Stocking Question(s)

[cupofjoel]

Pondguru pimped out an Oase Biomaster 600. I got one as well and have around 4L of Seachem matrix in it. He said that you could have a heavily stocked tank that would cycle around 40-45 gallons. Also, let's assume my bio-media is mature and cycled.

My question is, what do you all consider a heavily stocked tank? I understand that it all depends on the species and size of the fish. Like panda corys are really light load fish, etc. Let's talk in general terms: fish that don't get bigger than 2 inches like tetras and rasboras. How many could you have for your tank to be considered heavily stocked?

Note: I also understand that plants, both floating and others play a role so let's consider the tank a lightly planted one.

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I personally suggest getting 12-15 tetras. They feel much more comfortable in that number, than in say 6 or 8.

I would say anything over 25-30 tetras would be over kill. Unless of course you wanted to do just a tetra tank, that would be pretty cool.

You have a lot of options with a 40g, more than I could name. Do you have any species that you are particularly interested in?

 

[Retired Viking]

I personally suggest getting 12-15 tetras. They feel much more comfortable in that number, than in say 6 or 8.

I would say anything over 25-30 tetras would be over kill. Unless of course you wanted to do just a tetra tank, that would be pretty cool.

You have a lot of options with a 40g, more than I could name. Do you have any species that you are particularly interested in?

I have a tetra tank (55 gallon) with 10 neon, 10 glowlight, 10 ember and 1 red eyed tetras plus 3+ fry . My tank has plenty of plants and room but I do not plan to add more

 

[cupofjoel]

I guess I should have been clearer.

My tank is 75g, but pondguru said in a heavily stocked tank it safely cycle the water equivalent to 40g. AM I misunderstanding him?

 

[cupofjoel]

I personally suggest getting 12-15 tetras. They feel much more comfortable in that number, than in say 6 or 8.

I would say anything over 25-30 tetras would be over kill. Unless of course you wanted to do just a tetra tank, that would be pretty cool.

You have a lot of options with a 40g, more than I could name. Do you have any species that you are particularly interested in?

I have a 75g tank with an Oase biomaster 600 filter with around 4L of bio media (matrix). I was wondering how many fish I could keep while keeping ammonia, nitrite at zero and some nitrate (10-20ppm).

I like rasboras and tetras

 

[utahfish]

I have a 75g tank with an Oase biomaster 600 filter with around 4L of bio media (matrix). I was wondering how many fish I could keep while keeping ammonia, nitrite at zero and some nitrate (10-20ppm).

I like rasboras and tetras

Most tetras and rasboras create little waste and the waste they do create is used by the plants.
General rule of one inch of fish per 1 gallon of water and while that doesnt always apply for small tetras in a 75 gallon it applies quite nicely. Most smaller tetras stay under 2 inches. If one were to assign an inch per tetra than technically one could have 75 small tetras in a 75 gallon. This excludes larger bodied tetras like skirts, columbians, and serpaes and the like. Personally i wouldnt keep that many because i find keeping my tanks under stocked leads to less trouble. If one were to assign an inch and a half to each tetra using the inch per gallon rule than that would be around 55 tetras on the conservative stocking level.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I agree with @utahfish, tetras produce little waste. You could have a lot of them.

 

[Byron]

My question is, what do you all consider a heavily stocked tank? I understand that it all depends on the species and size of the fish. Like panda corys are really light load fish, etc. Let's talk in general terms: fish that don't get bigger than 2 inches like tetras and rasboras. How many could you have for your tank to be considered heavily stocked?

Stocking is something that is frequently misunderstood. Fish numbers/size and water (tank) volume is only one factor, and you are correct in saying that the species is important. For example, a 10 gallon tank with ten zebra danios would be way overstocked, but the same tank with 12 cardinal tetras would not, and by a considerable margin. Yet the fish are pretty much the same body mass and the water is the same. But their long-term health is being impacted (negatively in the case of the danios, more positively in the tetras) by the size of the space, regardless of filters. Not even having a filter would be fine for the tetras in this example, but not the danios. But having a filter has no relevance to "stocking" per say.

When it comes to shoaling fish, the number in the shoal is important; too few can have more impact on the biological system than more because the fish are negatively impacted and this means they are contributing more negatives to the system.

The other thing to keep in mind is that regular substantial water changes are way more beneficial than any filter because WC's remove pollutants no filter ever can. More filters, or larger filters, does not improve conditions. @AbbeysDad has frequently written on this.

My tank is 75g, but pondguru said in a heavily stocked tank it safely cycle the water equivalent to 40g. AM I misunderstanding him?

I don't understand what he is getting at here..."cycle" means water movement through the filter presumably?