How Many Fish Can I Have In My Aquarium?

[halupo]

hello.
i have an aquarium of 125L (i think its 30USG)
about 70% planted.
the filter is an internal one that you get with the Juwel Rio 125.
water changes once a week (every weekend), 30%


i have these fish:
8(?) harlequin rasboras
11(?) neon tetra
5 congo tetra
6 boesemann's rainbow
2 gouramies (opaline and gold)
3 clown loach
1 bamboo shrimp
and 3, 4 algae eaters...

i want to add a school of about 7 rummy nose tetra and some black mollies

how many more fish can i get?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the general rule of thumb is for new tanks (under 6 months old) you go to 1" of fish per us gallon. past this point you can go to around 1.5" of fish per gallon. Can you let us know how long the tank has been running please?

so in a new tank you are aiming for around 30" of fish, in a mature tank around 45"

what you have at the moment is
8 x harlequin rasboras - 8"
11 x neon tetra - 11"
5 congo tetra - 15"
6 boesemann's rainbow - 18"
2 gouramies (opaline and gold) - 6"
3 clown loach - 36" (yes these guys get to 12" each)
1 bamboo shrimp - 1"
and 3, 4 algae eaters... - can you be clearer on the species, lots of fish and inverts eat algae, post a pic if you don't know the name!

so at the moment, without the algae eaters you have 96"

now this isn't terrible as the clown loaches will be small, however they are not suitable for your tank and you need to re-home them or find a bigger tank.

Without them (and without taking the algae eaters into account you have around 60" of fish, it's not terrible but it is a heavy stocking so I would say you definately can't add any more fish, you absolutely need to re-home the clown loaches and possibly something else as well.

sorry

 

[Pleccy]

I would also recommend rehoming the boesmanis, which are very active fish and will need a 200 litre tank by the time they are fully grown.

 

[halupo]

But the tank looks so... emptey

 

[Miss Wiggle]

because the fish will be youngsters and not at adult size, when they grow up they will fill the tank out. if you make it so it looks 'full' with young fish, by the time they grow up you'll have a serious problem on your hands.

people also often have a deceptive idea of how many fish you should have in a tank, when you see the fish store the tanks are very full, this is because it's only temporary for a week or so until they sell, it's not ideal and should not be replicated in the home aquaria.

 

[Pleccy]

If my counting is correct you have 35 fish in your tank, many of which are quite active, so I struggle to see how you can describe your tank as 'empty'.

 

[halupo]

1 gourami is always hiding.
the rasboras swim on the top and dont "mix" well in the over look sight.
the neons preffer to swim very separately, and most of the time inside/behind a plant, and therefore they are hardly noticed in the aquarium...

a friend of mine told me i should "scare" them off into a school with rainbows. i got the rainbows last week, and they are indeed a school now, but behind a plant and dare not to leave their hiding place.

all the other fish like the loaches, shrimp, SAE and such are mostly on the ground.

so that leaves me with 5 congo tetra, 6 rainbows and 1 gourami.

 

[jonnyf84]

you cant have everything mate, remember they are living animals and they are doing what comes natural to them - not what pleases you.

 

[halupo]

you cant have everything mate, remember they are living animals and they are doing what comes natural to them - not what pleases you.

im not mad at them

 

[jonnyf84]

im not mad at them

i know man, that probably came across harsh - it wasn't supposed to. Just remember that it is always better to create a good home for your fish and not for yourself. If you can incorporate the two then great.