Would You Add Anything Else To This Tank?

[3l3ctric]

So as some of you know, my current tank is a Fluval Ebi (been fully cycled for awhile now). I'm hoping to get my old 20 gallon back up and running in the late summer or early fall, but until then, this 7.9 gallon tank is all I can have.

The tank currently has 2 normal kuhli loaches, 2 black kuhli loaches, and one other fully grown loach that is the same length but half the width. I also have some yellow shrimp.

I just find that the middle/top is sooo empty. Would you add a small school of micro rasboras or celestial pearl danios? I've had CPDs before and really liked them.

None of these fish have huge bioloads, and the swimming space should be fine, but I don't want to take any chances.

Thanks!

 

[Carlovel1]

So as some of you know, my current tank is a Fluval Ebi (been fully cycled for awhile now). I'm hoping to get my old 20 gallon back up and running in the late summer or early fall, but until then, this 7.9 gallon tank is all I can have.

The tank currently has 2 normal kuhli loaches, 2 black kuhli loaches, and one other fully grown loach that is the same length but half the width. I also have some yellow shrimp.

I just find that the middle/top is sooo empty. Would you add a small school of micro rasboras or celestial pearl danios? I've had CPDs before and really liked them.

None of these fish have huge bioloads, and the swimming space should be fine, but I don't want to take any chances.

Thanks!

You could add the CPD. Or some Ember Tetra. I don't find the tank overstocked.

 

[3l3ctric]

You could add the CPD. Or some Ember Tetra. I don't find the tank overstocked.

Thanks for your reply!

I think that going by the 1" of fish per 1 gallon of water rule, I would be overstocked - BUT, all of the fish are very low as far as bioload is concerned and I'm not overloading the swimming levels. Also, kuhlis are long, but a 2-3" kuhli obviously isn't the same as a 2-3" fish that would be at least twice the girth, right?

I've never had a tank this small before, so I'm not as comfortable with stocking. Anything bigger and I felt like it just made sense, you could really just seem to tell when it looked right. But I don't want to send this tiny thing over the edge.

Last question (unless other people want to chime in, which they are welcome to do!): How many CPDs would you put in? I want them to have a comfortable group, but again, don't want to overstock.

 

[3l3ctric]

Just looking for more opinions as I have to wait for my LFS to restock their celestial pearl danios anyways...

I'm also hoping to get some more shrimp, but as I understand it, they really don't factor into the bioload unless you are overfeeding or have a TON of them, right?

Additionally, I'm still wondering how many CPDs I should get exactly.

The tank is fully cycled, but I still do a 30% water change at least once a week because it's very easy to do for such a small tank and I think it's good for them - so even if I'm at the very edge of almost overstocking, I don't think things would get out of hand.

The tank has fluval stratum as the substrate and is planted with a ton of anubias (which have all sprouted some new leaves lately), some large "moss balls" and will be getting some java moss and a carpeting plant soon - which I think also helps.

 

[danlock10y]

why don't you try aq advisor.com to check your stocking? I find it very useful.

 

[James9114]

You could add the CPD. Or some Ember Tetra. I don't find the tank overstocked.

Thanks for your reply!

I think that going by the 1" of fish per 1 gallon of water rule, I would be overstocked - BUT, all of the fish are very low as far as bioload is concerned and I'm not overloading the swimming levels. Also, kuhlis are long, but a 2-3" kuhli obviously isn't the same as a 2-3" fish that would be at least twice the girth, right?

I've never had a tank this small before, so I'm not as comfortable with stocking. Anything bigger and I felt like it just made sense, you could really just seem to tell when it looked right. But I don't want to send this tiny thing over the edge.

Last question (unless other people want to chime in, which they are welcome to do!): How many CPDs would you put in? I want them to have a comfortable group, but again, don't want to overstock.

I'd say 4 to 6 fish. kuhli loaches give off very little bioload from what i have heard on this forum

 

[leviethan]

I honestly think you could get a shoal of small kinds of tetra, as long as you do regular changes. By the 1inch rule i am quiet over in one of mine. It only works for set conditions anyway.

 

[char la]

Microrasbora kubotai are very nice and unusual

 

[3l3ctric]

I've actually decided to get my 20 gallon tank set up and cycling earlier. I have to move it in mid-August so I was going to wait to set it up until September, but I got tired of the fluval stratum substrate in my fluval ebi and I really want more space again. So, I am going to move my kuhli loaches and shrimp over to the 20 gallon shortly (it's seeded with my already cycled filter, plants from the ebi, and water from it) and then add a shoal of celestial pearl danios or something similar. When I move in August, I will use the ebi (with different substrate) as a betta tank (which is what I had initially intended).