# Can I fit more fish in my tank?



## taquitos (Jun 27, 2013)

Hello all! It's been a while!

Just had a quick question regarding stocking.

Currently my heavily planted 10 gallon houses the following:
- 20+ RCS (no idea on actual count...)
- 8 Pygmy Corydoras
- 3 Otocinclus

Do you think I could get away with fitting a group of nano fish, like celestial pearl danios or mosquito rasboras?

Thank you!


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

http://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php?...AqSpeciesWindowSize=short&AqSearchMode=simple you're pretty much stocked, even 4 danios would put you over your tank'a limit, so unless you wanna upgrade to a 20g I wouldn't add anything else.


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## taquitos (Jun 27, 2013)

Bikeridinguckgirl14 said:


> http://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php?...AqSpeciesWindowSize=short&AqSearchMode=simple you're pretty much stocked, even 4 danios would put you over your tank'a limit, so unless you wanna upgrade to a 20g I wouldn't add anything else.


Yeah I should have mentioned that I tried AqAdvisor but I've always been told that it is very conservative.


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

It is conservative but useful, if I put in 4 danios your tank goes from 90% to 160% stocked, so you really shouldn't add more than 2 more danios. Now if you were willing to remove 10-15 cherry shrimp then 4 danios might work but that's not really a compromise worth making I think


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## taquitos (Jun 27, 2013)

Bikeridinguckgirl14 said:


> It is conservative but useful, if I put in 4 danios your tank goes from 90% to 160% stocked, so you really shouldn't add more than 2 more danios. Now if you were willing to remove 10-15 cherry shrimp then 4 danios might work but that's not really a compromise worth making I think


Weird I added 6 celestial pearl danios and stocking level was at 108%?

I am only looking into nano fish. Not interested in larger schooling fish.


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

Ooh that might be my issue, if the schooling fish you wanna add get to be less than an inch you might be able to add up to 10 but if they get to be two inches (what I think when I read danios) then no more than 2-3


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## taquitos (Jun 27, 2013)

Just an update!

I decided against adding more fish. I would rather be understocked than at max capacity.


That and my friend was recently mentioning how her blue shrimplets were being eaten by her endlers and I would rather not have the babies be eaten lol


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I agree on that aqadvisor is very conservative, even more so if you have live plants. Each tank has a balance and you need to fiddle around to find where it sits best at as you balance out stock, plants, ferts, feeding, lighting, and aeration among other things. Here's what my 29 gallon tank looks like when put into aqadvisor lol, it yelled at me terribly!










AQadvisor's full stock is around 150% so mine is close, it's not actually 157% because some of those fish are babies and I didn't put them in as babies, just adults. The Angel, Pearl, and BN will be moved out when I get my bigger tank up though so it's not permenant.

Would I suggest this sort of stocking to a random beginner? No, but if you have live plants and good filtration then you can stock more than 100% on aqadvisor. I'm running out of space in that tank purely for territorial reasons but the plants take care of all the fish poo and left over food, though there is hardly any leftover foods haha.

Here's a list of small fish you could add that aren't strictly shoalers:
Dario Dario (Scarlet badis)
Dario Hysginon
Gertudae Rainbowfish
Bumblebee Goby
Sparkling Gouramis (a single or a trio is great)
Honey Gourami (single or trio)
Cherry Barbs (trio, 1M:2F)

I'm sure there are plenty more but that's all I can think of at the moment.


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## Bessie (Sep 13, 2014)

Bumblebee Goby's are a terrible recommendation for a tank with shrimp. The shrimp will be obliterated. Even one honey gourami would be overstocking the tank nevermind a trio.

The Badis, sparkling gourami and cherry barbs are a better recommendation, that being said - although cherry barbs will live in a trio they won't exactly be happy about it.



lilnaugrim said:


> Here's a list of small fish you could add that aren't strictly shoalers:
> Dario Dario (Scarlet badis)
> Dario Hysginon
> Gertudae Rainbowfish
> ...


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I've had a Bumblebee in with shrimp before, never heard them killing shrimp before. Perhaps mine was just a strange Goby then.

Honey's have a small bio-load compared to schooler fish, if the fish keeper has enough plants, it can be done. They aren't as active as pygmies (which I tend to suggest a 20+ tank because those are actually active) and would do fine in addition.

Again, all my suggestions are for planted tanks as I went through previously.


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## Bessie (Sep 13, 2014)

Overstocking isn't just about bioload (a decent filter can deal with overstocking anyway) but it's also considering over crowding and taking into account natural behaviour - they might not be particularly active but can certainly be stressed by overcrowding. I disagree, they're not a good addition for that 10 gallon. 

Can't comment on why your bumblebee's didn't hunt the shrimp, but they are entirely predatory by nature.


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## taquitos (Jun 27, 2013)

Well I haven't added anything in the tank. Honestly I am being overrun by my RCS at the moment LOL they're having babies left and right.. My current focus is actually on redoing my 4 gallon which I have had to tear down. Had a major algae problem. I suspect my lights are too strong and my DHG just was not doing well in it for some reason...

And like I said, only interested in nano fish ^_^


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