Stock list too much for 29 gallon?

[reun]

I have been considering an algae eater for my 29 gallon tank, and most people agree that 3 ottos would be the best way to go. I want to run a stock list by everyone to see if this is too much for my tank.

3 ottos
6 bronze corys
7 leopard danios
1 south american bumblebee catfish(full grown at about 3.75" long and .30" or .40" width)

The tank is lightly planted with two Whisper 30 filters, a small Hagen 58gph powerhead, and an Elite 802 air pump. I do a 30% water change once a week.

I know this goes over the inch per gallon rule, but the Bumblecat and corys don't seem to pollute much, and I am told Ottos and the Leopard Danios are a small bio load as well.

Is this going to be over stocked? Would I be able to add anything later or am I at max capacity?

In case other info is needed, the tank has sand substrate and Malaysian driftwood. These are the water perimeters:

Temperature: 73 degrees
GH PPM: 160
KH PPM: 150
PH: 7.0

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[JustOneMore20]

I'm not a fan of the inch per gallon rule and don't think its a great rule to follow. I think your stocking list is great for a 29g and actually you could add in more fish if you wanted. I'd probably add a few more Danios....you'll be amazed how cool they look when you have a big group. I'd have atleast 10. And you would be able to add something else later if you wanted..like a centerpiece fish. A Ram, Apisto or a small Gourami would be good.

 

[OhNeil1969]

Hello reun;

I also have a 29 gallon community tank. In my tank I currently have:
11 mollies (4 are newborns);
5 neon tetras;
4 zebra danios;
2 guppies;
1 red wag platy;
1 siamese algae eater;
1 serpae tetra and
2 mystery snails.

I started out doing 2 50% PWC's a week but after some testing I found that I could return to 1 PWC a week. I think you could easily keep the fish you mentioned as long as you're keeping up on your water changes and testing your water regularly to keep on top of any problems. You can use this site to help with stocking your tank: AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor . I've used this site for stocking tips and found it to be very helpful. It'll tell you if you need more filtration or if your choice of fish are incompatible. I've also found that you can go higher than the 100% limit as the site is relatively conservative. Like I said, as long as you're willing to do the work you shouldn't have any problems.

Good Luck!

 

[aquabeast]

thats just fine for that size of tank, you could actually add a couple more danios if you wanted, they dont create alot of waste..

 

[reun]

Thank you for the replies! I will most likely add the ottos and a few more danios in the future, I will most likely wait until I have a few more plants established.

as far as a centerpiece fish, not sure about that though, there is a large amount of top current, so a dwarf gourami or betta is out. I know ram's like to be in pairs, so probably will pass on those too.

either way it's good to know I am not at max capacity for now.

 

[Homedog98]

Rams don't have to be in pairs. In fact it makes them less aggressive without them. They only really have to be in pairs is if you want to breed them.

 

[toddnbecka]

Best to drop the Oto's in favor of a single BN pleco. Oto's really do best in larger planted tanks, and the Asian bumblebee catfish is liable to eat them or at least try, possibly killing both. I had one many years ago that died trying to swallow a bumblebee goby. For the longest time we couldn't figure out why the neons kept disappearing every time we put some in the tank. Bumblebees are small but they have a wide mouth and hunt by night, never saw the bugger in the daytime.

 

[reun]

Best to drop the Oto's in favor of a single BN pleco. Oto's really do best in larger planted tanks, and the Asian bumblebee catfish is liable to eat them or at least try, possibly killing both. I had one many years ago that died trying to swallow a bumblebee goby. For the longest time we couldn't figure out why the neons kept disappearing every time we put some in the tank. Bumblebees are small but they have a wide mouth and hunt by night, never saw the bugger in the daytime.

Well, luckily I do not have an asian bumblebee catfish. They are predatory and get WAY to big for a 29 gallon. I have a South American Bumblebee Catfish...most grow to about 3.5"...and while he is opportunistic, he doesn't bother any of the other occupants(with the exception of I tried to keep a school of ember tetras once, they slowly disappeared...sadly, at less than .5" long they fit in the SA bumblecats mouth).

 

[ejaramillo01]

I think that you can add more fish also, I have a community tank with a true Siamese algae eater in a 26G tank and is working good.

As ohNeil said, as long as you are taking your readings (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates) and they look good, and you keep your homework with PWC, adding the ottos, or SAE, or whatever you decide you will be good.

 

[Fishguy2727]

if they all have the physical space they need and you do enough water changes to keep the nitrate concentration under 20ppm you are not overstocked.

There are no rules or laws when it comes to stocking. Every tank is different and will handle different bioloads.