things literally. Sometimes if someone says "!Don't let the cat out of the bag!" I acctualy say "What cat!?". But thats when I'm not thinking... | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| well its not just about the fish havining enough room. theres some fish that only get a few inches but they need a ton swiming space, in this hobby we alll do things a little bit different. im not going to look down on you ideas or views.. the only issuse taht could occur is lack of oxygen, ammonia poisoning from to much fish waste. now the 1 inch per gallon thing has been proven as outdated but its the easiest way to guess what you shoud and shouldn thave | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| 180litre stocking suggestion?
Hi!
Alright, new plan. 
I'm going to add a some form of aerator. Don't know hat to get though! (I hope the current dosn't disturb my gouramis.  ) I'm planting it up a bit - to help keep nitrates in check. I've also devised a new stocking plan. It may take a while to convince my family it is good... They love the platys and guppy. 
Well here's the idea:
*8 Common hatchets
*6 Cherry barbs
*1 BN pleco
*3 Dwarf gouramis (1 male 2 female)
*8 Sterbai corys
I realise thats a few inches out of the rule of thumb - but hey - its a general rule of thumb. Its going to be hard saying goodbye to my platys. But if it must be done, it must be done. I do have a small tank and heater somewhere. I guess I might be able to keep one or two of the platys that way. 
What do you think? I'd appreciate it if some other users posted their views - Cody is doing a miraculous job here. | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Helper
| I agree with both you guys. Currently, I have 99 inches of fish in my 55 gal. Sure, it is too much, but everyone seems to be getting along, no fin nipping and water levels are great.
Once your in the hobby for a while, you learn that the inch per gallon rule is really useless, but it makes you think about space issues and if the tank looks crowded or not.
My tank is very active and has alot of fish. Does it look as overstocked as most tank in my my lfs? no. Would is look overstocked compared to most other peoples aquariums? probably. As you add fish, if your water chemistry stays constant and tank mates seem to be healthy and happy, I'd say your fine. I usually use the inch per fish rule to plan out what I'm going to get for a tank, then after the first initial month of cycling and slowly stocking those fish, I look at how everybody is doing in the tank and if it looks like I can fit more fish.
I'd say 9 times out of ten, you'll be just fine with that set up. You may have to do more frequent waterchanges or even buy additional filtration to handle the bio-load, but it isn't extremely overstocked.(refering to your initial stocking plan).
Last edited by MasterShake2003; January 20th, 2008 at 11:43 AM.
| |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
Oh OK. Maybe I'll keep the platys then. You know that really is a great way to do things MasterShake.  Thanks! | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| you do make a point when you talk about filtration. now for my 55gallon i have filter thas up to 75 gallons i can push the limit if i wanted to . but honestly i just did a full gravel change in my 5.5 and the water level when down as much as it wold of if i did a water change. so when you look at it unless you have a bare bottom tank with no decor you dont trully have that 55 gallons of water or 5.5 or 20 etc and the bigger the tank the more watter you lose to decor. it will come down to tank matinance and good filteration. im going ot get a new filter for my 20 gallon since its the stadard filter that came in it with a starter kit. and im going ot slide the 20 gallons filter to my 5.5 and then get a fitler for a 40 gallon to go on my 20. you could keep the platys if you wanted to just stay on top of matinance. but 99 inches of fish in a 55 gallon tank wht types of fish are you keeping. and hatchetheaven. you seem to have a good base of knoledge down which is what you need but in the end you need to do waht you think is best for the fish | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
I never use any decor apart from bogwood. (I only have one piece which lies on the floor in my bigger tank.) It's a Juwel tank - and I'm using the in-built filter system which is supposed to be very good. I'm thinking of putting more media in place of the carbon sponge I don't use. 
I think I'll find a new home for guppy. Yeah - I'll keep the platys and I guess the extra sponge in the filter would make up for any bio-load.
Would you believe I'm only in Key Stage 3? I think I've done pretty well as far as fish knowledge is concerned - I've had less than a year's fishkeeping experience! Well - I guess it's all down to this site.
Well, thanks for all the Help. I've only been on this forum 2 days and I'm already kicking myself for not joining earlier!  I'll keep you posted on how it's all going. I have the gouramis in quarantine as we speak! And the male is ALREADY trying to build a bubblenest. | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Helper
| Let's just say lots of em...well, here's a list.
1 red turquoise discus
4 swordtails
1 platy
approx. 6 guppies
6 zebra danios
5 neon tetras
2 lyretail mollies
1 dwarf gourami
1 killifish
2 boesmani rainbows
1 praecox rainbow
1 threadfin rainbow
1 small species of pleco
So, you see, none of these are fully matured, except maybe a few of the guppies. Even though the mollies can get up to 5 inches, I've never seen them that big and mine are about 3 in.
