Stocking??

Demon_Cinders

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Hey guys. I have a question, I gave a 10g with a dwarf gourami, few platies, 5 khuli loaches and a small school of glowlight tetras. It sounds like alot on paper but the tank actually looks pretty empty. Its heavily planted with lots of hiding places. I havnt had any fights or Deaths. The glowlight tetras just blend in with the background too much and I was thinking of switching them for a small school of 5 or 6 cherry barbs.
 
Sounds like a lot already. If you stick with the 1” per gallon rule a 10 gallon shouldn’t have more than 10” of fish. Even if we count each kuhli as only 1” since they’re so skinny (I would recommend counting them as at least 1.5”) they’re still 5” or more inches worth, plus a dwarf gourami is at least 2”, plus each platy you have to count as at least 1.5”-2”, then your glow lights are going to be at least 1” each and that’s all light estimates. If you switch out glow lights for barbs you add even more inches since the barbs are significantly heavier bodied and larger overall.

While you certainly can push the recommended limits it will necessitate more frequent and larger water changes, more frequent testing, and you run a much higher risk of losing fish. If you lose even 1 fish while you’re gone at work, the toxins produced as the body decomposes for even a few hours will significantly pollute the tank and could kill everybody before you get home.

if you want to have more visual impact, maybe make it a barb only tank, or barbs and kuhli loaches only, but don’t push the limit too far or all of them could pay the price.
 
I can definitely understand that but my tetras are the size of a cherry barb. One reason I was switching to them. They all seem happy and get large water changes anyway. And regularly.
 
Stocking a tank is not just about the amount of fish. You also need to look at the needs of the species.

For example, all the fish you have need a tank with a footprint of 24 x 12 inches - and that's for a tank with just one species. With multiple species the tank needs to be bigger.
 
Aren’t gourami soft water and platt hard??
 
Here's another thought: with holidays around the corner, a lot of pet stores are doing sales on fish stuff, so maybe you can treat yourself to a new fish tank? You might be able to find a good sale on a 20 gallon or larger, which would allow you to upgrade your tank size and not have to worry quite as much about overstocking.
 
Aren’t gourami soft water and platt hard??
Yes. Kuhli loaches and glowlight tetras are also soft water fish while cherry barbs are OK in soft and moderately hard water
 
I'll be rehoming the tetras. And only have the few platys andgourami. I'll probably be getting another 10g in a month or so and leave the cherry barbs for that tank. Thank you for your help everyone.
 
How long is a 10 gallon? All the fish you have/want need a tank at least 24 inches long.
 
Only if the tank is at least 24 inches long - I'm in the UK so I don't know how big 10 gallon tanks are.

Check out the tank sizes they need on Seriously Fish

This is the only website I would trust. Websites can be written by anyone with little or no accurate knowledge and it can be difficult sorting the poor ones from the good ones. However, Seriously Fish is written by experts.
 
I've kept fish for a long time and a 10 gallon is fine for those fish. And I wouldnt go off of just one website but multiple. I just wanted a second opinion to my friends tank.
 
I've kept fish for a long time and a 10 gallon is fine for those fish. And I wouldnt go off of just one website but multiple. I just wanted a second opinion to my friends tank.
Advice tht you get on this forum is far more valuable than any website , granted you have kept fish for a while as did I but advice from this forum has taught me more than all my experiences
 
Yeah that's why I came here. I wasnt sure if it was over stocked as tetras have a very small bioload. I was gonna suggest chili rasboras if she really wanted to replace them but idk.
 

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