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Ok, so I have:<br><br>29g - 1 Male 2 Female Beta's 16 Assorted Tetra 6 Albino Cory and 3 Otocinclus<br><br>26g - 3 Bala Sharks 1 Male 2 Female Blue Gourami 2 Paradise Gourami 4 Peppered 2 assorted cory and a Catfish i have been to busy to ID<br><br>5 Gallon Guppies... Male Female, dosnt really matter they should mate they shall multuply they will be fed to other fish<br><br>The 29g is planted and in my daughters room the 26 has silk plants and is in my dinning/living room (one long room) and the 5g is in the bathroom... fish bathroom decor oddly enough just was that way when i got here.<br><br>So here is the question. My 1 month old loooves to stare at the fish. I love to let him, and I love to have all the aquariums... I love the water. So I am not sure as to what I want to get for his room, hence this poll


Wait around checking the periodicals periodically for used setups that are affordable and mabee larger than what I would be able to afford new

Go down and get an 18g a heater and an air pump and hood having 2 filters already

Get a 20g with the same setup as stated for the 18

Save up for a 29 for his room (there three times the 20 in cost)

Save up for the 55 kit thats 150 big ones and move the 26 to the babies room

Just be happy with what i got!


I am glad that I waited and checked the newspaper because the deal was astounding though the city i am in is small, it was the only one there. I think that i am going to look in a few other towns publications. Anyways your thoughts are again always apreciated

26g - 3 Bala Sharks, 1 Male & 2 Female Blue Gourami, 2 Paradise Gourami, 4 Peppered & 2 assorted cory and a Catfish. That's really overstocked & the Bala Sharks will get big.


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The balas are relitivly small right now as they get to big i will trade them in. I forgot to check there size possibilities before I got them. If i add a sump to the tanks can the increase in water volume allow for more corys?

And whats the real worry on overstocking other than ammonia and nitrite/nitrate? Because my filter is keeping up and i watch the levels in my tank 2-3 times a day depending on my boardum. But if its space for which to swim they have plenty of space so... I know that rule is there for a reason just curious as to why


Last edited by mrwizerd at 28-Oct-2005 13:18

You knwo I have often wondered that same thing. How did they come up with that "equation"? I have had tanks with more fish in that than people would recommend and they lived for years. I just don't get it.



Christina

Mr.Wizard,
In terms of what to do, I would save up
for a bigger tank. Not only are bigger tanks
easier to care for, they allow more stocking options.
Im sorry to say this, but I also agree on the stocking
of the tank with the Bala Sharks.
In a large tank 90G+, Bala Sharks will grow rapidly.
I had 3 which grew from 1 inch babies to 9 Inch Behemoths
in a little under 9 months.
In a small tank, they will just become stunted and this
will affect them their whole lives.
Bala sharks grow to between 10-14 inches, need a group of 3, and need to be kept in a tank at least 150G for their health and well being.
A 26g tank doesnt even have enough room for baby bala sharks to grow.
Trade them in for some store credit towards your next tank,
and leave the space empty.
Blue Gouramis grow to 6-7 Inches, and also dont belong in a 26g tank IMO. 3 Blue Gouramis and the corys are sufficient to stock that tank to the brim, let alone the other fish.
So, I would start saving for that big tank!
The bigger the better!
Good Luck!


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why, b/c it is kinda oveious that u cant have a 13 inch clown knife in a 10 gallon, even with water changes etc and a pwoer filter, and the water may be good, but the health of the fish is not fine, (shh. i know it wont even fit)

so really, i think all ur tanks are overstocked at the moment, so i wouldn't get any corys or anything.

i would wait, and save for a 125 gallon tank for the living room, and then add all the other fish in the other atnks in there,

a few side notes, balas yes they will get big, but there are other aspects of this. they will get also very powerful, and are great jumpers, so those are also reasons why they shouldn't be kept in small tanks. my fathers largest balas reached about 13 inches or so(sry wasan't around to see them for my self)a problem with ur theroy, u cant always bring fish back to the lfs, and that means that u cant go and get a arowana just for a few months, when u buy a fish it is a comittment and u must follow that, research is always a good thing. If u are lucky enough to find a lfs to take them, do not look at the tanks, and get another fish, yet.

on a side note, i wouldn't suggest that u keep the male betta with two females, unless u are trying to breed, but breeding in a community set-up like that is almost 95% impossible.

That is quite obvious about having a 13 inch fish in a 10 gallon tank. You didn't have to be a smarty pants about it That is not at all what either of us meant. When I said that what I meant was how come if you have a 10 gallon fish you cant put 12-15 neons in there instead of just 10. That is more than 10 inches of fish in a 10 gallon tank but they still would seem to be okay. Now what is wrong with that?



Christina

alright let's calm down.

I agree the tnaks are beyond overstocked, the fish in them will grow to large for the tanks. as Chris pointed out buying a fish is a commitment, they are not trinkets that you can exchange whenever you are bored with them.

the reason you can have 12-15 small tetras in a 10G is that they are smalls chooling fish, they do better in alrger numbers and produce minimal amount of waste. also most 10G tanks with 12-15 tetras in them are heavily planted.