My point is this, there are so many variables to consider, like filtration, how many water changes and how often, will your fish actually grow to the maximum size, etc., etc. That it is really impossible to standardize the number of fish for any given size aquarium. That is waht makes this hobby so interesting. Everyone's situation is going to be different and it keeps thing diverse.
In my situation, I feel that I am pushing the limit (and probably far beyond it in most people's opinion), which is why I plan on moving my live bearers to a 29 gal and giving a friend my zebra danios. This hobby is alot of trial and error, which is why it is great to start out with freshwater because the fish are relatively inexpensive. No one likes losing a fish due to what my seem like their inadequacies or ignorance of what is going on in their tank, but if you truely learn from what mistakes you make and learn why it's wrong to keep 3 oscars in a 20 gal tank, or 20 neon tetras in a 20 gal tank, then you will eventually become a very excellent aquarist. (stepping down off soapbox ) | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| here it goes..lets say fish keeping is Common sense , maturity, skill, responsibilty, relaxing stressfull, sad, harder then it looks and easier then it sounds. and it can go in all different orders adn other ways of putting it | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Helper
| Exactly  | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
It'll be much better when you've got the two tanks.
I'll try get some pics up this week. I don't know how to download them off the camera - but knowing dad I'll know soon! If there's anything you'd like to see just ask. (And I'll be trying to get a pic of one of my Hatchets to use as an Avatar. That one is from the net! )
I agree. This hobby would be pretty boring if everyone had the same I think. I mean, when was the last time you saw someone who was completely OBSESSED with hatchetfish when they have Dwarf gouramis trying to make a bubblenest? | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| there jsut common ones correct i think the marble hatchets are amazing | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
I love the marbled ones to. Problem is, they grow to about twice the size!  The commons are very nice fish anyway. Add activity to the top!
Oh, and I just have to say this. This is my 100th post! Quite an achievement - seeming as I've only been using this board 2 days.  | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| thats alot of posting | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
I've been on Non-stop all weekend. I imagain I'll get to 500 in the next month. I might get about 500 posts a month? Knowing me I probably will! | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
Do you think a Bamboo shrimp would be pushing it a bit? I do like them. Not relly an essential, I guess. | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Helper
| If they're anything like Ghost Shrimp, their contribution to the Bio-Load will be negligable (why can't I figure out how to spell that darn word!) Anyway, Shrimp are cool to watch, I have a few, but they disappeared. I think they really were ghosts!!! | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
They're not much like ghost shrimp. They get pretty big - but filter out any nasty bacteria in the water and eat them! | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Helper
| How big? If they stay at max 2 in, that's all the bigger the ghosties get.
EDIT: Just looked 'em up...I'd say they would be fine, but you might just wait till you have all your other stuff going for awhile and see how everyone is getting along and how your water is doing.
they get up to 5 in. long, so that's a good size critter, but they won't hurt your fish because they don't have claws. I think you'd be fine with one, maybe two of 'em. I never count shrimp in the bio-load because most of them are little living filters!
Last edited by MasterShake2003; January 20th, 2008 at 01:24 PM.
| |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
I think its about 12cm. I think Cody has some - there's a pic of one in his gallery. | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| about 3 to 3 1/2 inches. i have 3 of them. smaller shirmps dont really affect the bio load at all bamboos do but hey are interesting creatures i love mine they normaly will find there favorite tihng to sit on and if you move it they move to it not location they like to sit where theres a higer water current since more food flows there way. they pretty much sit in a spot the whole day and dont move much but at times they will scavange the bottom of the tank and eat some aglea. but not most of the time. i love my bamboos though. they can be expensive, 5 to 10 dollars depends where you live idk waht they are in the uk or how to convert the curency. but how a bout two less cories and a then you can get a bamboo shrimp. but its really your choice i love my shrimp. im a shrimp guy i dont enjoy eating them though i love fish but i hate seafood or any kind of fish for that matter. there nasty tasting | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Helper
| Does it make me a hypocrite if I keep tropical fish yet couldn't live without seafood?!?!?! LOL | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
I've seen them in my LFS for about £7.00 each. That's about as much as you'd expect to pay for a trio of dwarf gouramis. I just though they where cool and I heard they keep the water clear. I might. See what I feel like at the time!  Yeah - I'll get one. | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Master
| Hi!
Maybe... Yeah - I guess it does! I don't really eat much fish - I like Italian. (Pizza, Pasta... Yum! That reminds me - tea will be ready soon!)
And I added bot hof you to my buddy list. What does that list acctualy do? (Sorry its such a newbie question!) | |
| | |
January 20th, 2008
|
| | Fish Helper
| I have no idea...LOL. Tea...that sounds good, I think I'm going to go make some chai tea here in a bit. It's about 1 degree F here today... | |
| | | | |
Similar Aquarium Fish Forum Threads 
