38g tank - how many fish?

robertiv

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Hi all - I'm relatively new to the hobby, have had a 38 gallon freshwater setup going for the last couple months. Community tank, live plants, all the fish seem pretty healthy & happy, water tests consistently are well within target parameters, etc.

It's been super fun to gradually learn about & introduce new animals to the tank, but pretty sure I'm coming up on the reasonable limit for this one. I've heard a rule of thumb "1 inch of fish per 1 gallon" but no idea if that's accurate.

Tank currently includes:
6 black phantom tetras
4 flame dwarf gouramis
4 zebra danios
1 Bolivian ram
1 red tail shark (small one, as he grows I plan to transfer him to a larger tank)
1 small pleco
4 very tiny kuhli loaches
1 rabbit snail
a few cherry shrimp

Within the space available I've tried to put a variety of live plants, wood, stones, to create a range of natural habitat for their different preferences.

Any thoughts on this quantity? Is there room for a couple more fish or should I stand pat?
 
Hi all - I'm relatively new to the hobby, have had a 38 gallon freshwater setup going for the last couple months. Community tank, live plants, all the fish seem pretty healthy & happy, water tests consistently are well within target parameters, etc.

It's been super fun to gradually learn about & introduce new animals to the tank, but pretty sure I'm coming up on the reasonable limit for this one. I've heard a rule of thumb "1 inch of fish per 1 gallon" but no idea if that's accurate.

Tank currently includes:
6 black phantom tetras
4 flame dwarf gouramis
4 zebra danios
1 Bolivian ram
1 red tail shark (small one, as he grows I plan to transfer him to a larger tank)
1 small pleco
4 very tiny kuhli loaches
1 rabbit snail
a few cherry shrimp

Within the space available I've tried to put a variety of live plants, wood, stones, to create a range of natural habitat for their different preferences.

Any thoughts on this quantity? Is there room for a couple more fish or should I stand pat?
Hi and welcome to the forum :hi:

There’s lots of nice knowledgable people here and lots to learn. I hope you enjoy it with us!

Most of us here like to know the GH of your water source before making recommendations. This information can be found through your local water supplier.

Once you know this post the results onto the thread. This information is required as some species prefer softer water. Whilst others prefer to naturally live in harder water.

Since your tank has been set up a few months, it’s more than likely already cycled. I’m glad you’re making it a planted tank :)

Best of luck!
 
Thanks! And yeah, my water is on the hard side. For changes I've been doing 50% tap & 50% bottled spring water (which gets expensive unfortunately), and the GH winds up around 100ppm or just over.

But just to be clear - although I'd happily accept species recommendations, in this thread I'm mostly curious how to determine when to force myself to stop buying fish.
 

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