Help, What Size Tank Do I Need?

[haleem8777]

Hi. I have been looking through the internet at ways in which to calculate the stocking of a aquarium, and different methods have given different sizes. For example one method says about a tank 185 liters while anothere method gives the answer of 300 liters.

So the stocking that i was using is below . I am using this stocking as i am planning to get a tank for this stocking but i need to know what size tank to buy.

24 shoaling fish ( lemon tetra)
8 kuhli loach
8 cories

And some catfish probaly
1 hoplo
2 banjo catfish
2 spotted dora/ raphael catfish

So what size tank would be appropiate for these fish

 

[fm1978]

Estimating your cories at 6cm each, I get around 263cm of fully grown fish. So, it sounds like the 185litre tank is waaaayyyy too small and the 300 is much more accurate. Bigger would be better, though!

 

[haleem8777]

Ok, i guess the 300 liters is the correct estimation

 

[attibones]

In this case we need to look at footprint rather than centimeters per liter (or inches to gallons).

Your catfish species will need several feet at the bottom. Depending on your corydoras species, this footprint may not need to be very large, but with the addition of the other catfish species, this needs to be several feet long. You'll also need to take into consideration the depth of the tank for these guys as well. Check the footprint recommendations on seriouslyfish. These are pretty helpful for determining how large the footprint needs to be.

Then you'll have a very healthy size shoal of lemon tetra. Length is important for these guys as well. I don't know their specific requirements, but take the base dimensions for the catfish and maybe tack on at least another six to twelve inches.

Of course, the bigger the tank you can get, the better it will be for your fish. 300 liters may very well be a good option, but check with other sources about the individual species needs before following the advice of calculators and that sort of thing.

 

[haleem8777]

Ok, thank you