Stocking List - Too Many Fish For My Tank?

[KCB]

I have a 46L Fluval Edge tank with a surface area of 1118cm2. When I calculated how many fish I can have in my tank it worked out as 93cm worth (not including the tail). If this is right then these are the fish I would like to keep:

x6 Zebra Danios
x2 Black Phantom Tetras (maybe more)
x1 Dwarf Gourami (if it is appropriate to keep it on its own?)
x4 Sterbai Corys

This totals 67cm. Is this ok? Can I have more or should I have less? Is it ok to keep the Dwarf Gourami on its own? I've read all the info on these fish on the fish index and to my limited knowledge, this looks ok. Please tell me if it is otherwise, I don't want to overstock my tank!

P.S All fish numbers are based on if they are adult sized. There is a picture of my tank in my signature if that's any help.

Thank you.

 

[MBOU]

If I am completely honest, the only species really suitable for that tank is the Black Phantom Tetras...

I shall explain...

Dwarf Gourami - Yes he would fit and yes he would be fine on his own... however when you bring into play the design of the tank its a different matter, i love the Edge tanks (had the smaller one myself for years) but they have very poor surface area considering that its an enclosed tank and the only area thats open has a high powered hang on back filter blasting through it.

Makes in very unpleasant for any air breathing fish such as gouramis and fighters...

Sterbai - You could possibly do 2-3 of them... but it really doesnt give them enough space to move around... they do get to a good 5-6cm and chunky and the can really charge about when they are happy... though you could consider a shoal of the pygmy species of cory!? They are gorgeous, like cories but fun sized! Especially the Habrosus (salt n pepper cories).

Zebra Danios - Seems a bit wrong as they are so hardy but a fish like a danio is definately not suited to life in a small tank, they need about 4ft ideal and length. They charge up and down tanks at such high speeds and they need high flow, kept in a small tank they can actually become very agressive and nippy, mainly just out of boredom and inactivity.

There is still a lot of fish you can consider, think about where you want them in the tank (top, middle, bottom etc) and adding other species like shrimp and snails (pink ramshorn snails are great!).

What sort of fish do you like? Maybe we can think of some other species for you to look up and consider?

Your tank looks beautiful by the way!

 

[Gvilleguy]

Great looking tank! I agree about not putting a gourami or danios in there. What about a nice shoal of endlers (if you can find them)?

 

[KCB]

Aww that's a shame, those were my favourite fish on my short list The other species I was considering were; white cloud mountain minnows, splashing tetras, emperor tetras and cherry barbs. I want to have a different species for each level in the tank so I hope that's possible without overcrowding.

The Pygmy cory sound like a great choice! I'll keep an eye out for those, and the endlers look amazing, are they difficult to get a hold of? Also, are the shrimp and snails difficult to look after?

 

[MBOU]

You'll find Endlers pretty easy to find in London, most shops have them! I would advise just getting males though, you dont want hundreds (literally!) and the females are bigger and grey.

I know its sad not to pick your favourite fish but you wouldnt enjoy them really if they werent happy... unhappy fish will cause mayhem in a tank and thats enough to put anyone off fishkeeping when they start attacking each other or just dying.

How about:

Endlers (top)
White Cloud Mountain Minnows (middle)
Black Phantom Tetras or Cherry Barbs (near bottom)
Pygmy Corydoras (on the gravel)

Shrimp (if you get small ones, they come in loads of different colours!)
2 or 3 Snails (I would say something like ramshorns or assasin snails as the love climbing glass, i got pink ramshorns from a member on here and they are great, barely any care needed!)

 

[Essjay]

Using the surfcace area way of calculating stocking (1 inch of fish per 12 sq inches of surface; or 1cm fish per 30.5sq cm) a tank with the surface area you quote can hold 39cm fish not 93. But that rule doesn't apply to the Edge. The surface area in the rule is the amount of surface water exposed to air. It is much smaller than the top of the tank with an Edge - it's just that small hole where the filter goes through. Unless you keep a gap between the water and the top of the tank, but it would still allow you only 40-ish cm fish, not 93.
The shape of the tank (tall and thin) excludes fast swimming fish like danios and the small bottom area reduces the number of bottom dwellers you can have.

