How Many Fish Can I Have

[cwestwood11]

i have a 65 litre tank and i need to know how many livebearers can i have in there please help

 

[SJ2K]

Which live bearers? Id go for around 10-15 guppies or less if there larger then them

 

[Matt_northants]

Well when fully mature your tank could hold a possible maximum of 25inches of fish, the common livebearers are

Guppies 1.25inches
Mollies 4inches
Swordtails 4inches
Platies 2inches

So you could have 20 Guppies, 6 Mollies or Swordtails, or 12 Platies. Just remember you cant add them all at the same but need to add them slowly so the bacteria in the filter can increase to cope with their waste. Also please dont add any fish before the tank is cycled, there are plenty of posts on how to do this.

 

[SJ2K]

If your following the 1" per gallon rule its actually around 15" of fish not 25.

 

[Matt_northants]

If your following the 1" per gallon rule its actually around 15" of fish not 25.

Really to convert litre to gallon(UK) you multiply by 0.22

This gives 14.3 gallons

Removing 10% for decor gives 12.87 gallons

At full stocking which is 2inches per gallon gives 25.74 inches

Rounding down gives 25 inches

 

[SJ2K]

2" per gallon is too much for a small tank, 1" is about right, specially for a newer keeper.

 

[Matt_northants]

2" per gallon is too much for a small tank, 1" is about right, specially for a newer keeper.

According to your rule of thumb you tank is overstocked by 12inches as your total fish length is 32inches and you've only got a 20g tank, and thats assuming no displacement by decor or equipment.

 

[cwestwood11]

well at the moment i have 5 guppies 3 black molies and 3 platys and there is a lot of room so i was thinking about gettin 6 neons is that ok

 

[cwestwood11]

also i would like to get 2 dwarf gouromis 3 clown loach and 3 silver sharks ino i mite eventualy need a bigger tank but i am willing to get one. so that is a total of 25 fish but neons are much smaller than a inch or an inch.

 

[cwestwood11]

would these 25 fish be okay in my tank

 

[Matt_northants]

The adult size of your fish is

5 guppies 5 x 1.25 = 6.25inches
3 mollies 3 x 4 = 12inches
3 platies 3 x 1.5 = 4.5inches

Total size = 22.75inches

So IMO I wouldnt add any more fish except maybe a platy or a guppy. How about adding a few freshwater shrimp of the Caridina sp. They'll help control your algae and are something a little different.

 

[cwestwood11]

my fish are siad to be fully grown and are much smaler than suposed to be and my tank looks pretty much empty

 

[Matt_northants]

also i would like to get 2 dwarf gouromis 3 clown loach and 3 silver sharks ino i mite eventualy need a bigger tank but i am willing to get one. so that is a total of 25 fish but neons are much smaller than a inch or an inch.

Please, please dont silver sharks and clown loaches grow to 12inches EACH! Just to house 3 silver sharks and 3 clown loaches you would need a tank measuring over 72 gallons and then probably more.

 

[cwestwood11]

okay i wont get clowns or silver sharks

 

[Matt_northants]

my fish are siad to be fully grown and are much smaler than suposed to be and my tank looks pretty much empty

In fish shops they can break the stocking rules as all their fish are juveniles and they deal with HUGE volumes of water.