Am I overcrowding??

A

ara35

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Aug 10, 2006
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I know the rule... 1" of fish for each gallon of the tank. I am getting a 12 gallon tank and will have the following:
1 neon blue dwarf gourami- 1" = 1"
6 cardinal tetras- 3/4" = 3"
3 Bronze cory cats- 2.8" = 8.4"

This adds up to 12.4". I also wanna add 4 red cherry shrimp each being an inch it would put the total at 16.4". Do shrimp count for this rule?? Is this too overcrowded or will it be okay?? It will also be planted with java fern and other low light plants. THanks alot. -Ant
 
That would be overcrowded. I would recomend a smaller type of cory--the bronze can get to be 2.5 inches at least and all cories prefer to be in groups of 5 or more. They like to have room to play and dart about. Dwarf gouramis also get to be bigger then an inch--I've hardly ever even seen them that size at the store.

I don't know anything about tetras, so I can't help you there. I do know that you calculate by the grown size and the needs of the fish (for territory, schooling, water chemestry) rather then just size of the fish in the tank.
 
dwarf gouramis get to b 2-3 inches, although i have once seen them at about an inch in a FS . i dont have any experience with corys so i cant help you there and as for the tetras im not sure either....
 
First of all the inch per gallon rule is comlpete garbage. It doesn't work because there are way to many variables involved. The cardinals can get to and adult size of 1 1/2"-2", So if you went with the inch per gallon 6 cardinals would be all that you could keep in the tank. The bronze corys can get to be ~3", that's another 9" of fish in your tank. The gourami will get to at least 2". Now your 12.4" of fish is around 24".

You would probably be able to have the dwarf gourami, NEON tetras, and the shrimp.
 
Throw the 1" per gallon rule out of the window. I dont think there is a good "rule of thumb" for fish per tank. There is just too many variables. That rule may be more accurate if you take into consideration width x height x length of the fish.

According to the classic 1" per gallon rule I can put a 55" fish in a 55......
10" oscar in a 10
29" pacu in a 29

It just doesnt make sense IMO.
 
or the dwarf gourami, 5-6 of any cory species that does not surpass 2" (like pandas), and the shrimp.
 
Well i really want cory cats, and cardinal tetra, then i want one type of fish by itself (in this case the dwarf gourami)... what is do you guys suggest then? and i may actually get a 10G tank... and if i cant get cories, what other algae eaters can i get besides otos? thanks so much.
 
ara35 said:
Well i really want cory cats, and cardinal tetra, then i want one type of fish by itself (in this case the dwarf gourami)... what is do you guys suggest then? and i may actually get a 10G tank... and if i cant get cories, what other algae eaters can i get besides otos? thanks so much.
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In a properly maintained tank algae shouldn't be an issue. If you have an algae problem there is something out of balance. You should do your best to find out what is causing the algae and take care of that, instead of trying to get something to do it for you.

If you really want an "algae eater" for a 10gal your best bet would be some ramshorn snails or maybe some amano shrimp. There are really no algae eating fish besides ottos that will be suitable for a tank that small.
 
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