 

[KCB]

How about:

Endlers (top)
White Cloud Mountain Minnows (middle)
Black Phantom Tetras or Cherry Barbs (near bottom)
Pygmy Corydoras (on the gravel)

Shrimp (if you get small ones, they come in loads of different colours!)
2 or 3 Snails (I would say something like ramshorns or assasin snails as the love climbing glass, i got pink ramshorns from a member on here and they are great, barely any care needed!)

That sounds like a good combination, I'll do some research on these guys .

Using the surfcace area way of calculating stocking (1 inch of fish per 12 sq inches of surface; or 1cm fish per 30.5sq cm) a tank with the surface area you quote can hold 39cm fish not 93.

Oh I see, I found on the web that it was 12cm2 per cm of fish, but that must have been wrong.

Back to the drawing board then! Thank you guys for your help.

 

[Essjay]

The source you found must have confused inches and cm. I remember the rule from when I first got fish back in the mid 1990s; we didn't have the internet then so I had to use books from the library, which were old even then. My tank was 12 x 24 inches which made it easy to work out that the rule gave me 24 inches of fish. My mind conjured up an image of 24 one inch fish each swimming backwards and forwards in strips 1 inch wide, which is why it stuck

Most of the rules for stocking don't apply rigidly. Using another one, the 1 inch per gallon rule, you only have room for 12 inches of fish ie 30cm. But these rules don't take into account the shape of the tank or the needs of the fish.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I like MBOU's suggestions! And I wish Endlers were more readily available in my part of the US. I have yet to see any in local fish stores.I

 

[MBOU]

I swear your profile said you were in London?! Now I look odd

Hertfordshire... fine Anywhere near St Albans? MA @ St Albans will most likely have numerous types of Endlers *sigh* I really like that shop...

I hate to say it but P@H in Hemel Hempstead is one of their best shops, I have seen some great cories in there, I just wouldnt rely on staff for advise... that said... I haven't been there in a year and a half so might have got rid of their manager by now! (i asked him what species a cory was and he told me it was a bronze cory and then called me an idiot when i told him it blatently wasnt a bronze cory seeing as it was pure white with a few black speckles on its face).

 

[KCB]

No you're not odd MBOU! It did say London, I put it because it's my nearest city . I actually live in Hemel Hempstead and I'm debating about buying fish in P@H as a couple of years ago when the shop was smaller they used to have a lot of dead fish in their tanks.

St . Albans isn't far but there's an MA in the village down the road from me so might have a browse there, though they gave me poor advice on my very first tank about 10 years ago! Maybe they've changed since then? .

Ok so this is my new short list based on my allowance of 39cm of fish:

x5 Endlers
x2 Black Phantom Tetras
x5 Pygmy Corys (Habrosas type)
And some shrimp and ramshorns.

Does this look better?

 

[sadguppy]

The little cories are great but I would get more, say 8 - 10 as they love being in a big group and they really are tiny. I got mine about 8 months ago and they're still under 1cm!

I would get groups of at least 6 of the others too. The more in a shoal, the more you see them. Endlers are also tiny and you could get more of them if you wanted.

Other fish to consider are platies, as they're bright colours and great fun to watch and other types of tetras. Go into your local fish shop and see what takes your fancy.

 

[Bugdozer]

I like Mbou's suggestion too, as I keep shrimp, snails and BPTs. The only beef I have with it is that the White Cloud Minnows like a cooler temperature than the BPTs and so getting the ideal temperature for both species may prove tricky.

 

[MBOU]

Both the black phantoms and the white clouds are pretty tolerant though, 23/24 degrees C should be fine for all...

I had a shoal of 30 WCMMs in my 125L tank (was only fish in there) and i kept them temperate but brought temp up slightly and found they did better in low tropical with less fluctuation than they did unheated. Just my experiance...

KCB, your stocking looks good but with 2 species instead of the original 3, I would up the shoals, they will fit fine.... the so many cm of fish per gallon is generally a really poor rule, its good to give you a rough idea but not much more.

I think you can get away with the 6 black phantoms, 6 endlers, 5 pygmy corys plus shrimp and snails

BTW, I was born in St Albans, grew up around Hemel area! Left when I was 11 and moved back to Luton for a few years and back again to where I am now. Its a small world huh!

 

[KCB]

I think you can get away with the 6 black phantoms, 6 endlers, 5 pygmy corys plus shrimp and snails

BTW, I was born in St Albans, grew up around Hemel area! Left when I was 11 and moved back to Luton for a few years and back again to where I am now. Its a small world huh!

That sounds great, now to wait for my tank to cycle...

And yeh it really is a small world!