Chrissy,
nothing is wrong with keeping a few extra
small slim bodied, low waste fish in a smaller tank.
However, the bigger the fish, the more waste produced,
and the more swimming space required.
While a 10g tank doesnt provide enough swim space for a
group of zebra danios, it does provide enough for a group of neons.
The same, though a 75G tank is technically large enough to host a group of bala sharks based purely on their size,
(many 10 inch fish are suitable for a 75g tank),
the fact that these fish are strong, super fast, schoolers that require tons of swimming space, a 75g tank simply doesnt do it.
So, Overstocking, simply said, works well if you do your research, and can provide what these individual fish require. If you cannot provide what each fish needs in terms of swimming space, filtration, companions, and the like, then you shouldnt overstock those type of fish.
Its a very fine line with disastrous results, most often for the fish. Overstocking should really only be considered by people with larger tanks, more experience, and the knowledge to back it up.


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there are other types of aggression, balas for example are skittish and very powerful and avid jumpers, these fish even though many are peaceful, are very aggressive in there swimming patterns.

for example: take a koi and a "fancy" goldfish.(just hear me out)
[forget about filter/tanksize for right now] they are housed together, the koi is a very aggressive fish due to its power that it can produce with its tail, thats why when stocking goldfish u are supose to stay within classes. and even though the koi doesn't mean too, it can harm the other goldfish by just swimming. also koi are somewhat skittish and powerful.

so balas like said, need a large tank for one, and they like to school, so a large tank is needed.

i wasan't trying to be a smarty pants just trying to make a clear statement.

there are other factors with not powerful fish too, like clown loaches, they are skittish, but i wouldn't say powerful, n.e way these fish can reach about 12+ inches, so if u stick lets say 4 in a 10 gallon, there are health problems that will occur,

neons like stated are different, due to they are not powerful and maybe have a potentional size of 2 inches, where as a molly is simular but bigger, yes u can get away with having 12 neons in a 10 gallon, but lets be real, i would doubt that beginner fish keepers will only have 12 neons in a 10 gallon. and u can see where i am going with this. mollies when at the lfs are usually about 1-2 inches, but they have to size potental to get (though rare unless they are reall sailfin) 7 inches. so even though they are small now they can get very large.

Ok, I see were we are comming from and do agree that the sharks were a hasty choice from missinformation from the larger pet store. I would only take fish to the lfs if they were sevearly unhappy. The tank had an eleven inch pleco in it and that tank is obviously to small for a pleco that size. My information on the Blue gourami was only 4-5 inches and they seem to swim free and happy so I didn't think they posed a problem. I have been trying to stock with smaller fish for these tanks and dont want to dwarf fish intentionally. Its very good advice not to have fish that grow to large for a tank, matter of fact i had a 4 inch pleco that I removed from the 29 because he was to big for it. The pleco was in a 10 and was bought before I was with my wife by her. So I had to go thru and upgade the tanks for the fish they had. My thought on the current tank is that it is 3 feet long, and has a lot of swimming space latterally.

I was going to build the 120 but the glass ended up being tempered and when we moved it it shattered in a stunning display. So now I am on a holding pattern. I want fish that wont get much more than 4-5 inches even in a larger tank (120) so that I can have more.

On another note the male and female betas are all co habitating extreamly well. I wanted them to maybe procreate but if they don't I ok with that But what I read was that if I kept two to one they would be ok, and they seem to be. All my fish currently "seem" happy.

Question... Do cory's less than an inch still count as 3" for terms of figuring on stock?


Last edited by mrwizerd at 29-Oct-2005 13:12

Mr Wizard-
when you stock fish you go by the adult size
of the fish.
So yes, you would measure a 1" cory as a 3"
adult.
I have personally seen blue and gold gouramis
of marvellous sizes. I even tried to buy a gold
male gourami that was about 7.5 inches, unfortunately
he was already sold when I enquired.
If given enough space, fish will often grow beyond what the average size is.
Also, remember, average size is determined by measuring many specimens, and then averaging all those sizes out to get a middle figure. So blue gouramis may range in size from 4.5 inches all the way to 8, and then have just been averaged out to an average of 4.7 inches (says the FP profile). You should always keep in mind that some fish may far outgrow this average- such as my female platies that well over 3 inches, and more around the 3.5 inch size.



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very good pionts stated above. i have seen adule blues at 6 inches, and even though every fish is different and it can reach alot of different sizes, really books/sites/etc. can tell u a def answer like lets say a betta = 3 inches max, well their are some that can reach 7-10 inches with selctive breeding.

swordtails for example, are often sold in sizes around 2-3 inches and most books say around 3-4 inches is max, but i have seen a large breeding groups that have some females close if not past 7 inches long. and same with mollies.

I had not realized that it was an average I thought that this was the largest they get full grown and the range that they would be found "full grown" so I have learned a valuble lesson. I think that I am learning a lot from all the pro's out there helping me. Please be patient with me, I like to ask lots of questions because I want to learn as much as possible. If I get annoying just lemmi know and I will back off