Am I Fully Stocked Or Room For More Later?

[Katch]

My 90 litre Nano cube is cycled and running nicely now. I've had fish in for a week and getting double zeros every day.

In my tank are;

2 Golden Rams
10 Neons
7 Splash Tetra
7 Pygmy Corys

I'm not planning to add anything else any time soon. I want the plants to really get established and the filter to mature. Just wondering if I might have head room for a fish or 2 more down the line.

 

[Wills]

When you say a week with double zeros is that after a fishless cycle or is that after s fish in cycle?

With the rams what temperature do you have the tank set to and whats your ph Im sure your aware of their needs it gets said around this forum enough hehee.

As to further tank mates, Im a loss what to suggest you have a really nice sounding tank, lots of colour, activity all over and some nice rare fish in there as well.

Perhaps a small catfish for the sides and glass etc, like a red lizard whiptail or similar small species of whiptail catfish.

Do you have any pics up of the tank it sounds really nice

Wills

 

[Katch]

Tank was fishless cycled for 32 days. Tank sits at 26 degrees and pH is currently 7.5 but I expect that to slowly drop as I'm in a very soft water area and I have a massive bit of wood in the tank.

It's been a week since I added the stock and I'm still getting zeros so it's all looking good. I'll post pics tomorrow if I get a chance.

I'm considering something to nibble back the algae and I'd also really like some Galaxy Rasbora once the plants are grown. The splash are pretty fussy eaters so I think their diet would suit Galaxys too and I love their colour.

Think I have room for 5 or 6 Galaxy after the tank is mature?

 

[Carlovel1]

I think you still have room for 1 more species of fish. The Galaxy Rasbora should be fine bit personally , I think you should go for a bigger species of fish, like some Glowlight Danios?

 

[anon02]

I think you still have room for 1 more species of fish. The Galaxy Rasbora should be fine bit personally , I think you should go for a bigger species of fish, like some Glowlight Danios?

Excuse me for going a little off track but I reckon that Katch has about 17 imp gall in his tank and if you applied the inch per gallon rule of thumb, wouldn`t he already be over stocked at about 28 inches ?
Am I missing a trick here ? (remember I`m a newbie)

 

[Katch]

24 imp gallons

as far as I'm aware shoals of smaller fish - tetra and pygmy corys etc don't stick to the inch of fish per gallon rule, there is some leeway.

 

[anon02]

24 imp gallons

as far as I'm aware shoals of smaller fish - tetra and pygmy corys etc don't stick to the inch of fish per gallon rule, there is some leeway.

My math must be out, I`ve always reckoned on 5.1ltr = 1 imp gall

Glad to hear that small fish dont adhere to thumb rules cos that`s what I`m planning on keeping in my community tank

 

[Ashers]

4.5Ltr=1 imp gallon

 

[Carlovel1]

I think you still have room for 1 more species of fish. The Galaxy Rasbora should be fine bit personally , I think you should go for a bigger species of fish, like some Glowlight Danios?

Excuse me for going a little off track but I reckon that Katch has about 17 imp gall in his tank and if you applied the inch per gallon rule of thumb, wouldn`t he already be over stocked at about 28 inches ?
Am I missing a trick here ? (remember I`m a newbie)

1 tip: Never use that rule. Its inaccurate and should never be relied on

 

[Katch]

it was only ever intended as a introductory rule for beginners and is a safe stocking level for most setups. I'd still say as a general rule it is very useful. It certainly wouldn't ever result in an overstock.

 

[anon02]

4.5Ltr=1 imp gallon

I`ve believed it was 5.1 ltr for so long that I cant even remember where I got the figure from

I stand corrected

 

[waterdrop]

I think you still have room for 1 more species of fish. The Galaxy Rasbora should be fine bit personally , I think you should go for a bigger species of fish, like some Glowlight Danios?

Excuse me for going a little off track but I reckon that Katch has about 17 imp gall in his tank and if you applied the inch per gallon rule of thumb, wouldn`t he already be over stocked at about 28 inches ?
Am I missing a trick here ? (remember I`m a newbie)

1 tip: Never use that rule. Its inaccurate and should never be relied on

I respectfully disagree with this.

I feel the "Inch Guideline" (and I feel we should -always- try to use the word guideline and not "rule") is in fact the one simple tip that the beginner (who can understandably overwhelmed with multiple tips to learn) CAN rely on.

Its precisely because it is an oversimplified tip that it works for beginners: It lands them at a reasonably safe stocking level if they can not yet get a handle on, or do not yet have access to, all the many and varied exceptions that an intermediate or experienced aquarist calls upon to decide to stock at a -different- level.

I believe I understand where you are coming from, in that all the other parts of the reality are true (that larger bodied fish represent greater bioload and smaller bodied fish represent less bioload than the inch guideline would give you, that different maintenance and equipment situations can and must have an impact, and many other things) but I just must reach the reverse conclusion that safer is better, where oversimplified tips for beginners are concerned!

It takes time and effort for a beginner to formulate the more accurate picture that experienced aquarists use stocking levels that range from below the inch guideline to above the guideline and that they are weighing a lot of things when they do that. Among other things, a beginner, by definition, does not yet know what it feels like to maintain their tank on a weekly basis and to figure out if they can truly fit this in to their lifestyle. An overstocked tank ties one to maintenance more intensely.

By positioning the beginner at a fairly safe stocking level on the stocking continuum, the inch guideline gives them a better chance of experiencing success in their first two years, during which they are learning what it all feels like and hopefully learning more about what's involved in maintaining tanks that are under or overstocked relative to the inch guideline.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Too Fast]

Well said!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Hi Katch, completely agree with what WD has said. there is a time and a place for the 1" per gallon rule however it's not hard and fast, it can be broken but only really with careful consideration and when you know what you are doing.

the biggest limiting factor for me with that rule is the filtration on the tank, if the filter is up to it and there are no compatibility issues then perhaps you do have room for another small shoal in due course but with an immature filter i wouldn't recommend it. What filter are you running at the moment?

nice stocking at the moment by the way, got a nice mix in there.

 

[Katch]

The filter is built into the back of the tank - you can see the inlet and outflow clearly. It has 3 stages, 1st is pre-filter ceramics, then purigen (for the wood tanins) then coarse sponge then fine sponge - 2nd is another course sponge then loads of fluval biorings (1100g) topped with a handful of bioballs - 3rd is the heater and return pump (500lph - i did have 800 lph but the current was a little bit too strong) All in all I'd say its about 6 litres of filter space so the tank is very well filtered.

I've also just added 3 Amano Shrimp to tend to my plants - they're doing a great job of cleaning the algae off!