# stocking suggestions



## MonicaTaylor (Dec 26, 2013)

So i currently have a nearly 20gallon tank (70litres) i have a stock list as follows(some not yet there but will be)
A pair german blue rams(current count 0)
8 hengels rasboras (current count @5)
5 guppies (current count @4 may not get the last one)
3 otocinclus 'oto' catfish ( current count 0 may go to 5) 

I'm very slowly adding my fish my rasboras have been in there about a month, are the last ones to be put in there, the guppies a month and a half before that, i just don't want the bio load to sky rocket and ruin the cycle. I'm adding one GBR next week and perhaps the remaining rasboras.

My questions
Is this a good stock list? Or are there any problems with it? 
Would adding cherry shrimp or a type of small shrimp be too much? 
I'm getting a 150-200 litre tank in September which i will transfer my current stocklist to, and sell my old tank (we don't want more then 2 running tanks due to time and cost and we have a fry tank set up) what other fish could i add to that tank? Another school?


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## eljefe0000 (Apr 3, 2013)

thats a lot of fish for a 20 gallon hold off till you get a bigger tank


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Is the tank fully cycled? If not, you should stop and let it before adding anymore fish.


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## MonicaTaylor (Dec 26, 2013)

Yes it's fully cycled, i only add my fish slowly as i had to do fish in cycling so couldn't just add a mass amount at oncre and how is it a lot of fish? I do 50% water changes every sunday still, my tank is 3months old now, I'm not getting the bigger tank till my birthday in September (my hubs is getting it for me) i would go 6rasboras but i know the bigger the shoal the better they look sweet now and seem happy but yeah, 3 otos is my minimum as i know they like shoals, i have a male and 3female guppies with a fry tank to raise them, and i know GBRs are better as a pair, i can go 6, rasbora, leabe it at 4 guppies, 3 otos and a pair of GBR? Or is that still to many?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

16, soon to be 18, may be a little too much for that sized tank. You might have 17g in that tank. If it is working for you now, great. I think you may be pushing it a little and when you do that you tend to start having issues. It is great that you do 50% water changes, but let me ask you this...when you do that 50% is it 10g that gets put back in or is it less? I ask this because I know that in my 20 long I do what appears to be 50% only takes about 7g to replace all the water and fill to the very rim.

GBRs can be pretty sensitive and adding to what appears to be an already semi-crowded tank may be death for them due to stress. Totally up to you, just a suggestion. Conservative stocking is the best way to go. If you can't wait until you get your next tank, I think you are taking a chance of losing fish and it may be some that have been doing fine all along.

I appreciate your maintenance idea, but I would step it up to about 65-70%. What is your nitrates readings just before you do your weekly water changes, or after?


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## MonicaTaylor (Dec 26, 2013)

I don't have 16 fish? I have 9, 5 rasbora, and 4guppies. That's it, it looks so empty with just them, i have long light on lengths so get algae growth hence wanting little otos, i take out 40 litres of water (so about 10.5gallons) i sometimes do an extra 30 litre change if i get significant algae growth during the week, i rarely test for all the nirtates anymore, i will test tomorrow or Wednesday to see if i need to do a water change before getting my GBR(which im only purchasing one for now to see how he/she goes in my tank as i do do my research and understand they are sensitive so want to make sure tgey can survive in there) I'm only paying 12AUD for him as I'm buying from breeder so not ridiculous shop prices, i seen plenty of people with ridiculously overstocked tanks that do okay, my mum has had a 60 litre tank for 5yrs with the same two silver dollars for 3 of those years, a BN plec and gold CAE from the start, 2 black skirt tetra, for a couple years and I'm pretty sure 2 silver tipped tetras, they are all huge in there and growing well and survived a loooong time my mum only does a water change every 3 weeks so i don't see how it could be so bad if i keep my water changes up and nitrates down, i can even increase water changes to 50% on sundays and maybe a small 25% on Wednesdays if necessary i just want a centrepiece fish, don't like betas and dwarf gourami have been extremely difficult to find, and i want a cleanup crew to manage my algae :/ i know otos like grouping so thought 3 minimum will prevent shyness, i know rams are a lot happier in a mated pair, and i already have the rasbora and guppies hmmmmm i get conflicting info on different forums, some say don't do this others say its fine blah, my new tank is 6months away, plus cycling time  
So what can i cut out of my stock list the otos or rams hmmm could it work with
4 guppies
6 rasbora
3otos
2 rams
? That's 15 fish in a 20 gallon long


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## pepe (Nov 11, 2013)

What you are paying for the fish is irrelevant, they still deserve the best care we can provide. If it were me I'd lose the guppies,IMHO they would look out of place anyway.Best of luck whatever you decide.


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## MonicaTaylor (Dec 26, 2013)

It's really hard to rehome guppies around here (and platies, mollies etc) as they are just sooo common and inexpensive, I'll see what i can do, but that then leaves my tank quiet dull and a bunch of money spent on a set up for the fry wasted (i have over 40 fry between 2 and 5weeks old) i bought my aquarium as my son loves to look at the fish at the pet store so thought why not (then realised how complex it is haha) and the otos are plain brown, hengels rasbora mainly brown with the little bit of black and orange, the only brightness is the ram/s he loves the active swimming of the bright guppies (and mollies, platies, swords etc at the petstores) so any way to brighten the tank?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If the lighting period is causing algae, reduce it. Don't buy yet another fish to fix a problem that you already know how to correct. You help create another problem (overstocked) by trying to fix another (algae due to long lighting period). 

