# Stocking Numbers for Fluval Flora 7.9 Gallon/30L



## NanaBeams (Feb 24, 2014)

Hi, I have an upcoming project for a planted Fluval Flora. I was just wondering if people have some stocking ideas/combinations for my tank size. The standard for communities are usually stated for 10 gallons, so I have no idea what is appropriate for a 7.9 gallon in terms of number of fish. I'd like to know what all my stocking options are mainly. 

I haven't decided on exactly what plants yet, but I will be attempting carpeting plants like DHG, GC, Glosso, etc. 

Some livestock I am interested in are shrimp, catfish and betta. I like balloon mollies, but it also says 10 gallons or higher. I don't know if I can have them in my 30L? 

I had originally wanted a betta, but it would be nice if I could fit other things in there with the betta too. 

Thanks for any info!


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## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

You definitely can't do mollies in 8 gallons. You certainly can do a betta or shrimp or both, depending on the betta. One of my bettas eats the shrimp and the rest of them don't bother the shrimp at all. You *might* be able to do a small shoal of 4 or 5 pygmy cories in there. 

Probably the best and safest bet would be a betta with either shrimp or nerite snails. 

If you want to skip the betta, you could get a few endlers or celestial pearl danios or chili rasboras or sparkling gourami or scarlet badis along with shrimp. Or you could get a dwarf/pea puffer - they are super adorable, but they need to be alone because they will chew on anything and anyone. I have one in a 5 gallon tank, and he is the cutest thing ever. I swear he just moves through the power of thought. I'll be looking into the tank, and he'll just appear in front of my eyes like he uncloaked or something.


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## NanaBeams (Feb 24, 2014)

givemethatfish said:


> If you want to skip the betta, you could get a few endlers or celestial pearl danios or chili rasboras or sparkling gourami or scarlet badis along with shrimp. Or you could get a dwarf/pea puffer - they are super adorable, but they need to be alone because they will chew on anything and anyone. I have one in a 5 gallon tank, and he is the cutest thing ever. I swear he just moves through the power of thought. I'll be looking into the tank, and he'll just appear in front of my eyes like he uncloaked or something.


Thanks for the suggestions. I quite like the scarlet badis! 

I love the pea puffer too, but I was under the impression that they need at least 10 gallons? 5 gallons seems way too small for them in contrast to the recommendations I've seen online. From what I remember, one source said 10 gallons for the first one, +5 gallons for each one after that. That's why I never considered them. However, I've also seen how people said that sources are conflicting, so I wouldn't know who to trust. xD I'd love pea puffers, but I'd probably want more than one of them in a tank, otherwise I'd still settle for a single betta and shrimp. I agree that they are super cute!


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## NanaBeams (Feb 24, 2014)

I just looked into pea puffers and some people have said 1 puffer for every 5 gallons. Hmm, interesting.


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## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

I found a forum like this one that is specifically for puffers, and they recommended 5 gallons for a single pea puffer, so I went with that. Mine seems to be doing great in his 5 gallon tank


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## shyanne (Mar 5, 2014)

I would add about 6-8 ghost shrimp(something around that;or other shrimp species), a nerite snail(they aren't as messy as other snails), and a betta. 
Along with the live plants I think that would look great!!


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## NanaBeams (Feb 24, 2014)

Heres an update on the situation. My partner has this tank and it is currently housing a betta, a few shrimp and 2 pygmy cories. The betta seems to be doing especially well with the cories. The betta doesn't eat the shrimp, but he had some other issues. At first, he had a few accidents like one shrimp died from being stuck on the prefilter, so the filter was turned down as low as possible. The other 2 shrimp died from being chased to death. The other shrimp in the tank are doing well and one is preggers. 

I want to think that the betta was just very curious when we introduced him.

The 2 cories especially like to hang around the Brazilian pennywort, so do you think it's best to have a third or fourth or fifth pygmy? He was talking about adding panda cories, but I don't think it's a good idea. I figured it's better to have all the same type of cories, but my partner seems to like slightly larger cories.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Corydoras are schooling (or at least shoaling) fish, so it is recommended that they be kept in groups of at least six individuals. Yours are probably feeling insecure because there is only two of them. 

I'm not sure of the footprint of this tank whether panda corydoras would be suitable, but I would encourage you to bump up the numbers of your pygmy corydoras school rather than add another species.


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## NanaBeams (Feb 24, 2014)

What do you mean by footprints?

Yes, I completely agree with adding more pygmys. I am just wondering exactly how many of them should be added? We were thinking of 4 in total since they are quite small, and 5-6 might be overstocked for tank size. If 5 is doable, then that would be great too. We have recently cycled at 3ppm ammonia, so the bioload itself isn't an issue, but the fluval flora is tall, rather than wide tank, so there isn't as much floor area.

It is just very confusing, because everyone will say different things.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

The footprint is basically the floor area of your tank. A tall, narrow tank is going to have less of a footprint than a longer, wider tank. 

Because fish prefer to swim horizontally as opposed to vertically, you can sometimes be restricted for stocking choices in taller tanks as there isn't the space for particularly active species to move around in. 

If you feel more comfortable with four, that would be better for your corydoras than just having the two of them. I've not seen this tank in person, so not sure how much swimming space the corydoras would have.


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## rpadgett37 (Jan 1, 2014)

From what I've read, a tank with an 18" x 10" footprint is a good starting place for Pygmy Cories.


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## sumrak555 (Mar 11, 2020)

NanaBeams said:


> Thanks for the suggestions. I quite like the scarlet badis!
> 
> I love the pea puffer too, but I was under the impression that they need at least 10 gallons? 5 gallons seems way too small for them in contrast to the recommendations I've seen online. From what I remember, one source said 10 gallons for the first one, +5 gallons for each one after that. That's why I never considered them. However, I've also seen how people said that sources are conflicting, so I wouldn't know who to trust. xD I'd love pea puffers, but I'd probably want more than one of them in a tank, otherwise I'd still settle for a single betta and shrimp. I agree that they are super cute!


bro 10 gallons is a lot
believe me)


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Closed per Rule #12.


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