Overstocked

[UP UP AND GUPPY]

All right I used the tank equation: (L x W)/10 and I got: (18x10)/10=18. Now that is 18" for a 10g. I already know that my tank is overstocked but if this is so then I can add maybe a small school of Neon Tetras. But is this drastically overstocked or should I just stick to what I have? I been keeping up with my water changes but please tell me.

 

[exhumed07]

I think your fine. I'm overstocked as well but as long as u keep up with the water you should be fine.

 

[UP UP AND GUPPY]

Okay, I am good at math but this here was just a pain. I was trying to figure every possible way to not be overstocked. Then this '18" for a 10g' came up and it was so confusing.

 

[Igor The Cat]

As i am a cronic under stocker (as pure can atest too) i believe you are over stocked, but comeing from me that means that its a pretty average stocking level.

-Java

 

[noncentric]

I'd probably think about the areas of the tanks that your fish occupy. The dwarf gourami is at the top, right? I'm guessing the black skirts are all over the place. The otos usually don't do much free-swimming, right?

What about adding 3 small cories instead of a school of neons? Aren't there cories that only get to about 2"? That might balance out the tank more, as they will stick to the bottom.

I've been thinking about neons too, but that Neon Tetra Disease sounds a bit scary (as it's untreatable and highly contagious). Despite the name, other species of fish can contract the disease.

Good luck!

 

[FishGeek]

I agree with nonceentric. But you must stay on top of water changes.

 

[VirgoWolf]

Ditto, but I'd go with Kuhlis instead of Cories, cories are a little too bulky and rowdy I'd think, besides, Kuhlis produce alot less waste from what I can tell, unless you went with pigmys, but they don't seem to be readily available, at least not around here.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

kuhlis are cool. i have three, they are colorful, and dont create much waste.

 

[mollybreeder]

so is the WxL equation for stocking ok or is it 1 inch per gallon

 

[VirgoWolf]

Molly, different people have different rules, it's all relative really, if you are doing regular or less than regular tank maintenance and your water is testing fine every time, I'd say chances are you are understocked-fully stocked, if you have to do your tank maintenance too often, you either have puffers, goldies, something similarly messy, or you might be overstocked. I tend to use the 1" per gallon rule as a base figure and then work around it by the type of fish... for instance, my mom has a 70gallon I am trying to fill, since there are no really messy fish (tetras, otos, kuhlis, etc...) and it's a fairly large tank, I went a little over 1" per gallon, I have a 75gallon tank, but I have puffers, so I am leaning towards a quite low stock level (right now I have probably 14" of fish in there, the 3 f-8s, 2 dwarf platties, and 4 BB gobys, although I do plan on adding a few more of this or that).

 

[mollybreeder]

so the WxL thing would only work with fish that arent really messy and depends on my tank schedule?so if thats true i guess that rule wouldnt work for plecos ive heard there messy

 

[VirgoWolf]

well it depends on the tank size in gallons, the surface area, the type of filtration, the type of fish, etc... every tank will have different stock levels. This is just 1 general rule of thumb. Anything that produces significant waste and/or has messy eating habits should PROBABLY be counted for double it's size. I think adding a single oto to most any tank would be harmless, but adding a messy pleco is going to limit what your bio load can handle.

 

[mollybreeder]

ok so from what im gathering,WxL is fine as long as you have enough filtration.so if i do wxL instead of 1 inch per gallon i would need more filtration.
so that if i where to add a messy pleco i would have a bigger bio filter.

 

[VirgoWolf]

This is all pretty confusing isn't it? LOL Do you have an example I can work with? I'll try to explain it with some more detail.

Bigger filter doesn't necessarily mean you can add more fish, although it does help, you also have to take in the size and activity level of the fish. If you have a 3" betta and a 2" tiger barb, guess who needs more room? T.B. because they need room to bounce around like a 4yr old, bettas are pretty lax and just want a place to call there own, they also need less surface area since they can breathe right from the surface and they don't depend on the oxygen in the water as much.

So you see it's all relative, as long as you know the potential adult size of all tank inhabitants and you know how potentially messy they can be, along with all the tank specs, you can make them fit into your tank while making them comfortable at the same time and having to deal with less suprises and problems down the road.

 

[UP UP AND GUPPY]

If I was to go and do this here:

4 Black Skirts
1 Dwarf Gourami
4 Oto's

Would that be fine, I dont want to go and add such a large fish that might take away from the Oto's

 

[VirgoWolf]

I'd think that would be just fine, I would still suggest Kuhlis though, I love how they squirm around the bottom, and if your otos are like mine, they spend alot of time on the glass, so to have something on the bottom too would be neat. Otos are awesome though, and I hear they do better in groups, so keep on keepin on whichever you choose.

 

[UP UP AND GUPPY]

Yeah I would love kuhlis but my store only dojos and I cant fit that in this tank.

 

[UP UP AND GUPPY]

I am still in a bit of a mix up because I want either to get the oto's or a small tetra skl. Or maybe a few rasboras. Well whatever happens I will let you know. Thanx

 

[noncentric]

What type of substrate does the tank have? I think kuhlis need a sand or small gravel substrate, while cories are okay with any size substrate. For both species, the substrate should not have sharp edges.

From reading your other post, this tank has not cycled yet - so you have some time to plan what to add. No new fish should be added until the tank has finished cycling.

 

[UP UP AND GUPPY]

What type of substrate does the tank have? I think kuhlis need a sand or small gravel substrate, while cories are okay with any size substrate. For both species, the substrate should not have sharp edges.

From reading your other post, this tank has not cycled yet - so you have some time to plan what to add. No new fish should be added until the tank has finished cycling.

Yeah I have quite a while to figure out, I guess I just need to know what I like best. Again I will let you know what I am doing