20 Gallon High Almost Done Stocking

[adam98150]

Look at my stock...and a 20g is bigger then mine.

Dude, id say that was only slightly overstocked and wouldnt be a problem with 40% water changes a week.
Shrimps produce tiny tiny waste. One thing i would say is to take out your betta as they dont do well in community tanks aspecially with other anabantoids (unless theere have been no problems).

Yea i do around 30-40% water change aweek and have a very powerful filter, i didnt say it was overstocked i was just stating that he/she has no where near as many fish as me and he/she has a larger tank.

 

[wodesorel]

It's a general thought that kuhlis count as 1.5 inches of fish.

Please remember that the inch per gallon rule is a guide, and as long as you have the filtration and do the needed water changes, a tank can be overstocked a bit.

The problem is when a person overstocks one LEVEL of the tank. There are top, middle, and bottom fish. You definately don't want 25 inches of middle swimming fish in a 20 gallon, but if you had a 15 inches of middle and 10 inches of bottom, it works out to be somewhat okay.

As you can see I have 8 kuhlis in a 20 gallon tall. That is definately pushing it, but I couldn't leave the two I saw at Walmart. From personal experiance, with enough hiding places (rocks and terra cotta pots work great), I'd say 5 kuhlis in a 20 tall with no other bottom fish would do fine. Though mine are terribly abnormal and never hide....

 

[Kowalski]

What about kulhi loaches?

The only place locally I can get them is very poorly run, I refuse to shop there. Many bad experiences with them.

I'm a newbie to this too but I'm learning slowly!

The inch per gallon rule is a very rough guideline. It sort of works for small thin fish but often other considerations need to be taken into account. Some fish are very messy (they poop a lot) and as such may produce more ammonia than others of the same size, they would be said to have a large bio-load. Some fish are relatively clean so theoretically you can mildly overstock with them. Another thing that makes a difference is the filter you have, if you have a filter that is meant for a bigger tank then it has more room for 'good bacteria' and again may allow you to overstock.

From what I've picked up it's always better to understock rather than overstock, especially if you're new to fish keeping. At the end of the day it's up to you though what you put in your tank. The people on this forum can only advise according to what works for them (and TBH they seldom all agree ) just remember that it's you that will have to fish out any dead pets if you get it all wrong.

Even though you're a "newbie", that's a good post. I have a Penguin 200 which can handle a 50 gallon tank, so I think as far as filtration goes, I'm set. I don't think shrimp count against my stocking too much since they don't creat much waste. I think I will get a trio of Albino Cories. I know this may be pushing it, but they're not large and will fit in well, I think.


Thank you for those of you who actually replied to my questions as oppose to arguing amongst each other and such. (That happens in every thread it seems....)