My 7 litre tank

[eugene]

hello everyone

i have a 6 to 7 litre rectangular tank, with white gravel and a small internal power filter, in the tank, there are 2 colombian tetras and just bought 4 white clouds (2 male, 2 female). i actually had a zebra danio who used to be the boss in the tank...but a couple of days ago, he decided to end his life by jumping out of the tank (had him for 5months), should have made sure the lid was covered properly....sob sob

i just refurnished the tank, added a small glass jar into the tank and used my silk plants to make an entrance to the opening...the tank looked so lovely now...the female white clouds are always seeking shelter in it, and occasionally, the males joined them in their home! how loving...

i was thinking of adding 2 or 3 more neon or cardinal tetra in the tank....but it not a very good idea right?...with problems associated with over stocking a tank...but ...but...i just can't resist their beauty when i go to a fish shop...heee...

Cheers
Eugene

 

[guppygirly]

IMO..you are already overstocked. If I calculated right 7 litres is roughly 2 gallons US...you really shouldn't keep more than a few small fish in it. The biological filter will not be able to handle the fish waste. Also, the tetras are a schooling species (as was the zebra danio). These fish should be kept in groups of at least 3, more is always better. They feel safer in schools. You may want to consider a larger tank. Try to get the largest tank you can afford. That way when you want more fish, as you inevitably will, you will have plenty of room.

 

[eugene]

thanks, been looking around for a larger tank and hope to get one soon...

rite...i thought so too that i might have over stocked my tank already... the tank has been cycled properly and on top of that....i do a 25% water change every fortnight just in case...and i add small doses of white spot remedy too...prevention is better then cure?

yeah...realised that the danios are schooling fishes...i used to have 2 of them...the other one jumped out too last year....

 

[eugene]

by the way, i was wondering.... how does the fish shops maintain their water when all their tanks seems to be extremely overstocked with the same species of fishes all the time...

the question has been in my mind everytime i enters a fish shop...but have never asked the owners before...

 

[guppygirly]

The best prevention of disease in fish is proper maintenance. Parasites can build up a tolerance to medication given in small amounts over a period of time.

The fish stores are able to keep over-stocked tanks because they have good filtration and the fish are only going to be there for a short time before being sold, presumably to a person with a moderately stocked tank. Some stores have larger tanks than you think. One of the stores I buy from only have their tanks aslightly over-stocked. i.e. 20-25 guppies in a 20 gallon tank.

One more thing...a school of fish needs to be more than 3. I find that my schooling fish don't thrive in groups of less than 6, but this is just in my experiance.

 

[modernhamlet]

Eugene,

As others have pointed out, a 7L tank is inappropriate for all be a very few species of fish. Tetras shouldn't be in anything smaller than 10 gallons, The longer, more active minnows and danios should probably be in a tank larger than that. I would suggest turning the 7L into a deluxe betta home and getting a 20g long tank. You could keep small tetra and minnow schools (6-8 each) in there, along with maybe a couple of dwarf gourami. The minnows are cool water fish, so I'd keep the temperature in the low 70s to be fair to everyone.

How soon will you be getting another tank?

Fish stores can overstock because they generally have massive central filtering systems that are capable of cleaning large volumes of water at a very rapid rate. It's the stuff dreams are made of...