Stocking Check?

[Mercfh]

So I know stocking is kind of a hard thing to determine, but I wanted to post my current stocking for my 29g and my 55g (Both planted pretty well) to make sure no-one thought anything was out of whack (I'll post aqadvisor % next to it as well, which I know is kind of conservative). Filtration for both is plenty

29G: (Aquaclear 50 + Coop Med Sponge filter)

• 6 Fancy Guppies
• 8 Ember tetras (I think, they are really small orange/red tetras smaller than Neon tetras)
• 10+ or so shrimp
• 6 Peppered Corys
• 1 Clown Pleco
• 2 Neritie Snails
• a bazillion bladder snails

AqAdvisor - Says 106% (Which feels about right, I hit 40-50ish nitrates after about a week and a half or two. 

55G: (Fluval 407 + Coop Large Sponge Filter)

• 5 Kuhli's 
• 3 Neon Tetras (Had 6 but lost some)
• 7 Serpae Tetras
• 2 Mystery Snails
• 2 Nerite Snails
• 6 Bronze Cory's
• 1 Spotted Raphael Catfish
• 1 Striped Raphael Catfish

AqAvisor - Says 105% (This feels right, but there are some ones I'd like to sort of  "add to" to feel fuller. Specifically the Corys and Tetras). But I don't want to go crazy overstocking. 

 

I know AqAdvisor can be conservative. But does anyone have opinions on what I could add to either IF any, or if they feel overstocked or?

Personally I think the 29g is probably maxed out, but it stays pretty clean TBH. I feel like I could add shrimp without affecting anything.

My 55g feels kinda "empty" IMO. As in the Raphaels sleep most of the day and the tetras don't take up much room (Neither do the kuhli's). But again....don't want to max things out.

Thanks!

 

[Tony s]

One of the things to keep in mind when stocking is the activity level of your fish. Your 55 feels empty because most of your fish are bottom dwellers. If you’re up to a bit of additional water changes, you can definitely add more visible fish. Maybe something bigger? And more visible. How about an angelfish or 2. Or a school of rainbow fish. Boesemani or praecox. Could do a dwarf gourami. If you think you could handle it biologically. You have lots of swimming space left. I wouldn’t be concerned to take it to 120 - 130 % 

could do 2 angels and a dwarf gourami. Lots of combos. Aqadvisor is the place to play. 😀

[Scapexghost]

I think you could double everything and be ok tbh. Not saying you should, but you have some room

[Tony s]

On 2/8/2024 at 10:33 PM, Scapexghost said:

I think you could double everything and be ok tbh

Oh yes, they could, my thought is they need a showpiece. Something big and flashy 

[Mercfh]

On 2/8/2024 at 10:33 PM, Scapexghost said:

I think you could double everything and be ok tbh. Not saying you should, but you have some room

@Scapexghost On Both tanks? See that's kinda how I felt (Not double.....but the 55g especially seems not very stocked).

I mean I see people talk about keeping 20-30 tetras in a 20 gallon and yeah the serpae tetras are larger....but overall the tank isn't very crowded at all. Especially since the kuhli's hide a lot (and have basically negligible bioload). The Raphaels are large.....but also hide a lot during the day too.

So I guess AqAdvisor feels just SUPER conservative in this case, but being new I don't want to overload it.

Also I guess I don't really care for "big showpiece fish" as I'd rather have more smaller fish personally. My catfish are kinda my showpieces (even if they only show their faces at night haha)

Edited February 9 by Mercfh

[Scapexghost]

On 2/9/2024 at 8:12 AM, Mercfh said:

@Scapexghost On Both tanks? See that's kinda how I felt (Not double.....but the 55g especially seems not very stocked).

I mean I see people talk about keeping 20-30 tetras in a 20 gallon and yeah the serpae tetras are larger....but overall the tank isn't very crowded at all. Especially since the kuhli's hide a lot (and have basically negligible bioload). The Raphaels are large.....but also hide a lot during the day too.

So I guess AqAdvisor feels just SUPER conservative in this case, but being new I don't want to overload it.

Also I guess I don't really care for "big showpiece fish" as I'd rather have more smaller fish personally. My catfish are kinda my showpieces (even if they only show their faces at night haha)

Aqadvisor is kinda weird, it uses a logarithimic scale, which in it self is rather confusing but i see no reason why to use it. Even aqadvisor knows its really conservative, like itll say 110% but also that its totally fine. 

Stocking is mostly a judgement call. There is no good rule. Like in your 29 it seems like you have a lot, but its mostly catfish and inverts, you have only 12 tiny fish in the open water. I think your tetra would be happier with 20 new friends. 

[Tony s]

You’re really not going to overload it. It may take a bit more maintenance. That’s all. Not a big deal. Large schools of little fish are great. Only suggested the angel to add a lot of visual appeal while adding a little bio load. For little fish, how about green neons. Or for a tight school, brilliant green rasboras.  For just a few small fish with big impact and little bio load, 3 honey gourami. If you go from changing 10 gallons per week to 20 gallons per week are you really going to notice the difference?

You really can use the 1 inch per gallon as a base. Where it doesn’t work is for the larger fish or the fish that are crazy rapid swimmers that need a lot of room. An Oscar gets to 8plus inches. Can’t put that in a ten-gallon tank. Or roseline sharks that zip back and forth all day. 

