How do you work out fish numbers?

[me love fishy]

Hiya

I have got a new tank which is 120cmx70cmx35cm(already have a small 60L which I have had for 3 years). I have had my new tank set up for two weeks with heater, filter, lights, plants and decorations and have added stress zyme about 3 times over this period and will add more today and do a partial water change. I think its time to start adding a few fish to help with the cycling. I want to put tropicals in and already have tropical fish in my small tank, so I am familiar with a few of the smaller varieties.

What I would like to know is how to work out how many fish to put in my tank I know it has something to do with surface area but can't remember how to work it out. I would also like to know if a couple of golden gouramis or angelfish would be hardy enough to cope with being the first fish to help with the cycling process?

[dan_from_nz]

I would sugest adding fish from your other tank, the reason being normally mature fish are hardier than young fish and Pet store have fish that have already been stressed a little by being imported then courierd overnight so would not be as hardy as fish that are nice and calm already in your tank

Good luck,

Daniel

[me love fishy]

thanks for the advice Dan, but I already went out today and bought a couple of golden gouramis, the lfs said they are reasonably hardy so we'll see. If they die then I think I will wait a little and then go with your suggestion Dan.

I looked in a book to work out the ratio of fish to litres and it suggested 1 cm of fish to 1 litre of water, so at least that gives me a guideline and anyone else out there who is also wondering.

Cheers and happy fishing

[suphew]

Well done for waiting, we all know how tempting it is to put fish into a new tank.

[Caryl]

Litres per fish is not particularly accurate as a lot depends on the size of each fish, filtration and maintenance routine. A lot of little fish will produce less waste than one large chunky cichlid or similar.

A well filtered tank can sustain a much larger stocking level than one with less or no filtration.

A regular 10 - 20% water change per week will support more fish than a tank getting less water changes.

[heather]

try the calculator at http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/tools.php

The answer it gives can be a handy guide but consider other things like the size of your filter.

[me love fishy]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I went to the website and it was very useful. I also read somewhere that it depends more on the surface area of your tank than the litres.

I guess I will combine all advice and then see how it goes, if the tank looks crowded or the fish start to get diseases then they could be signs of overstocking. Will be awhile before that would happen anyway as I only have two gouramis in there at the moment :lol:

Cheers guys