Am I stocked to capacity?

Anne L.

Anne L.

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Dec 3, 2003
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Right now in my tank, I have 4 glowlight tetras (2 are new guys from yesterday), 2 harlequin rasboras, and 2 peppered cories.

Can I add 2 more glowlight tetras or 2 more rasboras for a total of 10 fish in my aquarium?

It's been established for a year and is a 10 gallon with a regular footprint and has plastic/silk plants.

Or should I stay with what I've got? The 2 cories are happy little buddies and have been that way since the 3rd guy died shortly after we got them. I also added 2 more rasboras yesterday, but they didn't do well and died today.

So I'm not sure what to do. If I can add 2 more fish, should I wait for a while or can I add them right away? Or will that be overstocked?
 
You are no where near full, Anne! One can not very easily overstock a tank with small tetras and characins. Bottom-feeders like corys dont take up much "real space" and so in my experience, I don't include them in my counts when stocking tanks.

For reference, I have a 10 gallon right now with 3 gouramis, a pleco, 2 full grown Zebra cichlids, 1 full grown Peacock cichlid, a masked Julie. Not so much as a fin-nip...

Hope this helped at all! :)
 
I'd say your tank is maxed out and just stay with what you have. Also, aren't you the least bit concerned about the fact that 2 fish died yesterday going in? I wonder what caused this myself, and would address that first, before thinking of adding anything else. What are your water parameters? Did the fish have time to acclimate properly before adding?

EDIT: Just read the above post. I'd like to point out overstocking is less about nipped fins and more about water quality and what a small spike in a small tank with a lot of fish can do.
 
Harland, I added 2 glowlight tetras yesterday and the 2 rasboras. My water parameters are excellent and the fish were acclimated properly.

What happened, and I did have another thread about this yesterday, was that one of the rasboras made a leap for freedom and ended up on our kitchen table on a piece of paper for a little while before we found him. He seemed fine once back in the bowl, but I wasn't too hopeful. The other rasbora did have a chewed up looking tail fin that we noticed after we got him in the tank, and he was having a hard time swimming.

So I'm not really surprised they died. The 2 new glowlights are just fine, after establishing their pecking order with the other 2.

The place where we got the fish makes it very difficult to have a good look at their fish before you get them.

So you think we're at capacity right now, and shouldn't add any more fish? I'm fine with that, actually, and I'd like to see how the 2 new tetras do.
 
I would have to agree that you are fully stocked. Stick with what you have and see how that words out. And as for MyTankIsAnArena, your tank is grossly overstocked. I actually hope you were joking when you listed what you have in your 10 gallon. You were fully stocked the second you put in a cichlid. Let alone 3 cichlids, a gourami, and a pleco. The reason for no fin nipping is that the tank is way overcrowded. The territorial fish can't even establish their territories.
 
jujubee said:
MyTankIsAnArena, your tank is grossly overstocked. I actually hope you were joking when you listed what you have in your 10 gallon. You were fully stocked the second you put in a cichlid. Let alone 3 cichlids, a gourami, and a pleco. The reason for no fin nipping is that the tank is way overcrowded. The territorial fish can't even establish their territories.
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I am not joking at all. I do not happen to see anything wrong with that particular tank. I don't mind that the fish don't have established territories, as long as my water quality remains high, the fish stay healthy, and everyone recieves all the food they need. As I'm sure you know, keeping a tank a little bit crowded is a long-standing and proven way to reduce fighting and maximize the amount of livestock that can be kept together.

Now, I know that people are going to grumble about how "unnaturally" I'm making those particular fish live. Well, I have this to say. People devote careers to breeding non-wild occurring species. Stores keep fish GROSSLY over-crowded in show tanks with absolutely no cover or decor. If I was absolutely committed to my fish as so many people claim to be, I would fly them back to their homes and release them into their native waters.

No aquarium fish lives 100% naturally. Aquariums don't grow in the wild.

:-)
 
:rolleyes: This is where I have a problem. Here we have a tank with Africans mixed with other much more peaceful fish and because the owner thinks they are successful anybody can do it. The truth of the matter is if 1000 people tried this combination 999 of them would fail. Not only is the tank horribly overcrowded, one day the owner is going to wake up and find their Gourami's dead and wonder what happened. But there will always be some people who think that they have some gift and will never follow the advice of people who know. You could theoretically keep 10 people alive in a small bedroom for years on end, but that wouldn't make it right. Just because something can be done doesn't mean that it should be done.

Btw Anne, I feel that you probably could add two more rasboras's to your tank to give the two you already have some company. Since you already have a small school of glo-lites do the same for the rasbora's. They will thank you for it :)
 
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Let me point out one thing here. I did not attack anyone on here for being so **** afraid to put fish in an aquarium smaller than 1500 gallons, so I would appreciate if you would stop attacking me for how I choose to run my tanks.

And I don't hate fish. I don't buy them because I hate them. I love them very much. But, as I said, if I was willing to do everything in my power to let everyone live the perfect natural existence, I would fly them back to Africa and set them loose.

By the way, it prob. makes people mad that I originally bought my Texas and my Convict to do an experiment and see just what they would and wouldnt live with, knowing full well that I would have no problem mercy killing them if they turned out to be too mean. Luckily, sports fans, that isnt the case. They are the lowest fish in the pecking order of that tank.

But I digress. What I am most wanting to say is that I disagree with a lot of things I read about, too. But I didnt think the purpose of this forumn was to debate. It was to share experiences for those who ask questions. I never told anyone to fill their tank with as many fish as it would physically hold, nor did I say that pike cichlids and neons make great pals. I just said what I do. Great how no one at least gives me credit for that...
 
Thanks, guys. I've had trouble finding rasboras around here, so I think I'll stick with what I have and see how the 2 new little guys do.

The 2 rasboras seem to be schooling now with the tetras in a nice little group and seem happier now that there are 2 more fish in the tank. For a while, they were hanging out by the filter and seeming a little timid, and last night and today they've been swimming all around the tank. We also put a new bubble wall in there yesterday (other one got wrecked) and they really like that, so I think they've been missing being able to play in the bubbles.

I'd rather not have an overstocked tank, especially one so small, because then maintenance really can become an issue, and I usually do water changes every 2 weeks and have no problems. I don't really want to have to do a water change every week or risk having a tank crash.

Thanks again for everyone's opinion and advice.
 
Lately there seems to be a lot of posts in many different forums from people giving bad advice to others. It has even reached the point in one forum I frequent where the mods have taken to banning people who continually post such misinformation. The mere fact that you would buy fish as an aggression experiment speaks volumes. BTW what do you plan on doing with that tiger shovlenose when he gets too big for that tank? Eat him? Thats a fish that belongs in zoo's, not in a 40g tank! :mad: I am beginning to suspect that MTIAA is a troll.
 
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