Do i have to many catfish?

calsonic · Post by **calsonic** » 12 Oct 2008, 22:28

My current setup is a 6ftx2ftx2ft tank.I do a 100l water change every week with RO.It has 2 aquis 1200(aqua one) filters and a v2 600 uv.I will be upgrading to bigger externals soon.I keep the kh between 40-50 and have a average ph of 7.2 its about 30 degrees reasonably planted with a lot of bogwood and hiding places and has been set up for 7 months with the following fish

discus x10
royal panaque x1
magnum (l047) x1
l134 x1
royal whiptail x1
bristle nose x3
leopard cactus (l144) x1
corries x 6
sunshine (l014) x1
blue phantom (l128) x1
creamspot (l201) x1

the trouble is i have had a lot of bad stocking advice from my lfs and have herd so many diffrent stocking methods my head hurts so is my current set up okay?
Thanks for any advice

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 12 Oct 2008, 23:08

It's hard to say really - it depends quite a bit on the size of the various fish - a fully grown P. nigrolineatus (18"/45cm) produces a whole lot more waste than a 6"/15 cm juvenile, just as an example.

But that aside, I personally think there are two very good methods to figure out "how many fish can I keep in the tank":
1. A non-technical approach of: Do the fish look "happy" - as in, are they active, acting normal, eating OK, growing, etc?
2. A technical approach of "does the nitrate level" stay sane. Nitrate is the stable compound formed from the ammonia produced by the fish and other breakdown of the food you add to the tank. If you have a nitrate level around 20 ppm just before you change water, then the stocking level is fine. Higher nitrate levels is likely acceptable for SOME species, but some species will start to "feel the pain" at this level of nitrate. As with many things, there are different ideas of what is "right" and "wrong" level of nitrate, but lower is certainly better.

One thing that I would make a note of is that 100 liter per week is not a whole lot on that size tank - it's about 15% per week, and I certainly change more water than that in my 60" x 20" x 24" RIO 400 tank - I'm pretty close to 50% per week in that tank - and I use RO water as well.

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Mats

calsonic · Post by **calsonic** » 12 Oct 2008, 23:35

the nitrate never goes above 20 and one pair of the discus are regularly breeding it has low phosphorus levels and i regularyly test my iron levels before i add fertiliser i have been considering a daily water change but forgot to mention that i hoover the tank daily and leave my airpump on constantly to keep the water agitated i was told my royal wouldnt get any bigger than 12 inches but im begining to think they just told me that to sell it they all feed well the discus are verry regularly fed and the catfish always look full i give them lots of veg hikari algy wafer tetra pleco tablets and nutrafin max carnivor pelets as well as muscells (i never over feed them thoe) i think they are happy i hope they are anyway i do my best for them and i intend to swap one of my filters for a pro 3 with a prefilter in the tank. thanks for the help

OldMan · Post by **OldMan** » 13 Oct 2008, 03:25

It sounds like you may not be OK forever but right mow the technical indications say you are alright. Using the other criterion, do they all seem to be thriving, only you are really in a position to judge that.

calsonic · Post by **calsonic** » 13 Oct 2008, 19:34

on paper i think im 30cm over stocked but i dont think its that much considering that i am allowed to stock 365cms of fish i am considering uping my water changes to 25 litres a day but it depends on if i can find room for the spair barrels as i can only buy it on the weekend s due to work comitments id love to have my own unit but my parrents dont want me to have one as they waste to much water

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 14 Oct 2008, 17:35

calsonic wrote:on paper i think im 30cm over stocked but i dont think its that much considering that i am allowed to stock 365cms of fish i am considering uping my water changes to 25 litres a day but it depends on if i can find room for the spair barrels as i can only buy it on the weekend s due to work comitments id love to have my own unit but my parrents dont want me to have one as they waste to much water

Yes, and of course, there is no wasted water in the shop?

I actually have plans to use the waste RO water in my "not so sensitive fish" tanks.

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Mats

Bas Pels · Post by **Bas Pels** » 14 Oct 2008, 17:56

calsonic wrote:on paper i think im 30cm over stocked

Most likely, you refer to a 1 cm/ liter rule.

The problem is, this rule applies to small fish, such as cardinal tetras - maxing at 4 cm

A discus is quite another matter - I thinkh the water 1 discus at 18 cm replaces, could hold 100 cardinals

For discus I read everywhere 50 l each - the 10 discus would thus need 500 l - and your tank only contains 648 l bruto (taking 1 foot = 30 cm, while it is, in reality, 30,5). The sand, and decoration, as well as the glass, will remouve some 30 %

So, in fact, you could only keep these 10 discus

I do realize waterchanges will have a beneficial effect, anf if done very frequently, they might even increase your tanks capicity to the double

BUT, I think your tank is guite crowded, regardless the other arguments

calsonic · Post by **calsonic** » 14 Oct 2008, 21:55

hopefully when i move in a few months then i will be able to get an 8x3x3 custom built set up and split my current set up between two set ups

Do i have to many catfish?

Do i have to many catfish?

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Re: Do i have to many catfish?

Re: Do i have to many catfish?

Re: Do i have to many catfish?

Re: Do i have to many catfish?

Re: Do i have to many catfish?

Re: Do i have to many catfish?