Stocking Levels For A Very Well Filtered 10 Gallon

[hixy]

I have a 10 gallon planted aqaurium.At the moment it has a pair of Apistogramma cacatuoides and 6 Pygmy Corys.It is filtered with an ehiem ecco 130 and today i have added a eheim 2213.Could i go over the top with stocking levels.


Cheers mick

 

[FreedomFighter]

That is a lot of filtration.

Well I think it'll come down to, stop adding fish when it looks like the tank is getting busy. If you get what I mean.

 

[Carlovel1]

Depends on what fish you want to add.
Personally, I'd add 8 Hengeli Rasbora
Carl

 

[hixy]

Thank for quick replys.I was thinking of some neons and galaxy rasporas to add some colour

 

[FreedomFighter]

Keep your eyes on the neon tetras with the cacatouides, as some can be nippy. But they can and should go together fine.

And Tetra's should be kept in a group of 6 or more, preferably.

 

[karin]

Personally I would get a bigger tank to go with your filtration. That is a lot. But the footprint of a 10 gallon is awfully small for apistos... most sites say a minimum of a 20 gallon.

 

[FreedomFighter]

aslong as the tank has a footprint of 30cm long, and roughly the same depth, then the apistogramma won't mind. That's roughly the size of their normal territories. And a 10gal should easily accomodate them.

edit just to say, I know of some Apistogramma breeders who use 20 litre tanks for breeding apistogramma, so the 10gal should be fine, so long as no more apistogramma are added.

 

[Geoff-]

The surface area of your filter material determines how much ammonia you can process, so yes you can overstock. Plants will help remove some of the wastes (be it ammonia or nitrates) as well. However a heavily stocked tank will still be a nitrate factory so you'll have to do larger water changes to keep nitrates down (eg instead of 25% change you might have to do 40% change).