It's a 40 gallon tank...
I have... 5 male Guppies, 4 Balloon Mollies, 5 PLaties, and 2 swordtails.
I also have a 46 gallon tank with...
1 Male Betta, 1 Black Ruby Barb, 2 Rams, 3 Corydoras, 6 neon tetras, 2 otocincluses, and 6 serpae tetras.
thanks!
2007-05-29 08:25:10 · 7 answers · asked by Malcom in the middle 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
I don't see any problems with the stocking in there. To be more precise on that assessment though, the overall dimensions would help a little bit. You really want to consider these factors, though this is certainly not everything but I'll try to hit the guts of assessing population sizing. Consider your surface area for biological filtration. This is extremely important when you consider this bacteria oxidizes the toxic compounds produced in the closed enviroment to relatively harmless compounds. This also plays into your oxygenation requirements. A bigger surface area allows for more oxygen exposure, and generally but not always, translates into greater surface area for bacteria to colonize. The population needs to be considered in terms of final adult size. You could populate your bio load to the max in a month or so, but those fish you populate with will not stay that size forever in most cases. As the fish grow, if there is not sufficient room to house them, stunted growth can lead to death even if your water parameters are perfect. Also on fish population, you want to look at compatibility issues, and the listings above seem to be fine. I compliment you on keeping all male guppies because they tend to breed like there is no tomorrow, and that could very well create a population issue down the road unless you have a good plan on what to do with the fry. Fish mass also needs to be considered. Some examples are really no brainers, some are a little more complex. Clearly to me the output of a pleco at say 3-4 inches is going to be much more then a full grown Mollie or swordtail of the same length. Consider an Oscar say at 4-5 inches and put that in compairson to the albino cat I have of the same length, that Oscar will outproduce the cat in terms of waste by at least double.
This is just ways to consider your population. There isn't any one set golden rule to follow and anyone that gives you that one inch of fish garbage is giving you just that, garbage and should be taken out accordingly. Looking at your population I see no serious issues in terms of overcrowdedness. Nice grouping on those neons btw. They do much better in a school then just a single or pair.
JV
2007-05-29 08:51:06 · answer #1 · answered by I am Legend 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nope, not over crowded at all and ditto to the information Jon V gave you, exactly on target in my opinion.
MM
2007-05-29 16:17:20 · answer #2 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
wow! the guppies dont eat each other? i thought it was always said that guppies dont like each other. well, i dont know it does sound a bit crowded and it would be even more crowded if you had little figures in the tank like a treasure chest, etc. Anyway if the fish dont look like they are having problems with one another than i say you should just leave it. becuase if you take a fish out of the tank it might miss the other fish and die on you. that is what one of my birds did ( yes it sounds weird but it happens)
2007-05-29 15:32:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋
Im not a top contributor but ur tanks are not overstocked!
2007-05-29 15:29:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have a 30 gallon tank with 40 fish in it and that includeds my 6 bottom feeders and i have never had a problem, some of my fish are big too
2007-05-29 15:34:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋
Rule of thumb is one gallon per inch of fish. Keep that in mind
2007-05-29 15:32:44 · answer #6 · answered by cviperml 2 · 0⤊ 5⤋
No, it's fine for those fish.
2007-05-29 15:27:56 · answer #7 · answered by Behaviorist 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