How Many Fish Can I Get In My Tank?

[TheMerovingian]

Hey everyone,


I'm getting a 200 litre tank for my xmas
and i want to know how many tropical fish i can get in it.

Also



I know angel fish need 120 Litres minimum
Could i put 3 angel fish in that tank, with other fish?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

for angels it's more the height of the tank that matters, it must be 18" tall..... if it is then yes it's big enough for angels.

as you're just starting out with researching have a read of some of the links in my sig, start with 'step by step guide to setting up an aquarium'

 

[TheMerovingian]

Well my tank is 100cm long 55cm height 40cm deep


its high enough

Thanks for the links, setting up a tank is ok for me, my uncle in Aussie has countless tanks,
Its just how many fish i can get in it.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok then, have a look at the link 'guide to stocking lists' this shows you how to work out fish compatibility and how many fish a tank can hold

when you set the tank up, get some mature media from one of the filters in your uncle's tanks...... will make things a whole lot easier

 

[TheMerovingian]

ok then, have a look at the link 'guide to stocking lists' this shows you how to work out fish compatibility and how many fish a tank can hold

when you set the tank up, get some mature media from one of the filters in your uncle's tanks...... will make things a whole lot easier

cant hes in Aussie,
I live in Scotland. media??
I'm not sure on the termanology

 

[Corleone]

Media is the stuff in the filter that the bacteria live on. Transferring some from a mature tank to a new tank greatly curtails or entirely eliminates the cycle process as bacteria colonize the filter to remove ammonia and nitrite produced from fish waste.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if you're not sure about cycling and media yet then the links i've directed you too will help you a lot.

have a read of the 'whats cycling and 'fishless cycling' links as well

I appreciate your uncle knows his stuff, but if he's on the other side of the planet you're gonna need to learn this stuff yourself as well.

 

[TheMerovingian]

your right, i know.
I know alot but when it comes to doing it myself its alot harder i know.

 

[waterdrop]

Wow there, you have a great opportunity mr. mero, its not often that a newcomer manages to get on here and get an ID and start asking questions so long before the actual arrival of a tank! Most people in your situation would have come on here after the angels in the new tank were starting to die! And usually that would be because they didn't really understand about aquarium water chemistry.

How many fish you can get is really not very important compared to all the basic skills you need to learn (and they are fun and interesting!) It would kind of like saying you were planning to build a car from scratch and wanted to know how many people might be able to sit in it (kind of minor compared to learning how to build an engine.)

When you open the box with the filter (the most important piece of equipment in the hobby), the thing you will be getting is just a bunch of raw hardware. Even after you assemble it according to intstructions, it will not be the right piece of equipment yet. In fact, it will not be able to work right for several weeks or even months, but after you learn to prepare it in the right way, it will be able to filter your water correctly.

So not only do you have the months leading up to the holiday, but you also will have between 1 and 3 months (very unpredictable) after the aquarium is running before it will be ready for fish. But if you take this to heart and decide it will be worth it to learn these skills of water chemistry and aquarium maintenance, those fish will be joyfully healthy and happy in the new environment you will provide for them.

It is very important, when you have a friend or relative in the hobby, to learn as much as you can from experienced aquarists and then compare the advice you hear to that you are getting from your relative. This wonderful forum you've stumbled on has many experienced aquarists with probably hundreds of years of combined experience and practical wisdom about fishkeeping. Who knows, your uncle may end up learning a thing or two and even being interested in the forum himself.

Let us know how you feel about this and we can head you in the right direction for what order to take in your reading.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[TheMerovingian]

Its Miss Mero lol
I have been reading alot topics and stuff.
But i keep hearing different things and its hard to tell what is right and what is not.

i was told that you set up all your stuff ( heater, filter ect. )
And put down gravel or sand and your plants that you let the tank run for 2 days for the filter and stuff
to get a feel for working. Then on the 3rd day you can add 1 fish every 3 days

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Its Miss Mero lol
I have been reading alot topics and stuff.
But i keep hearing different things and its hard to tell what is right and what is not.

i was told that you set up all your stuff ( heater, filter ect. )
And put down gravel or sand and your plants that you let the tank run for 2 days for the filter and stuff
to get a feel for working. Then on the 3rd day you can add 1 fish every 3 days

this is called cycling with fish, it's pretty cruel, it's basically what fishkeepers used to do 20/30 years ago. what we do now is fishless cycling, it takes a couple of weeks but it means the tank is totally safe before adding fish.

the links in my sig 'whats cycling' and 'fishless cycling' will explain this all.

 

[waterdrop]

Ah, see! Miss Wiggle is delighted that I've found you out and you were indeed already headed down the path of certain fish death and damage! Now you will have even more reason to enjoy the new education you are about to start into. Miss Wiggle is a really fun homeroom teacher and the rest of us amateurs run around and throw in the occasional comment or make trouble in the halls.

Anyway, glad to have cleared up that you are a miss and sorry to call you a mr and Welcome to TFF! Learning about the Nitrogen Cycle is priority number one and learning about Filters, in all their physical glory is also a nice topic to work on early in the game. The TFF has a good search tool up there in the upper right corner and great advice can be found in threads going back many years (aren't hard disks amazing?)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Lol thanks WD, you flatter me.

Sorry not had time for very full replies today, pretty busy……. But WD is quite correct with what he’s said, trust us, nearly every day we get someone whose come onto the forum having already got a tank and done as you said, left it a few days then added a couple of fish. It’s what I did with my first tank, and it was death and destructions, it was a total nightmare, had completely unsuitable fish and I’m very sorry to say that my lack of research before hand caused several fishy deaths.

Compare that to waterdrop, who came here first and did his research before setting up a tank, he cycled fishlessly and despite a few trauma’s along the way (not to do with the cycling process but outside factors) and did good research before getting fish and he now has a lovely tank sensibly stocked, hasn’t lost a single fish and everything’s running smoothly.

If I could go back to beginning and start again I know which path I’d choose. That’s the choice you are faced with now. But just spend a couple of days reading through the new to the hobby forum, don’t just read the pinned topics but also read the topics from some of the other beginner aquarists, see the experiences that they’ve had cycling fishlessly and with fish, I’m confident you’ll make the right choice.

 

[waterdrop]

<...>

Compare that to waterdrop, who came here first and did his research before setting up a tank, he cycled fishlessly and despite a few trauma’s along the way (not to do with the cycling process but outside factors) and did good research before getting fish and he now has a lovely tank sensibly stocked, hasn’t lost a single fish and everything’s running smoothly.

<...>

LOL, Yes MW! Just this morning my 5 Rasboras were up front happily greeting me with vivid pink colors, excited for breakfast! Meanwhile the zebras, (including Oliver's little "Zippy") raced around with their usual happy antics.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[TheMerovingian]

i think i get it now.
I also read that if you put a uncooked cocktail shrimp that thw bottom of the tank it will start rotting. there for giving off ammonia.
It will take about 6 weeks and every day check the levels of A, N and N.
By doing all this the bacteria needed for the filter will have grown inside it.


Right?