Hi all, I’ve had my tank for about a year now, It’s approx 280 litres, and I have an internal 200 litre filter alongside an external Fluval 306 canister filter. The Fluval is also attached to a 12w Uv filter. I have a small Tetra air pump, although I think I may need a larger one. I have recently added some fish and am curious as to whether or not my tank is at capacity, or whether I have room for any more. My fish: 3 diamond sharks (roughly 5/6 inches each) 2 Black goldfish ( 6 inch’s each) 4 dwarfs gourami 3 weather loach 9 serpea tetra 5 albino corydora 3 BN plecos 2 blood parrots 4 tiger barbs 6 brown dwarfs frogs Around 50 MTS ( Malaysian trumpets) 1 tai glass catfish Does anyone recommend any additions to my equipment?
You definitely don't have room for more, you're already very overstocked as is, on top of that you have stocking incompatibilities.
The fish have thrived in there for a good while, and all are communial. I only recently added the frogs and the weather loach. All the other have lived in harmony since placement, about a year ago.
You can never have too much filtration unless that filtration is causing too much water movement but even that can be overcome. With the bio-load from that many fish and some of them rather big and others known to be huge waste producers I feel like you do need to add more filtration. I don't think it would be overkill to add at least one HOB type filter. Or you could get 2 that are designed for an at least 75 gallon tank each and remove that internal filter. Your fish need all the room possible and an internal is taking up some of the room they need.
Thank you, I have a spare Eheim 240 litre canister which I’m now going to attach. The internal filter doesn’t take up much room at all, and there is plenty of room for the fish despite the stock levels. Most of the fish are relatively small.
I don't see how that changes any of what I said. You have cold water fish mixed in with warm water fish. On top of that you've got massive fish cramped into a 75 gallon. Blood parrots get huge, goldfish get huge, yellow fin barbs (the fish you're incorrectly calling diamond sharks) get huge. None of your larger fish are at their max size yet and you have a bucket load of other medium and small sized fish as well.
The yellow fin barbs, are also known as pale barbs, or diamond sharks, I’m not incorrectly naming them. Look it up. It’s actually yellow belly barbs FYI. When the fish begin to get to large for the tank, I shall place them in a bigger one. No harm done. I have done a lot of research into keeping goldfish with tropical fish, and have carefully selected the tank mates around them, to great success. In the worst case scenario, I would simply donate the goldfish, or sharks to a better home, if I decide not to get a larger tank.
You are incorrectly naming them, diamond shark refers to a few different species of fish. It doesn't pinpoint the fish you're talking about. As long as you're prepared to get rid of them, or up your tank size you're good. Don't add any more fish though, of course. And I'm not sure what research you've done but goldfish in a tropical environment will definitely not work out long term. Since your tank is quite overstocked , what do your nitrates sit at?
I just tested the nitrate, it is currently sitting at 40 ppm which is far to high! I have recently placed 3 fernes in and I have also added an Eheim 240 canister onto the tank for extra filtration. How can I reduce the nitrate! Positive note, I have just hatched BN plecos fry in my other tank, woohoo.
Water changes. I have to agree with the gold fish not being temperature compatible with the tropical fish. The increased temperature increases their metabolism. This does happen in nature during the summer. They get more active, eat more (poop more). Then their metabolism slows as the water cools in the fall. But they will age faster if their metabolism is elevated continuously. If your tank is 73-74, they will survive. If it’s at 78 or above, as hardy as they are, they won’t live more than a couple of years at best.
These guys are right. High temps kill goldfish. You could shorten their life to 1/10. There are localized ammonia spikes whenever one of those big fish defecates. This causes much stress on the other fish nearby. I would suggest nothing short of a 20-gallon tall as a sump for filtration. I've been doing the stuff for 45 years and I didn't know any better when I started out. You can look at it like your fish have been surviving for 2 years. You can also look at it like your fish have been suffering for two years. But what you cannot claim is to have anything close to the ideal conditions for your stock.
Thanks for all the messages. I will look to re home the goldfish. My wife will be devastated, she bought them as a present for me (without knowing) so have kept them as they are her favourite fish. I will do what must be done though. Thanks again
