How many neons in my tank??

[robertoi]

Hi,
I have a 75 litre tank, with a surface area of 60*35 = 2100cm2...now, I was under the impression (from books and fish shop etc) that it was surface area that mattered when talking about stocking levels, and I have been led to believe that my tank can take about 24 inches of fish...

However, I have just read in a magazine about a show (public aquarium) tank which is 400 litres (~5.5 times bigger than mine), and holds 250 cardinal tetras, and various other fish....Does the rule for stocking levels vary according to the species?

How many neons do you reckon I could safely house in my tank?


Thanks

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I'm not sure how to convert it to gallons...

Anywho, each species has different requirements. Tetras require somewhat acidic, soft water. They don't do well with lots of nitrates, ammonia, nitrites, etc. If you have lots of them, you need to do frequent water changes.

Add only a few at a time so you don't introduce too much ammonia all at once.

Are you going to have other fish in the tank? Any plants? how much room to swim in? What type of filtration?

 

[Lateral Line]

24"/600mm is not a bad estimate for tank.

Something to remember is that public aquaria and some LFS's run centralised filtration systems, the amount of water you see is but a fraction of the amount of water there actually is.

>>> Does the rule for stocking levels vary according to the species?

There are guidelines, it is a complex question with many many if's and but's, no one rule would fit all situations. The "rules" you see quoted, are really guidelines for a suggested maximum stocking level in average conditions. It is true that fish like anabantoids which can breath air directly at the surface, can survive in very much smaller containers then open water swimmers, Bettas for example are often kept in small bowls, whether they are happy in such confined quarters is a different, and highly contreversial question.

I would suggest 18-20 Neons assuming there is nothing else, and your conditions are "average" - (now ask me to define average!!!).

 

[maaudiosubs]

thats 19.05 gallons so about 20 neons would be good baybe 25 if u clean the tank good and use air and a good filtration.