[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: How many fish are too much?



Jennifer Prince wrote:
>Just curious about how many fish create the 'perfect' balance in an
>aquarium.  At what point should someone look to getting another planted
>aquarium to handle the desire for a new fish?  I have a 45 gallon heavily
>planted tank with 5 white skirt tetras, 4 swordtail platties, and 6 young
>neon rainbowfish.  Is this too much?

Certainly doesn't sound like too many fish to me.  Of course, 4 platties can turn into 4000
in about six weeks or so, and that would be too many.  :)

Seriously, though, I am of the opinion that you can have a whole lot of fish in a thriving
tank.  If you have plenty of light and some CO2, the plants just can't get enough fish waste!
In my 70 gallon tank, I have:

  23(?) neon tetras (Hard to count this many when they're moving!)
  12 cherry barbs (6 homegrown! :) )
  6 assorted zebra-ish danios (2 in the breeding tank now)
  6 clown loaches
  4 SAEs
  4 dwarf african frogs
  3 kuhli loaches
  2 black neon tetras (1 homegrown! :) )
  1 congo tetra (her mate died last year :( )
  1 white cloud (the last of the first 5 fish I put in the tank :( )
  1 ancistrus

That's 59 fish and 4 frogs.  It makes for quite an active and colorful display, if a little
bit "busy."  Some of them (SAEs, clown loaches, ancistrus) are not small fish.  But
despite all these fish and all the food I pour in there for them, I still end up adding
KNO3 to keep my nitrate levels up.  YMMV.

David Ozenne
Fremont, CA

who has a big bag of java fern and riccia on his desk that he's going to donate to
the LFS.  actual shipping cost or trade anyone?