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mehifish

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Hi, I have a 70l fish tank, and i just wanted to know how many fish I could keep in it? We have 11, and my family and I are arguing over whether we should get more!
We have 5 neon tetras, 2 glass catfish and 4 guppies.

Thanks
 
A tank cannot be stocked by numbers of fish, it is more complicated than that. You need to take into account if the fish are shoaling fish, how big they grow, do they like the same type of water, what size tank do they need etc.

Looking at the fish you have now, neon tetras and glass catfish are shoaling fish which need to be in groups of at least 6 with more being better. Guppies like company but don't need to be in a group.
Neons and guppies are suitable for your tank size, but it is only fair that I should warn you that there are problems with the glass catfish. They need a bigger tank and a much bigger group. They are timid fish, however the other fish you have won't intimidate them.

I would get more neons, increase their numbers to 10 or so. But I would not get any more glass catfish as they do need a bigger tank; either keep just the two of them or take them back to the shop and see if they'll exchange them for neons.
Further down the line, you do have room for some more fish, but we can discuss that later.


One thing I do need to warn you - don't believe anything a shop tells you. So many of them haven't a clue and will say anything to make a sale. Always research for yourself; the best place is https://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/ which is written by experts unlike some other sites which are written by people who just keep fish. And of course you can ask on here :)
 
Hi, I have a 70l fish tank, and i just wanted to know how many fish I could keep in it? We have 11, and my family and I are arguing over whether we should get more!
We have 5 neon tetras, 2 glass catfish and 4 guppies.

Thanks
Do you have the measurements of the tank? Eg. tall or long?

you could definitely try some bottom dwellers such as Cory cats (between three and five). They’ve got great personality and they keep your substrate a little tidier.
 
Cories need to be in a group of at least 6 and dwarf cories need at least 10. They also need a sand substrate. This is why I said we can discuss other fish later once the numbers of neons have been sorted out as too many fish should not be added at one go.

We also need to discuss how hard the water is before going forwards.
 
Do you have the measurements of the tank? Eg. tall or long?

you could definitely try some bottom dwellers such as Cory cats (between three and five). They’ve got great personality and they keep your substrate a little tidier.
The length is 60cm, height is 33cm and width is 30cm.
 
Cories need to be in a group of at least 6 and dwarf cories need at least 10. They also need a sand substrate. This is why I said we can discuss other fish later once the numbers of neons have been sorted out as too many fish should not be added at one go.

We also need to discuss how hard the water is before going forwards.
Ah, see, I don't really know that since we go to the pet shop to test our water, we could go today or sometime and ask but not right now. Sorry
 
I notice from your other thread that you have had the tank a week.

You really need to buy your own test kit. You are doing what is called a fish -in cycle. Until you have your own test kit, you need to change at least half the water every day.
And ignore what I said about getting more neons, that can wait until after the tank is cycled. More fish will make more work for you during cycling.

Fish excrete ammonia - it's their version of urine. But ammonia is toxic to them; it burns their skin and gills. In a cycled tank, there is a colony of bacteria which eat this ammonia and they turn it into nitrite. Nitrite is also toxic; it binds to their blood and stops them taking up oxygen. In a cycled tank, there is another colony of bacteria which eat nitrite and they turn it into nitrate. Nitrate isn't nearly as toxic and we remove it by doing water changes.
But in a brand new tank, there are no bacteria; they have to grow and it takes several weeks. Firstly ammonia will build up in the water and the fish keeper must do water changes every time the level is higher than zero. This means testing every day, which is why I say you need your own test kit. Once the ammonia eaters start to grow, they start making nitrite. Water changes need to be done whenever nitrite is above zero.
At first there will be only ammonia and you will need to do daily water changes to keep the level at zero. After a week or so, the ammonia starts to be eaten and the level isn't quite as high, then it slowly drops till it stays at zero. But at the same time, nitrite starts building up faster and faster so again daily water changes need to be done to get it down.
After a few weeks, you'll find you don't need to do water changes as often and one day you'll realise that the levels have stayed at zero for a week. The tank is then cycled and you need to do only weekly 50% water changes.

