Hi everyone

[RobbiHask]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the hobby and just started my second tank - hadn't completed my cycle on the first and have to start over.

I'm running a 25L fluval chi with heater set to 26c stocked with 5 male guppies and 1 male Endler. They seem to be having a good time, waters clean and I've run a water test for ammonia which has stayed at an easy 0 so no issues no far!

Being the sceptic I am I've constantly been wondering if I'm overstocked - the fish store we got ours from tested the water and advised we'd be fine with 6 guppies providing we trusted our filter (which we do) but there's a lot of contradicting opinions out there and I've seen some people say we should only stock with about 3 guppies for my size tank. I've got 2 live plants in there and 7 Marino moss balls as well as various plastic decorations including a 7" tall stone for them to swim around.

No aggression shown I don't think just some playful chasing so far.

 

[Guppylover3x]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the hobby and just started my second tank - hadn't completed my cycle on the first and have to start over.

I'm running a 25L fluval chi with heater set to 26c stocked with 5 male guppies and 1 male Endler. They seem to be having a good time, waters clean and I've run a water test for ammonia which has stayed at an easy 0 so no issues no far!

Being the sceptic I am I've constantly been wondering if I'm overstocked - the fish store we got ours from tested the water and advised we'd be fine with 6 guppies providing we trusted our filter (which we do) but there's a lot of contradicting opinions out there and I've seen some people say we should only stock with about 3 guppies for my size tank. I've got 2 live plants in there and 7 Marino moss balls as well as various plastic decorations including a 7" tall stone for them to swim around.

No aggression shown I don't think just some playful chasing so far.

Hi and welcome to the forum

May I ask what the GH of your water supply is? This is important as guppies naturally occur in hard water. They require a PH of above 7 at the minimum.

If you don’t have a water testing kit. This information can be found through your local water supplier.

During cycling ensure you are testing the water everyday if possible. Feed only a few times per week. This should keep your parameters balanced. And please ensure you are performing at least 75% weekly water changes.

Your tank is also not big enough for any guppies. Pet stores will tell you otherwise to make sales.

They need a minimum of 10 gallons. For your tank size, I would recommend one single Betta only.

Best of luck!

 

[FishGuest5123]

 

[RobbiHask]

Thanks for the warm welcome

I'm not sure of my exact PH but it was at least 7, I last tested it a week and a half ago.

My tank is fully cycled with safe levels of ammonia and nitrate now both registering as 0, we also purchased our guppies from a reputable aquatics store who make sure to test your water before they allow you to buy fish. We did question how many guppies when we purchased them and their advice was "it depends if you trust your filter" which I do, very much so, you can see it working and our tank water has never turned cloudy. I've just planted some vallisneria spiralis to give the guppies places to hide if needs be but so far they're healthy and happy swimming around, eating healthily with no issues and only a slight spike in ammonia which I put down to the food waste but we did our weekly 30% water change and it's dropped to a healthy 0 again.

I read somewhere that a rule of thumb was 1 guppy per gallon so forgive me if I'm wrong with having 6, I figure as long as I continue to test the water and look out for any aggression or other issues we should continue to be fine.