Your current Fish tank Setups!

Soldato
Joined
24 Dec 2011
Posts
4,735
Please can you tell me if my GF's stank is overstocked,

Fluval 240 litre aquarium

Currently changing 20/25% water bi-weekly.


Fish


11 Black Neon Tetra
13 Rummy Nose Tetra
5 Roberts Rose Tetra
5 Neon Tetra
5 Cory
2 Pleco
1 Harlequin

= 42 Fish

Personally I think she is at her limit but she keeps wanting to add more, can she get away with adding anymore?


What filter is she using? If shes using the 306 your at the limit for that filters capability really. If you upgraded filter you can squeeze about 10 more fish out roughly. But yeah your close to limits
 
Associate
Joined
5 Sep 2008
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1,423
Location
Karazhan
aye i concur i put that stock info into aqadvisor and it says using a fluval 306.

Warning: You should add more aquarium filtration capacity , not massivley over it's capability but think it said 88 % should be aiming for 100% plus
 
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Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2003
Posts
14,189
I wouldn't take too much stock in aqadvisor filter capacities, they are incredibly cautious. It's an alright indicator but if you go over 100% the tank isn't going to suddenly crash and it completely fails to take into account all of the surface area in the tank its self or anything like plants.

E.g. 200 Litre tank bare bottom with a fluval 306 and a 200 litre tank, 1-2" of substrate like aqua soil, fully planted and a fluval 306 filter = the same result on aqadvisor..... They are clearly not the same.

I'm not saying ignore it but I am just saying you need to apply some common sense to the equation. Assuming the Fluval 306 is full of media in it then it should be fine if you add a few more small tetra type fish similar to what you already have.

Just think when you see a old school fish store running small holding tanks crammed with fish on 1 or 2 small sponge filters. They aren't using any voodoo to achieve that, its just most people overestimate how much surface area is actually needed and under estimate how much is already in the tank.

I should also add that there is zero actual scientific research published about how much surface area is needed per type of fish or per gram of dried food. Pretty much all we have to go on is marketing and what hobbyists have been conditioned to think over time.

There are just so many variables to take into account (how much food, how often, type of food, tank decor, how much substrate, type of substrate, how many plants, the type of plants, how much light those plants get, how much ferts those plants get, use of carbon), I could go on but you get the point.

Aqadviser is just one persons opinion and isn't actually backed up by any research. Most people over spec there filter and are extremely cautious in this regard but its almost all down to how hobbyists have been conditioned and marketing.

Edit:
According to aqadvisor I only have 66% of the required filter capacity, not a brag.... just saying.
 
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Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2006
Posts
23,349
Problem is with a filter which is only just enough is if something dies and you don't notice right away it will likely cause a huge ammonia spike. A big filter might be able to deal with it and will be generally more stable. Also leaving headroom for if the fish decide to make more fish (which will happen with fish like guppies).

1 Harlequin

Rasboras need to be kept in schools :)
 
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Associate
Joined
8 Mar 2013
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Location
Chiang Mai
I think a lot of people understock because we all go on holiday for 2 or 3 weeks of the year aswell. I do the regular water change every week but 3 weeks without a water change is probably pushing it a bit. I wouldnt want to wait 3 weeks with an overstocked tank. different situations for diffent people but it's a big influence for me.
 
Associate
Joined
8 Mar 2013
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Location
Chiang Mai
Feeling an itch. Think I might have caught MTS. If all goes well with the new Betta I have arriving next weekend I think im going to change my backup hospital tank to Scarlet Badis/ shrimp tank. Lfs had some amazing SB's and now i want one. It will literally be one as the tanks only 25L and I dont want to deal with any fighting and competing for food
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Feb 2014
Posts
2,673
I have decided to sump my Juwel rio 400.
The factory stand isn't really suitable for running a sump, so I decided to build my own.

I have built the stand using 18mm ply top and base, and 18mm ply sides.
I have also installed a 12mm sheet of ply at the back to prevent twisting of the cabinet.
Then for load bearing I have used 4 x 3x2 timber width ways under the top, all resting on 3x2 timber legs. (so 8 legs in total)

I have tried to look on line to find out load bearing capacity for timber and am falling short.
I am confident that my stand is far stronger than the original one, but as its half a ton of weight I wanted to be sure before filling the tank back up.
pretty sure a 3x2 timber can carry 100KG with ease so I should be good to go really.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Feb 2014
Posts
2,673
Good stuff :)

Those overflow boxes are a disaster waiting to happen...
Don't think I could trust it, can go wrong too quickly.
I run a constant drip water change system, and the water gets taken out by means of siphon, if the siphon breaks for any reason it takes ages for the tank to fill up (overflow) and i start to notice the black bars in the water to indicate something is wrong, hasn't happened for a good while now though.

That said, I have also had wharf drill my sump so that I don't need to rely on a siphon any more. :)
 
Associate
Joined
4 Jul 2008
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1,997
Location
London
My shrimp are breeding :D

Started off with three red fire shrimp, and I've just seen three small fry in the tank when doing a water change!

Taken maybe around four weeks for them to breed, so I'm hoping a have nice little community of shrimp over the next few months.
 
Associate
Joined
30 Aug 2018
Posts
2,483
Please can you tell me if my GF's stank is overstocked,

Fluval 240 litre aquarium

Currently changing 20/25% water bi-weekly.


Fish


11 Black Neon Tetra
13 Rummy Nose Tetra
5 Roberts Rose Tetra
5 Neon Tetra
5 Cory
2 Pleco
1 Harlequin

= 42 Fish

Personally I think she is at her limit but she keeps wanting to add more, can she get away with adding anymore?
That's a spacious stank shes got :eek:
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Mar 2004
Posts
3,182
Location
Oxford
Don't think I could trust it, can go wrong too quickly.
I run a constant drip water change system, and the water gets taken out by means of siphon, if the siphon breaks for any reason it takes ages for the tank to fill up (overflow) and i start to notice the black bars in the water to indicate something is wrong, hasn't happened for a good while now though.

That said, I have also had wharf drill my sump so that I don't need to rely on a siphon any more. :)
What fish are you keeping ?
 
Caporegime
Joined
19 Apr 2008
Posts
26,265
Location
Essex
This is my modest setup, didn't really soak the wood well enough before putting it in so had to do a big water change and soaked it for a week. Live and learn. Not enough light for live plants, although I have some marimo balls soaking ready to throw in there.

Ready for fish now, going to get 6 Platy and a couple more shrimp and see how the water does. It's only 5 gallon but the filter is huge and the pump circulates a lot of water even at it's lowest setting. If the shrimp alone can't deal with any algae, I might get a nerite snail as well. Platy seem to enjoy moving water, so hopefully they'll enjoy it.

FILJtur.png
 
Associate
Joined
8 Mar 2013
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1,824
Location
Chiang Mai
I've had a frustraing weekend. The Betta I've been waiting 2 months for from thailand has been caught up in a royal mail screw up. It was supposed to arive guaranteed next day before 1pm on saturday but hasnt. All royal mail customer services shut at 1pm so I had to wait till today to be told its still somewhere in their big Swindon sorting depot. Hopefully it arrives okay tomorrow or im driving to swindon to get it!

To deal with my frustration i went out and stocked my little 25L nano tank. pictures to follow, very happy with it.

edit. link
http://imgur.com/gallery/32VWtL3
 
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