Over stocked?

[DanMac]

I have 6 ember tetras and have recently added 6 blue tetras to my 54 liter tank, The tank is 24" long.

I also have 3 small shrimp and good filtration, It seems fine to me but im only asking because the blue tetras look pretty active, My tank is iwagumi style without a carpet so there is a lot of space.

What does everyone think, Am i okay or is it pushing it?

Also my hairgrass at the back of my tank gets a lot of crap stuck to it. is there a technique to prevent it or remove it?

Cheers.

 

[ceg4048]

Yes, the technique is called "do more water changes". That will address both concerns.

Cheers,

 

[sanj]

I would consider that stocking ok in a well maintained tank.

 

[Spnl]

You are nowhere near to pushing it, assuming you do have good filtration.
Have a look at this link Stocking levels
The old guides of 1 inch fish per 12sq inches surface area or I inch per gallon are antiquated with modern filtration systems (just think of a cichlid tank!).
In modern lab facilities breeding zebra fish a stocking rate of 5 fish per litre is the norm, with good filtration and regular water dumps.
But a planted tank with 10x turnover through an ext filter and 50% water change /wk is not far off.
So in the 21st century I think the reality is that stocking limit is set by aesthetics, 5 fish per litre would look horrendous.
The catch is, as you increase stocking level the margin for error gets smaller, and hygiene, filters and water changes need to be tip top.

 

[justissaayman]

Agree with Spnl, also for faster swimming fish a longer tank is normally recommended.

 

[DanMac]

Agree with Spnl, also for faster swimming fish a longer tank is normally recommended.

Yeah they are quite fast and thats the reason i asked on here, i did a bit of research on them yesterday and one website said they should be in a tank thats atleast 3 foot long but im guessing my 2 foot long tank will be ok. I also do a 30-40% water change every week, my tank is lightly planted so im guessing thats ok?

 

[justissaayman]

They would do fine, my Tetra are less active in the shorter tank though.

 

[Andy Thurston]

Just put this into a stocking calculator on think fish and with correct filtration and maintenance you could keep a maximum of 97cms worth of fish in there.

 

[Ady34]

Hi,
I'd have thought the embers alone would be plenty for a 54 litre tank, but perhaps a few more smaller fish would be ok. Blue tetras get to 5cm each, and are active fish, I would personally consider moving them back to the shop and choosing something less active and smaller, maybe adding to the embers and adding to the shrimp collection Too many fish can make an aquascape look cluttered and add to waste which needs removing from your carpet, sometimes less is more!
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[justissaayman]

Add more embers m8.

 

[DanMac]

Arghhh now i dont know what to do lol, My tank is pretty bare so they have a decent amount of space to move around, I really like these blue tetras and would love to keep them, if they get quite a bit bigger then i will take them back but surely i can leave them for now atleast?.

 

[justissaayman]

Dan I have had my cardinals for a long time, from a BiOrb 30 to a BiOrb 60 and now in a AR620 and from tank to tank they have actually gotten bigger and more colourful. You could keep them in there for a little whilst but they wont be as active or get as big as quickly.

 

[DanMac]

Cheers for all the responses, I think i may get rid of the blue tetras soonish, might replace them with four more ember tetras and another shrimp.

Sound like a good idea to everyone?

 

[sanj]

I think you probably want to consider what you aim is. If like in Ady's response your focus is aquascaping, then yes generally stocking tends to be on the lower end of moderate, very aesthetic driven, one to three species perhaps.

If it is about the fish then, you can stock heavier, in terms of your system and easily cope with a higher bioload. I am just thinking about what I do, its about fish, maintaing rare populations, but a planted envrionment is also a high priority. The aesthetic is modified in my case by using jungle themes, I feel they complement a highly populated tank better.

 

[DanMac]

Yeah i have always said that i wanted 2 small species max and wanted a low number of fish since my tank is an aquascape, the blue tetras are quite active and will get bigger so im most likely going to replace the 6 of them with 4 more embers.

My embers do move around the tank but stay at one side of the tank most of the time, im guessing they will be a bit more comfortable and cover the tank better if they are the only species of fish?

 

[Andy Thurston]

I have 5 embers, 4 ottos and 4 armano shrimp in my 35l and it does'nt look busy. So 10-15 embers and a few small shrimp will look good. As with any schooling fish more is better because they feel more secure in larger numbers and are more likely to behave naturally

 

[DanMac]

Sounds good, if i end up getting rid of the blue tetras i'll replace them with 6 embers and have 12 in total then.