You keep adding fish and it is almost guaranteed that you will be back on here for ich problems, fish dying, or whatever. I am certain that 5 fish that are healthy and never have an any issues is much better than 10 fish that I have an issue I have to fix every other month. If you are more than familiar with some of these issues and have the experience to deal with them than you will probably be okay if an issue arises. If not, you may want to back off of it a little. Is it your son that is saying the tank looks so empty, or is it you? What will he think of deaths? Don't go by your Mom's experience. She looks like she had just a few species to deal with and low numbers. Not that hard to do, as I am trying to tell you.


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## MonicaTaylor (Dec 26, 2013)

My son is a toddler and can't really talk, i believe it's empty looking, my mum has 5 spiecies in her tank that is smaller then mine and silver dollars get huge, so do BN plecs at 14 cm and so do chinese algae eaters at about the same length, she just let's them do their thing but I'm not basing it on her tank, my biggest fish will be the 7cm full grown german blue ram and it's partner at 5cm, the rasboras grow 4cm are very small fish, otos 5cm each, i went to aqadvisor and that says 4 guppies, 2 rams, FOUR otos, 6 rasbora and 5 cherry shrimp will max out my tank at 100% stocked, i only want the 4 guppies (but will look ar rehoming under this advice) 2 rams, 3 otos and 6 rasbora, i get extremely conflicting advice from forums im a part of a couple and some say it's an alright stocking level for my aquarium while this is the only one saying this is too many, i understand guppies water hardness is different but they have been there close to 3 months and still brightly coloured, active, have appeared to have grpwn since getting them, have spawned healthy babies, my rasboras have also significantly grown since arriving as the pet store gets them at one cm ish and are now over 2cm in a month, i have already tried shortening light time, can shorten it even more but still have algae growth I'm about to give up on forums as its just too many conflicting opinions, I'll just go with my gut, go with what i have researched on the species, if i make mistakes and they get unwell it's on me and i can take that, I'm sure my toddler won't notice fish dying and being replaced as they are fish, not the same as a puppy or kitten, he doesn't even understand that he has an older brother in heaven yet so doesn't really know what death is, and if the fish survive long enough till i get my 200litre awesome they will get to go in there and bye bye 70 litre tank for good but until then I'm very sure i can make it work. Thank you for the advice


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Opinions are just that, opinions. Forums are still your best bet, especially since you are new to fish-keeping. They may not all give what you are wanting to hear in any given situation you may bring up, however. This forum may be 10k+ members strong, but less than 1% will respond to your thread and as it sits right now has mostly been just me. My opinion is from a somewhat conservative view. Stocking to a 100% level just because the tank "looks" empty is not the best way. 

It is 100% true that you will have a better time enjoying your fish if they are all healthy. Loading the tank up will not keep them that way. I think I said before, if you are equipped to handle the extra stuff that potentially comes with overstocking, then go forward.


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## MonicaTaylor (Dec 26, 2013)

I don't think i.will be stocking to 100% anyways that's just my opinion, i find the numbers will work, I'm still not sure if I'll be able to rehome my guppies our lfs' don't take fish.unless your an actual breeder for the possibility your fish could be sick and cause an outbreak


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## Allanira (Mar 28, 2014)

Ok I have a toddler that loves fish. If you really want a good looking calm HEALTHY aquarium then you need to reduce the stock. Guppies can get up to 2 inches, oto cats if I remember correctly get up to 2 inches. In my 20 gal I will have 6 guppies or jumbo tetras ( which get up to the same size as guppies can) and 2 cory cats. That imho is very close to over stocking. Remember with substrate, decor, heater, and filter you take up water space. That is water you can't put in. I have a canister filter that holds a gallon of water, plus the 20 gallon tank. Now in the bottom of the tank I have an inch in front going to 3 inches in back. Thats about 3 gallons gone, then I have decor which takes up about another gallon. My total volume is about 15 gallons. Now if you go by the 1 inch of fish to 1 gallon of water my tank will support 15 inches of fish. I hope this helps.


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## MonicaTaylor (Dec 26, 2013)

Well this is old, i got rid of my guppies, still haven't gotten the otos so now have a german blue ram juvenile and the 6hengels rasbora and some left over baby guppies I'm trying to offload still and a betta splendid (only temporary till we get another 5 gallon for him) staying at 6 hengels but am getting the 200 litre in 2 ish months


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## Allanira (Mar 28, 2014)

What color is the betta? He could be the center piece you were wanting like I kept a betta male as my center piece for a long time. He was red white and blue. He worked great. If your's is a calm male you can do it. Mine was very calm and sweet natured for a male. He didn't attack any tank mates, and was never attacked either. It's just a suggestion. Also you can keep a betta in your 20 gal as long as they have places to rest. My boy had a ton of places and he went everywhere in my tank. I had tetras, and a couple barbs that attacked others but never him. Good luck and I really hope you can set your tank up the way you really want it.


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## MonicaTaylor (Dec 26, 2013)

The betta is plain traditional blue and is my partners fish, he insisted (we have two but only one 5gallon atm) buying another probably next week) and it can't stay in my 20 gallon as my centrepiece is my german blue ram cichlid wich yes is a baby now so is fine but in a few months will fully colour up and will probably spar with the betta if not will try eat at him, so definately purchasing and cycling another 5gallon set up (yes heated and filtered etc.) I'm not a betta fan my hubs is i just do the work in tank maintenance


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