Stocking my tank

[Bexmaj]

Hi guys, I just wanted to see if anyone had issues about how I want to stock my tank, and any way to resolve them. I am getting a 34L tank (almost 8 gallons I think), and am hoping to put in about 5 cherry barbs and a few platys, in that order. I think I would rather have the platys but please let me know if that is too many fish, or how many of each gender you would recommend etc.

 

[Essjay]

I'm afraid neither of those fish are suitable for a tank this size. Both platies and cherry barbs need a tank with a footprint of at least 60 x 30 cm (23 x 12 inches) with bigger being better.

Can you tell us the dimensions of the tank, please. Some tanks are tall and thin which limits the fish which can be kept in them, while others are wide and shallow which means there is greater swimming length.


And can you also tell us how hard your tap water is please. You should be able to find this information somewhere on your water company's website. If you can't find it, tell us the name of the company and we'll have a look. You ned a number and the unit of measurement rather than some vague words.
The reason for asking is that fish small enough for this size tank are often wild caught and they need to be kept in water with similar hardness to that which they come from.

 

[Sylvan]

Look on your water providers website and it should be on there somewhere.

 

[Essjay]

In this tank, you need one of the so-called nano species. If you have hard water, endlers livebearers could work, though the recommended tank size is 45 x 30 x 30 cm. Males only as females will have fry every month and over populate the tank in next to no time.
If you have soft water there are more options, but I'll wait until we know your hardness before mentioning these.

 

[Essjay]

A number would be of more help. I have soft water but my water company calls it moderately hard. Can you tell us the name of your water company and I'll look for the page you need.


If you mean zebra danios, they may be small fish but they are such fast swimmer they need a tank at least 90 cm (3ft) long.
Celestial pearl danios might be possible, though they do need a slightly longer tank.


The first lesson of fish keeping is don't believe anyhting a shop worker tells you until you have researched it for yourself. So many of them don't know or don't care and will say anything to make a sale.

 

[cupofjoel]

I agree with the members above. I would only add that you need to be mindful of the species of fish you are going to add in that small a tank. More will mean you will be a slave to water changes, some need more space to swim, others might not be compatible with your water parameters, etc. I learned the hard way by skipping the research and ending up with dead fish. If you don't plan you plan to fail.

 

[Essjay]

That is one of the units used in fishkeeping and it converts to 15 dH, the other unit used. That's hard water.
I'm sorry to say that rosy danios need softer water and a tank at least 90 cm long. If the shop said they were suitable for your tank, it's another example of bad advice from a fish shop (though if they didn't know the tank size there is some excuse)


With the size of tank and the hardness of your water, I can only think of endlers as being suitable, I'm afraid. Maybe other members know of hard water fish suitable for a 30cm (12 inch) cubic tank?

 

[cupofjoel]

I personally really like the look of rose danios but I haven’t really looked into it much yet. Literally any ideas of species would be helpful at this point as all of the ones I’ve looked into have failed at some point.
If it helps anyone my water hardness is apparently 270mg/l of calcium carbonate but let me know if you need any more detail.

I have no idea if this will work with your water parameters, but have you considered chili rasboras?

 

[cupofjoel]

I have no idea if this will work with your water parameters, but have you considered chili rasboras?

Another cool fish that might work with hard water is the dwarf/pea puffer. They are super cool.

 

[Essjay]

I'm afraid the water is too hard for chili rasboras (maximum 180 ppm/10 dH).

But a puffer is suitable for both tank and water. However, I would carefully research dwarf puffers first as they do have special requirements.




If you haven't got the tank yet, think seriously about this one. As you have already seen, the volume and dimensions severely restrict what can be stocked. A tank longer tank would give you many more options - look at rectangular tanks that are at least 60 cm long. Go for the biggest tank you have room for.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I agree with above....
But for some reason I cant see any of the posts from the OP? Only the first one

 

[Essjay]

They have all been deleted by the OP.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Oh that makes sense