Pets at Home fish points

[Platiosaurus]

I have a 90l fluval edge...Rounded down to about 80l of water as my danios are jumpers.

I know how many points per fish my fish are worth according to stocking a tank, i just don't know how many fish points my tank can accommodate.

Can anyone help?
Stock wise i have 23 platies (7 adults which arrived pregnant), 2 Hong Kong plecs, 4 danios and 7cherry shrimp.

Which sounds like a lot. At what stage are my platies going to cause issues?
They're not eating their own young and the danios aren't eating the fry either so the population is just growing.

 

[SeanTrollope]

that is going to become a problem very quickly

 

[Karen_2656]

I have a 90l fluval edge...Rounded down to about 80l of water as my danios are jumpers.

I know how many points per fish my fish are worth according to stocking a tank, i just don't know how many fish points my tank can accommodate.

Can anyone help?
Stock wise i have 23 platies (7 adults which arrived pregnant), 2 Hong Kong plecs, 4 danios and 7cherry shrimp.

Which sounds like a lot. At what stage are my platies going to cause issues?
They're not eating their own young and the danios aren't eating the fry either so the population is just growing.

That's is going to be a huge problem very very soon! The platys have birth every 6 weeks if there healthy, your tank will become tiny for all the fish, also they will eat the fry if there hungry so don't go saying they will be fine! Also each birth can have about 2-200 fry per platy, you have 23 platys! That is millions of fry. Each year you could have up too 1000 fry! Also that tank is tiny, 90l isn't even equal to 20 gallons, it's 19 and you have loads of fish in there. In honesty about 10-15 fish is the max in a 19g, not 36 fish!! That's wayy to many fish! Also what's your water parameters??


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[Essjay]

The first thing to check with you is - is the tank really a Fluval Edge? The reason I ask is because the biggest Edge is 46 litres. If your tank is an Edge, it can't be 90 litres, but if it is 90 litres, it can't be an Edge.

Assuming it is 90 litres, the tank is overstocked and poorly stocked.

Hong Kong plecs are a type of hillstream loach, and they need very fast flowing water and cooler temperatures than most fish, though the danios would be OK at their temps.
Zebra danios may be small fish but they are such fast swimmers that they need tanks at least 4 feet/120 cm long. They are also shoaling fish so they need to be in a group of at least 6.
You have far too many platies for 90 litres. With 23, the ratio needs to be up to 8 males and 15 or more females (at least 2 females for every male). The females will all have a batch of fry every month, and the number of fry from 15+ females will be huge. Some will be eaten but there will be a lot of survivors - and the female fry will start having their own fry within a few months.

I would take the Hong Kong plecs, the danios and the female platies back to the shop. if you like platies, a group of male platies is fine - provided you have hard water. Platies are hard water fish.

 

[Karen_2656]

The first thing to check with you is - is the tank really a Fluval Edge? The reason I ask is because the biggest Edge is 46 litres. If your tank is an Edge, it can't be 90 litres, but if it is 90 litres, it can't be an Edge.

Assuming it is 90 litres, the tank is overstocked and poorly stocked.

Hong Kong plecs are a type of hillstream loach, and they need very fast flowing water and cooler temperatures than most fish, though the danios would be OK at their temps.
Zebra danios may be small fish but they are such fast swimmers that they need tanks at least 4 feet/120 cm long. They are also shoaling fish so they need to be in a group of at least 6.
You have far too many platies for 90 litres. With 23, the ratio needs to be up to 8 males and 15 or more females (at least 2 females for every male). The females will all have a batch of fry every month, and the number of fry from 15+ females will be huge. Some will be eaten but there will be a lot of survivors - and the female fry will start having their own fry within a few months.

I would take the Hong Kong plecs, the danios and the female platies back to the shop. if you like platies, a group of male platies is fine - provided you have hard water. Platies are hard water fish.

I agree, Essjay has nailed it! Defo take the plecs back and the danios!


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[Essjay]

Also that tank is tiny, 90l isn't even equal to 20 gallons, it's 19

90 litres is 19.8 Imperial gallons but in fishkeeping gallons are always American gallons. 90 litres is 24 US gallons. Not much better, I know.

 

[Platiosaurus]

I probably should have said, it's a temperate tank with a fast flowing top current for the plecs.
The plecs and danios were additions to what was initially a planted then a shrimp tank, so I'd say the plecs have been there a year or so, danios about 10 months, platies about 6 months.
The older fry aren't quite big enough to sex yet or I'd seperate them
I think i was more wondering whether it's currently an issue or can it wait until i can sex the platies.

Overall I'd just be interested in how many fish points my tank is. It is definitely 90l because i know how much water i put in it. Might not be an edge. It's rectangular though.

Does this help?

 

[Essjay]

The term fish points is not one I've come across before but I think you are asking how many inches of fish the tank can hold?

It isn't as simple as that. You have to take into account other things such as do the fish like the same water hardness and pH, the same temperature. Are they compatible in terms of activity - fast swimmers or sedate. Do they need to be in a group- such as your danios needing a group of at least 6. Do the fish all need the same type of environment in terms of decor. And so on.



I am also intrigued by your thread title. When you say Pets at Home fish points, are you referring to the shop Pets at Home?

 

[Platiosaurus]

I wondered how it worked too. It's the shop, yes. They sell aquariums saying how many points of fish it can hold and give each species a number of points. Platies being 2 and danios being 1.

