How Many Fish Question....

[Claire121]

Hi

If all my fish at adult size are smaller than 5 cm, how many can I ( comfortably) keep in a 125 litre tank (33 US gallons ?) which is fairly heavily planted and with bogwood. I know there is a formula somewhere but can't find it !

This is my list of possibles, that should all be in groups of 6+ I believe - can you see any problems ?

Cardinal Tetra - Definite
Panda Cory - Definite
Dwarf Otto
'Gold' White Moutain Minnow
Cherry Barb
Dwarf neon rainbow
Ember Tetra

my Tap PH is 7 - 7.5

Thanks so much !

 

[lilfishie]

Personally if it was me i would stick to either 1 big shoal or 2 smaller ones, it has more of a wow effect than lots of smaller groups

 

[coldcazzie]

Have you already got the tank set up? Have you cycled/are you cycling it?

Both cardinals and panda cories can be quite sensitive, even in mature tanks, so introducing them to a new tank may lead to some losses.

Also, the temperature requirements of the fish you suggest are quite different. Cardinals prefer high temps, whereas minnows and cories (apart from sterbai) need lower temps. If you had to choose between them which would you prefer?

Ps: agree on larger shoals of one species

 

[StandbySetting]

I wouldn't keep Praecox Rainbows in a tank this size, they'd appreciate something much larger from experience.

Everything else would be fine however, but you might want to wait a few months before adding the Otto's, they normally starve due to lack of food, there must be algae for them to eat.

If it were me I'd go with just Cardinal Tetra's and Panda Cory's (you might want to choose a more suitable species), then you could add a pair of dwarf cichlids to act as a centre piece. A good starting point would be 12 Cardinal Tetra's in my opinion. If you haven't already cycled fish-less-ly then I'd add the initial 12 Cardinal Tetra's and opt for a silent cycle, providing your plants are doing okay, this method is much better for the plants and they will utilise any ammonia/nitrite etc.

 

[Claire121]

Thanks for replies

Tank has been fishless cycling for 8 weeks, today is day 8 of double zero's...

I don't want to have all of this fish listed - they're just all possibles at the moment.

Particularly like Pandas and Cardinals but if they don't go together then it'll be something else.

Any thoughts on how many in total though ?






Crossed post with above.....

Plants aren't in yet.

Thanks for the tip about Otto's that's helpfull.

I wouldn't keep Praecox Rainbows in a tank this size, they'd appreciate something much larger from experience

Can you say why ?

Thanks !

 

[StandbySetting]

Neon Tetra's would be a more suitable alternative to Cardinal Tetra's, if it were me:

Pair of Dwarf Cichlids
20-30 Cardinal Tetra's
10 Corydoras
4-6 Otto's after a few months IF algae is present in a great enough supply.

 

[Davehutton92]

Personally if it was me i would stick to either 1 big shoal or 2 smaller ones, it has more of a wow effect than lots of smaller groups

+1 for this bigger shoals really does look better imo, just decide on one or two with similar equirements