Is My Tank Too Full?

[gixx0r]

Alright so I'm pretty new to this and my girlfriend wanted a quick little starter tank. Anyway, we bought an Eclipse System 6 aquarium, got everything running cycled and all. Now we have 5 Cardinal Tetras, 1 Albino Corycat and 2 Painted Skirts. Is my tank pretty much full at this point? Also now that I've found this forum, I'm a little more confident in starting a new setup around 75gallons. Any suggestions as to where to start?

 

[mark.w.jones]

Yes you are overstocked. Just to give you an idea you are fully stocked just with the cardinals. You are bound to have problems if you don't rectify this. 6 gallons is very limiting, not only in terms of volume but also in length. Most active species will need at least a 2 foot wide tank to enable them to swim freely so nearly all tetras are out of bounds. A 6 gallon is really not suitable for much. Sorry



ps Did you fishless cycle it using the add & wait method from the fishless cycle link in my sig.

 

[gixx0r]

yes, I did a fishless cycle.

 

[mark.w.jones]

I'm afraid then you need to think about removing some of that stock or going for a bigger tank. A 20 gallon in my opinion is the best sized beginners tank. A 6 gallon is fine for a single betta, a single dwarf puffer, 4 Neons and 4 Pygmy cories at a push but not much else.

Other options for a small tank include:

sparkling gouramis
Galaxy rasboras (from a reputable dealer)
Harlequin rasboras
Cherry barbs
Guppies (Live bearer so beware of lots of babies if you mix males & females)
Shrimps
Snails

If you're serious at sticking at fish keeping long term though I'd highly recommend a bigger tank