They just don't sell my aquarium. I think it's to make it easier for you to tell if you're over stocking your little 15l aquarium. They also interrogate you for up to 10 minutes if you want to buy a fish to check compatibility with tank mates etc.

Danios, yes, i had 6 at 1 point. Then i lost 2 when i moved house. I don't think there's space in my tank for another 2.

 

[Essjay]

I would ignore everything Pets at Home say. They may interrogate you but the chances are the person doing the interrogating is only following a script with no idea why. Most of their employees have no idea about fish as they are trained in how to sell not how to care for their animals. Some may know something about some fish from their own experience but they are few and far between.
The concept of fish points is, to be blunt, not worth considering. A tank can't be stocked by points.

 

[Ch4rlie]

If its a fluval tank, and if its definitely retangular rather than square with a decorataive middle section which houses the light and filter then i would assume you meant its a Fluval Roma 90l, a pretty good little tank actually, I know because I've had one

Right, am afraid you defitely have stocking issues no matter which way you look at it

Platies - http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/xiphophorus-variatus/

The Fluva Roma, from memory is a 2 foot tank, so just about comfortable for maybe 8 platies, possibly 10 to 12 if filtration is good. Definitely not big enough for 23 platies with many pregnant females which will soon cause a explosion of platy fry before too long.


You do not mention which specie of Danio you have, am going to assume this may be the more common danio that are available in most LFS in UK, this tends to be zebra or leopard danios, both the same, just differnet names, and assuming its not of its smaller cousins the emeralds or celestial pearl danio.

Zebra Danio - http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/danio-rerio/

These are very active and fast fish, they need far more than 2 foot length of tank, Seriously Fish (link above) recommends 3 foot lentgh of tank MINIMUM, personally I'd go for a 4 foot tank for zebra danios tbh. And do do SF mentions -

"It is a schooling species by nature and should be maintained in a group of at least 8-10 specimens."

So having just 4 of these danios is not the best for them as they are a schooling and social specie of fish, the less the numbers, the more stressed they will be


The Chinese Hillstreams - http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/beaufortia-kweichowensis/

Hillstreams are amongst my all time favourite fish to keep (I have not kept any but I do plan to have them in a tank specially adapted for these lovely fish one day )

The tank size is fine, but they really do need lots of flow and very well oxygenated waters, a oversized cannister filter which is suitable for at least 200 litres however if not an oversized filter, then the addition of powerheads would be a good alternative and that would be good for a 90 litre tank for hillstreams but not for the platies or the danios long term.

Also a group of at least 6 hillstreams would be good but not in a 90 litre Fluval Roma as the footprint size is not really large enough to accomodate 6 of them


I would seriously reconsider your stocking choices to suit your tank size and last but not least, make sure you choose species that are compatible with your water hardness, you do not mention this anywhere, so this would be good information to have and we can help advise you what may work for you for your 90 litre tank

BTW any staff at Pets at Home advice has to be taken with a rather large dose of salt to be entirely honest.

Its entirely up to the fishkeeper to do their research and homework to know if theire choices are suitable for their tanks and water parameters, asking advice on forums such as this and searching online will help greatly.

I see essay posted while I was writing this post, I completely agree. Especially with the previous post, do not rely on staff advice and just ignore the silly points system, whatever that may be and rely on good advice and research

 

[Platiosaurus]

Hi, thanks for replying.
I feel like an idiot.

In my vague defense prior to these guys i had black moors and there were 3 in a 120l tank which i downsized to 90l (yes it's the Roma) when i went to only 1 black moors. It seemed less stressful for him to have a smaller space in his final days (stress and bloat from a different house move on the hottest day of the year and a 4 hour wait in a hot car for keys).
Anyway. The filter is massive as you need a big one for goldfish. So the loaches are well catered for.

I agree with the danios. I've got white Zebra danios. But i don't want to add more fish to my problems.

No idea what to do about the platies. I think I'll have to hope a shop will take them off my hands. I obviously won't be taking the adults back, i don't have a receipt for them and i feel I'm morally obliged to care for them.

Off the top of my head i don't remember my water parameters, i'm going to check them next cleaning session - it's a hard water area though.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Will need a bit more info than a general idea of being in a hard water area am afraid.

The average hardness readings can be obtained from your local water authority website, they will give out several different scales of readings for water hardness usually under water quaility.

Best bet is to take a screenshot and upload that water website page onto here then we will have a much better idea of we're dealing with water hardness wise.

Honestly, I'd rehome all the platies, they breed profically, almost like guppies really being the breeding requirements are 'just add water'!!! Unless you want to have a nice group of 8 males which should stop any breeding at all

And I'd also rehome the danios, not fair on them being cramped in a tank thats too small and too overcrowded for them.

Most LFS will take them off your hand, most likely without any store credit or cash for you

 

[Platiosaurus]

Pet shops must make a killing off fish. Selling them, then getting them back plus more to sell.

The danios have been in this tank a long time and seem fine, i know its not ideal (not far off as we've had 2 lots of fry from them - which were given to someone else) and i know my 4yr old is very attached to them so i can't really get rid of them.

Same goes with the platies, there's a few that have been named so some definitely need to be kept. I need to either just keep males or just keep females or keep the fry controlled better.
I'm gathering from here, and myself, that i have far too many as it stands. I know that. I just didn't know how many too many.

 

[Gruntle]

Just a word of advice on live breeders. I would not consider keeping the females, as they are either pregnant or storing sperm, so they WILL drop fry in the near future even if you take the males out. Some of them will be male, the cycle continues...