Stocking question. 180 Litre.

[Ukfishman]

Hello.

I currently have a 180 Litre aquarium, with an internal filter (not sure of the type of the top of my head) and an external fluval 305 filter under the tank.

Fish seem to be fine healthy and happy. I’m just questioning my stocking and need advice on whether it’s overstocked.

On both outputs on the filters (external filter output is on the left, internal filter output is in the right) I’ve pointed the output towards the water to cause some agitation, aswell as a air stone.

I currently have 12 neon tetras, 3 lemon tetras, 3 platties, male dwarf gourami, one yoyo loach, 4 mollies, 6 gold minnows.

I’ve got a few ornaments for the fish to hide in etc, and around 6 fake plants around the tank aswel as gravel.

Is this an ok setup? Could I have advice if not? Or any recommendations.

Thank you

 

[Byron]

First thing to sort out is your water parameters. The GH (general or total hardness) and pH of your source water; check the website of your municipal water authority if you don't already know these. You have fish that must have moderately hard or harder water (the mollies and platies) and the rest prefer softer water to varying degrees. I'll leave this until we know the levels, but there may be issues once we do, depending.

The next thing that is trouble concerns the yo yo loach. Loaches are shoaling fish, meaning they must have a group. And they are very social fish so this is even more important to their long-term health. A group of five is minimum, but before acquiring more we need to know if you have the space in your tank. I know it is 180 liters (about 50 gallons), but the dimensions (length and width) are what is important here.

The gold minnow, is this a variety of white cloud mountain minnow, or something else?