Can I get more fish?

K

karen99

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Nov 21, 2005
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I have a well planted 29 gallon tank. It currently houses six cherry barbs, two juvenile Siamese algae eaters (about 2.5" and very active), one ancient (5 year old) guppy, and one oto. I know I need to get some more otos; I just have the one guy by himself for now since he came in on some plants unexpectedly.
But.. asides from a few more otos I was wondering if there was space for anything more?
So many fish I like, but I know the SAE's get fairly large. Would it be possible to add a small school of neons or a few dwarf corys, or would that be starting to overcrowd?
 
I think you could get away with some neons and a few of the smaller cories as long as you ahve good filtration. Neons dont produce much waste.
 
Well, going purely by the numbers, using the fish care guides at Elmer's Aquarium .com to get maximum sizes, if you add 2 more Otos to make a happy group of 3, you'll get:

SAE 4" x 2 = 8"
Cherry Barbs 2"x 6 = 12"
Oto 2" x 3 = 6"
Guppy 1" x 1 = 1"

Total = 27" of fish

Since these are all fairly slender community fish, you *could* go by the 1" per gallon rule--just for illustration, mind you, not an endorsement :) . If so, you'll have more for 2 more inches of fish after the adding the 2 otos. That's room for 1 more oto or one more barb!

Disappointing, isn't it! :D
 
Danny-O,

The "inch per gallon" rule isn't a very good rule. It's not even valid for 90% of the fish people stock. I know you are saying it's just for illustration, but it gives the wrong idea.

As for Elmer's -- please don't quote stats from that place. Seriously. They are so wrong it makes my head hurt. The information on that site is sadly outdated and their sizes are so incorrect it's hilarious. They recommend salt addition for many FW fish as well :rolleyes:

They even have rainbows listed as being able to be kept as brackish, and this is very untrue. Their sizes on rainbows are out by as much as 3".

All the rainbows are listed as, "A challenge to breed. In many cases the male is more colorful". Now THAT is hilarious!

SAE grow to ~7"
SOME otos get to 2", the dwarf ones only go 1¼"

Roan
 
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SAE's don't really grow to 7" do they? These guys are definately true SAE's and I'd read they can grow to 5-6" in the wild but usually don't get that big in captivity.
 
karen99 said:
SAE's don't really grow to 7" do they? These guys are definately true SAE's and I'd read they can grow to 5-6" in the wild but usually don't get that big in captivity.
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Yes they do. I have 2 that are near 6”. I have only had them for 2 years and they started out at about 2”
 
karen99 said:
SAE's don't really grow to 7" do they? These guys are definately true SAE's and I'd read they can grow to 5-6" in the wild but usually don't get that big in captivity.
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Actually I read 8" and said 7" to err on the side of aquaria limits.

IME they grow as large as you have algae available for them to eat. I've six SAE that I bought in January, two I put in a horribly diatom ridden tank, two went into my son's tank (not so much algae) and two went into a new tank I have. They were about 1½" when I bought them.

The two SAE I put in the diatom tank are three times the size of the other four. Not kidding. They are the same size as my 3" Boesemani. I've had them two months. They doubled in size easily.

I moved two from the new tank into the diatom tank and they are fast approaching the same size. There isn't as much algae, so I'm supplementing these guys with wafer, but MAN can they grow fast when they get enough food!!

Roan
 
Danny-O said:
Ah, thanks for the heads-up on Elmer's, Roan Art. I'll shut up now. :duh:
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No one is asking you to shut up, Danny-O. Really. Just letting you know that Elmer's needs a data enema. There are a lot more places on the web with more up-to-date information than that place has.

Sorry if I offended you.

Roan
 
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