There are things you can do to help.
Get some Tetra Safe Start. This is the most highly recommended bacterial starter.
Feed the fish only once every 3 days. Less food = less ammonia.
Get some live plants. These use ammonia as fertiliser and will remove some from the water. Even just a couple of bunches of elodea left to float will help.
Use a dechlorinator which detoxifies ammonia. The effect wears off after 24 hours, but it will keep your fish safe until the next day's water change. Seachem Prime also detoxifies nitrite for 24 hours.





@Brendanpat Yes, neons are soft water fish and guppies hard water but at the moment, keeping them alive is more important. Once mehifish is on top of cycling, then we can discuss hard/soft water. There is a lot to take in at the moment.
 
Dont Tetras like softer water and guppies prefer harder ?
Yes... most tetras prefer soft water ranging from 18 - 215 ppm and guppies prefer harder water ranging from 143 - 536.
 
I have thrown a huge amount of info at mehifish, it probably came as a shock since the shop is unlikely to have mentioned anything about cycling. Keeping the fish alive is the first priority and I didn't want to add even more info which is why I haven't mentioned hardness yet. It will keep till the fish are safe.
 
I notice from your other thread that you have had the tank a week.

You really need to buy your own test kit. You are doing what is called a fish -in cycle. Until you have your own test kit, you need to change at least half the water every day.
And ignore what I said about getting more neons, that can wait until after the tank is cycled. More fish will make more work for you during cycling.

Fish excrete ammonia - it's their version of urine. But ammonia is toxic to them; it burns their skin and gills. In a cycled tank, there is a colony of bacteria which eat this ammonia and they turn it into nitrite. Nitrite is also toxic; it binds to their blood and stops them taking up oxygen. In a cycled tank, there is another colony of bacteria which eat nitrite and they turn it into nitrate. Nitrate isn't nearly as toxic and we remove it by doing water changes.
But in a brand new tank, there are no bacteria; they have to grow and it takes several weeks. Firstly ammonia will build up in the water and the fish keeper must do water changes every time the level is higher than zero. This means testing every day, which is why I say you need your own test kit. Once the ammonia eaters start to grow, they start making nitrite. Water changes need to be done whenever nitrite is above zero.
At first there will be only ammonia and you will need to do daily water changes to keep the level at zero. After a week or so, the ammonia starts to be eaten and the level isn't quite as high, then it slowly drops till it stays at zero. But at the same time, nitrite starts building up faster and faster so again daily water changes need to be done to get it down.
After a few weeks, you'll find you don't need to do water changes as often and one day you'll realise that the levels have stayed at zero for a week. The tank is then cycled and you need to do only weekly 50% water changes.

There are things you can do to help.
Get some Tetra Safe Start. This is the most highly recommended bacterial starter.
Feed the fish only once every 3 days. Less food = less ammonia.
Get some live plants. These use ammonia as fertiliser and will remove some from the water. Even just a couple of bunches of elodea left to float will help.
Use a dechlorinator which detoxifies ammonia. The effect wears off after 24 hours, but it will keep your fish safe until the next day's water change. Seachem Prime also detoxifies nitrite for 24 hours.





@Brendanpat Yes, neons are soft water fish and guppies hard water but at the moment, keeping them alive is more important. Once mehifish is on top of cycling, then we can discuss hard/soft water. There is a lot to take in at the moment.
Thank you! When i said i had my tank a week, i meant with the fishes in it. I've had the actual tank for more than a month. We put the bacteria and water conditioner in and waited for three weeks and then tested it and when it was alright we added the fish. Thanks for the advice!
 
Unless you added ammonia to feed the bacteria during the time before fish, you may not have enough bacteria. Checking for ammonia and nitrite every day is the best way to make sure. Once you know that they have been zero for at least a week, that's when you can get more fish.
But any day when one or other is not zero you need to do a water change.
 

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