Advice On Stock

[simplysim]

Hi

I have a 30L Biorb, and after losing quite a few fish and now having our aquarium perfect we have 5 fish, One is a Danio (stripe) a red Molly with a black tail, and 3 Neons we did put 4 in together but one went missing the day after we put it in, (any ideas?) The neon had a really big belly and i wondered if it was pregnant.

We would like to add to our aquarium but want to make sure we do not over stock it again, (this was the shops fault) and also make sure we get compatiable fish... Can anyone advise me?

Thanks

 

[badenmate]

about the neon first that might have been dropsy or somthing like that
water levels might help
as for the danio from what you described it sound like a zebra danio
is it blue and white strips if so they really need to be keep in groups of 4 at the least and they need a lot of swimmy space
you could get some more mollies as well

 

[simplysim]

Hi

What does dropsy mean?

My Danio has black stripes and is silver, I have looked it up and it looks very much like Kyathit danio.

Are the mollys, Danio and Neons the only fish that are compatable? Or do you think that not having too many types is better?

Thanks

 

[OldMan47]

As far as adding more fish, you have not answered Badenmate's question and it is an important one. We will need to know about your setup and the chemical parameters of your tank before any more fish can be recommended. IMO a tank will look better if you have several of each fish rather than lots of ones and twos but that is a matter for your own taste to decide.

What are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings in the tank?
How long has the tank been set up?
Did you do a fishless cycle and how long has it been reading zeros on nitrites and ammonia?
What is the water hardness and pH that we are dealing with? Is there anything extreme about your readings?

BTW the common red fish with black tails are platies but someone may have developed a molly that color.

 

[simplysim]

Hi

The reason I didnt answer the question is because my ammonia and nitrate readings are 0 this is something i check quite oftern as I have had plently of problems since having my tank in October, I had the tank running for about a month before i added any fish, when I did add fish i over stocked as i got some crappy advice from the shop where i bought my fish, so I have learnt from my mistakes, and my tank is now running fine now.

The only thing i am unsure of now is how many fish can my 30L hold I have 5 at the moment but obviously I dont want to over stock again.
I am starting to regret buy this type of tank i did as when i first bought it the so called shop said it would hold 18 small fish but clearly not, Im thinking more 8 at the max what do you think?

Regarding my Molly, really maybe i should take a picture to show you, you might be able to Id it for me.... I bought it thinking it was a molly but going to the advise i first got from this shop maybe they dont really know what they are talking about.

Thanks for your help.

 

[waterdrop]

Well the basic guideline recommendation for 30L/8G would be 8 inches of fish body. So that's what the members would be using as a simple starting point before beginning to consider tank/equipment details, then shoaling details, species details and cross-species considerations.

In your case you'll have to consider whether the biorb would have less water surface area than a plain rectangular tank holding the same volume. Surface area where O2, CO2 and other gases can exchange is in some ways a more important part of what the guideline accomplishes than simple water volume. If the biorb curves back in and has a smaller surface then unfortunately, yes, a little less than 8 inches would probably be the basic starting point.

Having a knowledge of your water chemistry, as you've shown, makes a big difference, helping you to stock out to the recommendation with much more confidence that you're doing the best you can. Its great that you've confirmed this with OM47 as he's right on the mark that this will make all the difference in your starting point for stocking being ok.

You certainly have fish that are compatible with each other and are quite common in community tanks. I wouldn't worry about losing a neon. I always tell my son that you've got to buy an extra neon or two for any school size you plan to bring home because there's a good change you'll lose those one or two. Perhaps some will feel the biorb doesn't offer enough "straight-line dashing room" for energetic zebra danios, but I find it hard to judge, they are small opportunistic little minnow-like fish and I've always found they seem to make the most of any situation. Adding some neons might be your best move in this type of tank, but perhaps further discussion will bring out other ideas.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

agree with wd's post above, i'd suggest you take the danio back to the store, they really do need a lot more swimming space than your tank can provide, they also need to be kept in a group and you don't have space for another 5 danio's to make the numbers up therefore it's best to re-home him.

i'd then bump up the numbers of the neon's to at least 4, 6 is better.

if you just went for 4 neons then you could maybe add another solitary fish or invert, i was thinking an african dwarf frog or a couple of amano shrimps would make a nice addition.

 

[simplysim]

Thanks so much for your advice, I have never really thought about putting anything other then fish in the tank but i do like the idea of having the amano shrimps, not too sure about the dwarf frog..

If anyone else has any comments please feel free i am open to any advice or ideas you can give to me.