I currently have 5 zebra danios and 3 platies in my 29 gallon cycled tank, my water is soft, my ph is 7.2, my temperature is 75. I am thinking about adding 5 black emperor tetras and 5 black Kuhli Loaches. Is this an okay stock and would this be the limit to my stocking? I do have sand substrate for the loaches.
Stocking question
- Thread starter Maxsfish
- Start date
Like I said in your other thread, get 8 or even 10 kuhlis. They might be 3 or 4 inch fish but they have "bioload" is of fish half that size & they're more fun in larger schools. I'd wait to add emperors, they get 2.5 - 3 inches & this thing of stocking to the "minimum" of an acceptable school is not the best way to enjoy your fishes' behavior.
Since kuhlis have been on your must have list from the beginning, get them next. Get all at once, they're bottom fish for the most part (outside of "dancing"). Then decide if you want more danios or platys...or another species like emperors. 5 of those will definitely max out your tank's capacity IMO & they can be a bit more unforgiving in less than really good water quality.
Get a grip on tank maintenance, feeding, plants & water parameters before you go with heavy stocking. I, & many of us old timers, tend to go with a lighter fish load; it can be done, but requires a lot more attention & work (or should). This aspect of our hobby is 1 of the most difficult to master, go slow!
Since kuhlis have been on your must have list from the beginning, get them next. Get all at once, they're bottom fish for the most part (outside of "dancing"). Then decide if you want more danios or platys...or another species like emperors. 5 of those will definitely max out your tank's capacity IMO & they can be a bit more unforgiving in less than really good water quality.
Get a grip on tank maintenance, feeding, plants & water parameters before you go with heavy stocking. I, & many of us old timers, tend to go with a lighter fish load; it can be done, but requires a lot more attention & work (or should). This aspect of our hobby is 1 of the most difficult to master, go slow!
So unrelated to the original post. I had one of the danios die 2 days ago, I checked the water parameters and they were all normal 0 ppm ammonia 0ppm nitrite and 10 ppm nitrate. Today I had another danio die, the ammonia did spike to around 0.75 ppm, I’m pretty sure due to the dead danios decaying as I found him in the morning and have no idea how long he had been there overnight. The first danio has looked pretty skinny and I think maybe didn’t handle the acclimation well, but I can’t figure out what happened to this secound danio as it looked normal. The rest of the fish all look normal, swimming normally, eating, no gasping or staying at the top of the tank and no marks weird fins or red gills. The ph is still 7.2 and the temp is 75. The plants all look fine as well. The first died 2 days after acclimation and this one died 4 days after acclimation. I acclimated them by floating the bag for an hour and a half, adding tank water every 15 minutes and then netting them out of the bag. They are the glo danio variety. Is it possible they were simply too stressed out from acclimation or have I done something to mess up the tank in some way.
In my brief experience with 'glow' danios, they did not live long.
Only one out of the five made it past 6 months.
I suspect these genetically altered fish are not very hardy.
Only one out of the five made it past 6 months.
I suspect these genetically altered fish are not very hardy.
Okay thank you, I talked to one of the workers at the store I got them from and he said they had actually just gotten in a shipment of them so they had only been in the store for two hours before I got them. So they were probably very stressed out. But I don’t think I will be getting anymore, if the 3 I have left survive I may just get regular zebras to school with them, if they will?
Yes, "glow" danios are almost the "same" as regular zebra danios & also leopard danios. There's a very slight difference, but all are very highly selected & IMO, overbred. There's also long finned of (maybe) all 3. Yes, they'll school together...but none will likely live more than 2-5 years at most. Inbreeding often leads to genetic weakness; but also different color, fin & body shapes. I tend to prefer fish close to their wild forms most times. I do have leopard danios I was given a couple years ago in my "river" tank. They're dying off faster than I'd hoped, I won't be adding to them.