Edited February 9 by Tony s

[Tony s]

There is another way to go about this too. you could triple the size of your cory herd.  Corys act completely different when put in large schools.   They get really goofy and funny                                                                                                

Edited February 9 by Tony s

[Whitecloud09]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:02 PM, Tony s said:

You’re really not going to overload it. It may take a bit more maintenance. That’s all. Not a big deal. Large schools of little fish are great. Only suggested the angel to add a lot of visual appeal while adding a little bio load. For little fish, how about green neons. Or for a tight school, brilliant green rasboras.  For just a few small fish with big impact and little bio load, 3 honey gourami. If you go from changing 10 gallons per week to 20 gallons per week are you really going to notice the difference?

You really can use the 1 inch per gallon as a base. Where it doesn’t work is for the larger fish or the fish that are crazy rapid swimmers that need a lot of room. An Oscar gets to 8plus inches. Can’t put that in a ten-gallon tank. Or roseline sharks that zip back and forth all day. 

Yeah, you def won’t overload the 55. But the 29 seems fine IMO. Idk if u wanna add more to the 29g but like @Tony s said, a lil bit higher maintenance and making sure ammonia is 0 u will be just fine. No expert here, but have read a lot on stocking because trying to figure how many minnows I will put in my10 gallon I have

On 2/9/2024 at 12:29 PM, Tony s said:

There is another way to go about this too. you could triple the size of your cory herd.  Corys act completely different when put in large schools.   They get really goofy and funny                                                                                                

Ya I have heard that but I don’t have a big enough tank I think for those sadly. I love them though!

[Mercfh]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:29 PM, Tony s said:

There is another way to go about this too. you could triple the size of your cory herd.  Corys act completely different when put in large schools.   They get really goofy and funny                                                                                                

Yeah getting more corys was going to be probably my next approach. Since they are so active and just fun!

Weirdly enough one of the corys will swim with my tetras lol

[Whitecloud09]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:42 PM, Mercfh said:

Yeah getting more corys was going to be probably my next approach. Since they are so active and just fun!

Weirdly enough one of the corys will swim with my tetras lol

I love corys because the way they look mainly but great and awesome fish for sure!!

[Tony s]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:34 PM, Bigdog99 said:

Ya I have heard that but I don’t have a big enough tank I think for those sadly. I love them though

I have a bit of an overstocked 10, but i have 5 panda cories in it

[Whitecloud09]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:47 PM, Tony s said:

I have a bit of an overstocked 10, but i have 5 panda cories in it

Oh wow! That’s crazy. I am going to get my WCMMs today so I will post some pics for you!!! So excited 

[Tony s]

in my oldest tank. 5 panda cories, 1 betta, 1 honey gourami, 3 neon tetras, 2 otocinclus, 2 mystery snails

the pandas and the otos are the originals.

the betta and gourami are not supposed to work together, they ignore each other.

had 6 otos but they have been fading away over time.

tried for a group of 10 neons. have trouble keeping them. long term is fine if they make it past 3 months, which most don't

i have mystery snails in al 14 tanks

 

Edited February 9 by Tony s

[Whitecloud09]

On 2/9/2024 at 1:04 PM, Tony s said:

in my oldest tank. 5 panda cories, 1 betta, 1 honey gourami, 3 neon tetras, 2 otocinclus, 2 mystery snails

the pandas and the otos are the originals.

the betta and gourami are not supposed to work together, they ignore each other.

had 6 otos but they have been fading away over time.

tried for a group of 10 neons. have trouble keeping them. long term is fine if they make it past 3 months, which most don't

i have mystery snails in al 14 tanks

 

Wow. 14 is a lot! Cool!

[Tony s]

Most of these fish are tiny. The pandas are small for corys. Probably 11/2 long. Otos produce little bio load. They’ve been together for almost 2 years now. Algae doesn’t really grow much in this tank.so it’s relatively balanced. Just requires a bit more water moved out. This is a learning tank. Still has blue gravel (my wife and daughter picked) and 1 fake plant arch. Old anubias, with long rhizomes. Java fern and small sword. Not really any fast fish, or very large fish. So it’s all good. 
 

Next 10g. same age, 2.5 years old. 1betta, 10 harlequin Rasbora. 2 mystery snails. Same blue gravel. Lightly planted. Absolutely no algae, I have to feed the snails or I lose them. Fake rock arches and a stacked cube thing.

 

so the worry about overstocking is real, but honestly it just takes a tiny bit of extra work, and constant paying attention. Most african cichlid tanks have to be overstocked, it spreads out the aggression. And they can’t be planted. It just requires a bit more work.

[Whitecloud09]

On 2/9/2024 at 4:25 PM, Tony s said:

Most of these fish are tiny. The pandas are small for corys. Probably 11/2 long. Otos produce little bio load. They’ve been together for almost 2 years now. Algae doesn’t really grow much in this tank.so it’s relatively balanced. Just requires a bit more water moved out. This is a learning tank. Still has blue gravel (my wife and daughter picked) and 1 fake plant arch. Old anubias, with long rhizomes. Java fern and small sword. Not really any fast fish, or very large fish. So it’s all good. 
 

Next 10g. same age, 2.5 years old. 1betta, 10 harlequin Rasbora. 2 mystery snails. Same blue gravel. Lightly planted. Absolutely no algae, I have to feed the snails or I lose them. Fake rock arches and a stacked cube thing.

 

so the worry about overstocking is real, but honestly it just takes a tiny bit of extra work, and constant paying attention. Most african cichlid tanks have to be overstocked, it spreads out the aggression. And they can’t be planted. It just requires a bit more work.

Yeah nice. Never heard of panda corys… I just put my WCMMs in the tank and I am leaving the light off currently. I got 6 small ones from petsmart!!! I already acclimated them and they are happy!! Thanks for everything @Tony s. Others helped too!