Stocking levels

Hi all,

a quick question regarding stocking my tank.

Dimensions: 900 x 400 x 300 (LWH)
Actual water dimensions: 900 x 300 x 250 (LWH)

I currently have 1 Rainbow Shark, 2 adult Red-eye Tetras, 4 Tiger Barbs, 4 Zebra Danios. I would like to add 3 Barbs, 6 Danios & 3 Angels (all young/small).

Totals would be:

Rainbow Shark x 1
Tetras x 2
Barbs x 7
Danios x 10
Angels x 3

I know formulas exist for calculating this, but from all I've read they seem guidelines at best. I need your experience to speak here :blink1:

If overstocked, could I add another filter (currently running a 850L/Hr HOB) to help? I plan to either replace this tank with a larger tank, or add a 2nd tank in the future (in about a year - about the time it'll take to convince my better half ).

With all that in mind, would those stock levels be OK for about a year?

Thanks!

 

Hi DesertConvert

I think that you could get away with this setup for about a year or so if there is no agression in the tank.
Basically when overstocking , there are 2 main things to consider:
1) Filtration - Over filtration is key , I have always overstocked with success and my filtration was atleast 3x times more than recommended
2)Aggression - If there is alot of aggression , it changes everything.Reason being, fish get sick and all sorts of diseases come about in your tank , and before you know it all your fish might be at risk.

 

It's mainly the filtration I'm concerned about. Hopefully the aggression will be minimal...that's one reason I'm increasing numbers (of barbs & danios), even though the fish are all quite docile at the moment.

 

That filter seems adequate, but I would definately add another HOB or internal cannister.
I normally alternate cleaning of the filters i.e. I would clean the HOB filter in one month and the Internal cannister the next month.