looking great....
over stocking to use them so you dont have to use ferts isnt a very good option.
When I was last involved with fish-keeping, we often had higher densities of fish than are currently suggested. My reference book, Aquarium Fishes, was written in the 1930's and suggests the number of fish I have for a FIVE GALLON tank!!! I decided to try this stocking pattern in a larger tank. The book suggests that planting is key to optimizing the numbers of fish. Frequent inspection is key here, watching the growth of plants and the behavior of fish, as well as ammonia/nitrate levels. The reason I will move 2 corys is because, for me, it LOOKS overcrowded! This is very much an experimental tank; If the fish suffer no distress and experience adequate growth, the plants grow normally and strongly, then I can safely stock up to this level. In the long run, my aim is to have a tank with minimal or no filtration, dense planting and a moderate bioload, using perhaps a 55 gallon setup. because of the speed of chemical response in a smaller volume of water, the 10 gallon is ideal experimentally (I should add that I am a PhD researcher in a Department of Biological Engineering, with a background in medicine and health science, so this is not really alien ground to me).
I love fish and will never allow them to suffer unnecessarily. However, my feeling is that fishkeeping is about balance. We learn parameters by pushing the boundaries to the point at which problems arise, then draw back and operate within those boundaries. Transfer tanks are essential to this type of experiment. As a young fishkeeper, I had never done more than eliminate chlorine from tap water and bring it to the right temperature before adding fish. My father was a successful scalare breeder in the 1960's and 70's; I learned from him that water movement and planting were key to his success, not intense filtration.
I really do agree that by modern standards, this tank seems overstocked; I am interested in why an aquarist from the 1930's can suggest a much denser population, when keepers now are filling 10g tanks with barely any plants, plus 3 or 4 fish and a few shrimps and snails.
I will post honestly about the successes and failures of this experiment and I have no strong feelings either way about the final number of fish that will thrive in a 10g planted tank - I just want to know for myself - not based on current 'beliefs' - what the number/size might be.
its very pretty but over stocked in my opinion.
