Sorry, Another Beginner Stocking Question!

[Lizzie71]

I now have my 8 gallon (34 litre) tank set up & fully cycled. It contains 3 platys (all female, so no babies ) and 6 Hengel's rasboras.

Now, I know that according to the '1 inch per gallon' rule I am overstocked. 3*2 inch platys and 6*1 inch rasboras = 12 inches of fish.

But from what I've read on here, it seems that bioload is more important than the '1 inch' rule, i.e. can your filter cope with the fish you have.

I added the rasboras nearly a week ago and haven't had an ammonia spike as yet - they are eating now (yay!) but they hardly seem to poo at all (sorry TMI ) so I'm guessing the filter is coping with them. So I'm hoping that in the longer run the filter will cope and the stocking will be OK.

The question is this - could I also add 3 ottos to the tank? I have a bit of an algae problem and they would help enormously, plus I think they are really adorable. But of course that would then be 12 fish in a tiny tank, so possibly too much. But then again, the other fish don't go down to the bottom of the tank much, so there is theoretically some 'swimming space' for them.

Any opinions please?

 

[Daveyg1969]

Hi Lizzie, what you need to do is keep monitoring Ammonia and Nitrite over the following weeks with a liquid test kit and also you need to get hold of a bottle of Interpets 'Filter Start' and add a little to the filter whilst in the tank if poss, this product got me out of a Nirtite Spike only last week, after cleaning my filter.
The Ammonia/Nitrite spike may take a little longer to appear, but I think this product will help to burden the load on the filter once the spike appears.
If you do get a spike in Nitrite (0.8mg/l, light red on tetra liquid test kit), then you may need to change some water until it drops, (about 10-15% every other day until it drops) although you can re-dose the filter start every 2 days anyway.
As for the Otto's, I would leave them alone at the beginning, as they don't travel too well, can be fussy eaters, and may succumb to a later death if you get a severe Nitrite spike over the next few weeks.
I would personally go and get 1 healthy looking Plec, something that won't grow too big quickly, as some plecs do grow rapidly and big, but make sure you stock really slowly with fish over the next 2 months after this.
I have had a plec in my tank from the beginning who has lived through a nitrite spike ok, and was only small wehen bought.

Hope this helps.

P.S I had a bit of a spike myself last week as discussed here

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=217596

 

[littlest]

Your tank is very small and I wouldn't risk either otos or small plecs in there to be honest. If you have a problem with algae it is better to look into why you have the algae and correct it, rather than buy an algae eating fish. Apart from anything, fish won't eat all types of algae and might not eat the type you have.

Is your tank planted? Is it any any direct sunlight? What lights do you have? how long are they on? if your tank is planted, do you use fertilisers or CO2? here's a link to algae in the planted aquarium

 

[Lizzie71]

Thanks everyone. I do have a liquid test kit, and I am monitoring the ammonia and nitrite levels. I also do have Filter Start but I haven't actually tried it yet.

My tank has 3 small plants in it. It has the lights which came with it, no idea what they are, and they are generally on 10 hours a day. Yes there is direct sunlight on a good day, it's not right by the window but the sun can shine on it from time to time.

I am adding Flourish Excel once a week to help with the plants, and it seems to be doing the trick as they have stopped turning yellow

 

[eschaton]

The best thing to do is keep doing what you already are. Once the plants are established and growing rapidly, they out-compete the algae for nutrients. Any healthy tank with live plants will eventually see all algae disappear (except for maybe black brush algae).

 

[Lizzie71]

OK that's good to know. So you don't think I should get the ottos? Could I maybe have a single otto? I really want one (can you tell?!)

 

[littlest]

One issue which could be contributing to your algae: Direct sunlight. Algae loves it. If at all possible move the tank or block the direct sunlight somehow. Having a heavily planted tank can also help keep algae away as plants compete for nutrients and the algae loses out. So maybe add some more plants, possibly floating plants. You may also want to adjust your lighting period. Some people find it helpful to have a siesta - meaning the lights are off for an hour or two in the middle of the day. I'm quite new to algae and planted tanks, these are just things I've picked up from the planted tanks section. If your plants are turning yellow you may also want to consider adding some fertiliser such as Seachem Flourish (it's a different product to Flourish Excel).

As for the oto, I've not kept them myself but was warned off keeping them in a tank the same size as yours. They can be difficult to keep alive apparently and sensitive to water conditions. A small tank is less stable in terms of water conditions than a large tank (especially since yours is heavily stocked) and there may not be enough algae in a small tank to feed the otos, and they sometimes won't accept other foods.

If you are really set on otos I would wait until you have a mature larger tank to keep them.

If you are still looking for a fish to help clear up the algae, I have found amano shrimps (OK, not a fish exactly) to help a lot with algae and they are very interesting to watch too.

 

[Daveyg1969]

Yeah Siesta periods are great, I had a little algae appearing and installed a timer on the lighting, 10am-3pm then off until 5pm-10pm, worked great for me and also the lighting gets controlled automatically.