Can I Have More Fish?

[Chrs]

Sorry for jacking your thread Chrissi... last post for me.

Well I have 3 guppies, a honey gourami and 4 peppered cories. I want to end with 5 cories(the 4 I got all turned out to be male, so hoping to get a female),4 guppies, 3 honey gouramis, 1 bolivian ram, 1 Oto.

click my eggs!!

 

[Rediahs]

If it was me, I would wait and keep testing the water. If the lvls are low, them proceed slowly but accordingly, but I would try to stick to smaller adult fish. Maybe a bumble bee goby or some small fish like that. Also, if you have live plants that will also help absorb some of the excessive nitrates, nitrites, etc..that is added from any fish.
Here is the thing you need to remember.
You are providing a new home for these animals. By choosing to get involved with a hobby like this, you must adhere to certain standards, no matter what you think otherwise. People will often ask for help, ignore all the posted comments that they do not agree with and wait for that one person to say, sure, go for it. Now you feel that you have been given "permission" to move forward. Not always the best choice.
if 80% of the people say the same thing, most likely that is the best route to move towards.
Also, you say that the tank looks empty. Imagine how it would look as the fish begin to become adults. All that room you thought you had, has since disappeared.

I see your point. But since I'm new at this I want to know what people say. It seems like the majority of people say it's fine to add some more fish, but I am not sure yet WHEN it's okay. It looks like if after a few weeks of consistently zeroes on my NH3 and NO2, and low NO3, I could easily add more, but if they're high I should wait and/or be prepared to do more water changes... is that something along the right lines?

 

[indigoj]

I'd wait 6 weeks or so, this not only allows you filter bacteria to grow but also ensure no illness was brought in with new fish.

Bristlenose are fine alone but are messier fish than 6 cardinals and 2 honey gouramis together!

 

[Truck]

this is a topic that really gets me going...the one inch per gallon guide is quite old...now days with the new technologies and better flow in our tanks we can stock more...but youve got to take into consideration the size of the fish, a 10inch oscar is going to produce more waste than 10 neon tetras.

so the size and type of fish makes a difference too...there are so many variables that change this guide that IMO it is deemed useless

so to answer your original question, if your tank has been running problem free for a good 6 months using this guide...i wouldn't be scared to go up to 2 inch per gallon...i will most probably get slated for this...but ive tried it multiple times...problem free.

In my 30 gallon tank when i did freshwater i had a shoal of 30 neon tetras at one point along with 12 sterbai corydoras and a pair of german blue rams; I still wouldnt be scared to put more fish in if im honest

 

[saltynay]

You could also get a bamboo shrimp. they are like little water filters..

Bamboo shrimp need a minimum of 40 UK gallons and direct feeding via liquid fry food through a pippette is still advised. Strong current and an area to stand infront of filter outlet for the shrimp to feed from. Quite demanding pets and by no means should be bought on a whim as "little water filter" they just remove micro-organisms from the water column nothing more.