Binklebonk Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Ok so I'm a complete noob but I'm doing my best to make sure I learn as much as I can. I have a 29L tank (51cmX21x30) and it contains one male betta, six black phantom tetras and an oto. When stocking my tank I looked into water quality, nitrogen cycle, appropriate food etc. I knew it was easy to overstock a tank so I was careful to only put a few fish in. I looked on AqAdvisor and I think I'm "over stocked" though I'm not sure how it works. Yes my tank is 29l but the filter turnover is 200l/hr. AqAdvisor says I'm not overstocked in terms of filtration, but it says that my tank size isn't appropriate for a tetras as they grow to 5cms. Surely a 51cm long tank can accomodate a 5cm fish? Also I have only one Oto (reccomended by LFS, but I later discovered they need buddies!). I want him to be happy - do I rehome him or do I risk further overstocking by getting him friends? I'm more than happy to do regular water changes. There is currently no ammonia reading in the tank and nitrates below 20ppm with twice weekly water changes (about 30%ish change) Can anyone give me a quick lesson on stocking? Anyone in Christchurch want a free Oto if I can't safely give him buddies? I do love the wee oto though... I say 'he' but I have no idea and it's actually called Julia ETA: Not sure if it's important but I forgot to mention I have a bubble maker pump thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoFishing Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 2 Oto's are fine in my experience. I have one small tank with 2 and they seem to follow each other around. I have a larger tank with 8 of them, and I've never seen any more than two at a time anyhow, so that's why I reckon 2 is fine and that shouldn't overload your system. They are only small after all. Just keep up with the water changes, and keep checking your Nitrate levels. By checking the Nitrate levels you will be able to figure out by trial and error how much water to change and how often. ie; if you change 25% water once a week and your nitrate level keeps building up, you can try changing the water twice a week to see if that helps. My guess why the advisor says the tank is too small for the phantoms is probably more because they are fast and like lots of space to swim freely. I wouldn't worry to much about it though until they get bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 I agree that AqAdvisor is saying that because of the phantom tetras. Once they get bigger your poor fighter won't have a hope in the same tank as them. Tetra are lively, fighters like solitary and peace. Two oto would be fine. Stocking is a lot about the surface area of the tank and the size of the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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