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Fish Levels

Tom Raffield

Member
Joined
18 Apr 2017
Messages
175
Location
Coulsdon, UK
So my tank is coming along quite nicely since my strip down and rebuild (Tank Reborn) and I had started looking at adding to the tank inhabitants.

Prior to purchasing new fish I had:
12 Pentazona Barbs
3 Cherry Barbs
2 old neons
3 nerite snails
1 bulldog plec
Approx 10 ottos
Approx 15 Amano shrimp

I went to a slightly farther afield fish shop as I knew they had far more banks of fish to choose from. I didn't really go with a plan but whilst looking around the array of amazing fish, the simplest of fish caught my eye: Ember Tetras. They were in a large group and were just so active and tight within their group and also inhabited the mid to high part of the tank. Ideal. So I purchased 12 of the Embers and they are now looking great in the tank. They are so small that they make everything else look huge which is a nice impact and contrast.

I've never had a 'lot' of fish in my 260l but since adding the Embers I am keen to expand their shoal perhaps. I imagine they will look even better in a larger group of 20+.

The question is, could my tank handle another 12 Embers? I don't want to overload the tank in terms of fish mass and the increased feeding that would be required. I want to keep my tank low maintenance to go with my low tech plants and don't want the fish mass to force me to do more frequent maintenance or water changes.

What do you think? Can my tank handle the extra fish to create a bigger Ember shoal without having a knock on effect on other things?
 
With an FX4 and regular large, ( weekly 50% ) partial water change you should be okay, give it a couple of weeks though before adding any more.
 
I agree with Melll, ember tetra don't make much of a bioload so a group of 20 plus your other fish should be fine and for lots of people still lightly stocked.
 
Thanks @Melll and @mort. I've never been one to stock a tank to capacity or even close in most cases. But the embers looked so good together and will really add something. Will wait a while before going for the extra embers to see how things go.
 
I prefer low stocked as well but with some species you really don't get the best out of them until you have a really large group. It's why I tend to have more of the same but less species.
 
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