New To Tropical Aquarium

[bigjase]

Hi there,
i am starting a new tropical fish tank, and i have been doing my research and now i have a few questions to ask before i set it up??
Q1. i have a 3ft tank how many fish can i have?
Q2. i have a list of fish that i have researched and go great together.
the fish are as follows, guppies 30
                                    neon tetras 10
                                    albino catfish 4
                                    boesemans rainbowfish 3
                                    rummy nose tetras 10
                                    platys 6
                                    harlequin rasbora 4
Q3. i am having tropical plants, gravel, drift wood and rock holes for bredding and hiding?
Q4. i am going to breed most of the fish as i will have breeding tanks as well?
 
i hope i can get some great answers and some more facts on wheather im over crowding but in my research i have printed the fact sheets for each breed of fish but would like further answers.
hope people can help me?
 
Thanks Big Jase

 

[AdamTheZombie]

The basic rule of thumb is you want 1 inch of fish (at their max size) per gallon of water. How many gallons is the tank? 3ft long, but how high? How wide? Sounds like you have a 29 gallon tank to me, if I had to guess. If so, you have the tank WAY overstocked. If you havent added them yet, you don't want to add all of that at once. Your tank still needs to cycle or you are going to lose a ton of fish. Start maybe with just the platys since theyre relatively hardy and add more every couple weeks. It's a slow process and it isn't fun to watch until it's fully stocked, I know, but your non-dead fish will thank you.
 
question 2 and 3 dont seem like questions but more like statements. And I agree, you want to have some plants for hiding, but gravel isnt just a decoration. it is essential. It helps the good bacteria have a place to form. As for breeding the fish, you will not want to be doing that if you plan on having the tank as stocked as you plan, but yes, if you do plan on breeding, I highly recommend a nursery tank for the fry or they'll be eaten up in minutes.
 
So back to the overstocking, if you have a 29 gallon tank, just the amount of guppies you want is pushing the limit. This is simply because your fish will not be comfortable living with that many other fish. They will all be going to the bathroom and causing far more ammonia to acrue than can cycle, and if you have some bullies, there will never be a moment to rest and your fish will exhaust. Your tank, unfortunately, will never look like the "Wall-O-Fish" at your local pet store. Those tanks are overstocked like crazy because they have massive filtration systems and move fish out constantly. They are set up for high capacity situations.
 
I wish you luck! and have fun!

 

[frapadoodle]

Welcome to the world of tropical fishkeeping.
Well as to the number of fish, that depends upon filtration, size of adult fish, territory of each fish, among other things.
To start, read up on the fishless cycle. Most experienced fishkeepers recomend going that route.
As for guppies and breeding. Get a male and a female and you'll have 30 in no time.
Neons are hard to breed, and do better in an established tank.
Are the albino catfish corys? If so, they should be a shoal of 6 or more. As to breeding, easy.
The rainbow fish someone else will need to answer.
Rummynose are a schooling fish, numbers should be higher.
Platys, again someone else with experience needs to answer.
Rasboras as well are schooling fish.
As to breeding anything, would put that off until more experienced with keeping tropicals.
Plants, whether live, plastic, or silk are a great idea, as well as hidey holes of rock, or clay pots, or even pvc pipe.
Driftwood or bogwood is also good.
As for the substrate, would go with sand if having bottom dwellers such as corys.
As to the stocking, yes I would say that would be overstocked.