Checking aqadvisor

[Dreamwallaby]

[SIZE=+0]Wanted to compare your input with aqadvisor. I actually have a 44gal pentagon but only 35gal is water, (top part belongs to the toads and newts). I don't have the rasboras yet, waiting for LFS to get them in. The raph cat is small right now, only 2" and will be moving up to bigger tank next year. Am I really too overstocked? There is a decent sized air stone ring and plants.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0][/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]Equipments:

[SIZE=-1]Tank (LxDxH): 30 x 13 x 21 inch (35.5gUS)
Filters: Eheim 2215[/SIZE][/SIZE]


[SIZE=+0]Selected species:[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1][Edit Species]

5 x Cherry Barb (Puntius titteya)
5 x Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon innesi)
4 x Platy (Xiphophorus maculatus)
1 x Spotted Raphael Catish (Agamyxis pectinifrons)
5 x Glowlight Tetra (Hemigrammus erythrozonus)
1 x Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia)
4 x Zebra Loach (Botia striata)
5 x Galaxy Rasbora (Danio margaritatus)
Recommendations/Warnings/Suggestions/Notes:

Suggestion: If you want to keep more than 1 Platy, minimum recommend male to female ratio is 1:2 (M:F). You will be less likely to experience problem if you get even more females.
Warning: Spotted Raphael Catish is not recommended for your tank - it may eventually outgrow your tank space, potentially reaching up to 5 inches.
Recommended temperature range: 75.2 - 75.2 F. [SIZE=-1][Display in Celsius][/SIZE]
Recommended pH range: 6 - 7.5.
Recommended hardness range: 5 - 15 dH.
You have plenty of aquarium filtration capacity.

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 151%.
Recommended water change schedule: 34% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 120%.[/SIZE]

 

[Dreamwallaby]

Here is a visual of the tank if it helps

 

[maxwellag]

Usually Aqadvisor isn't the best way to decide on or "calculate" stocking. This goes for any calculations- there is no real way to know how much the tank is "stocked" because there are too many variables to calculate. For example, Aqadvisor doesn't take into account aggression, behavior, eating behavior, possibility of pairing up and breeding, and many others. There just isn't a real equation that can accurately determine the level of stocking. Usually your best bet for stocking advice is asking people on here, because many know their stuff and have experience with a lot of different fish.

 

[Dreamwallaby]

Yeah, that's why I posted. To see what everyone thought of the stock. I used aqadvisor as a guide so I posted it for reference.

 

[CharlieKlein]

IMO this is way overstocked, lol 30 fish in 35 gallons. But I have a simmaller sized tank (30x12x18) and I have
1 dg
1 gbr
1 apisto
3 swordtails
8 cherry barbs
5 dwarf chain loaches
And I thought that is overstocked. In yours is take out 2 schools and add a dwarf cichlid

 

[Dreamwallaby]

Ok I won't get the rasboras. There is only 3 neons right now ( been 3 for a year) and the raph cat will come out. There is only 3 plays now too. So that would be 23. I'll keep heck in my water and if it seems like its still too much I'll move one of the schools to a diff tank.
Thank you

 

[CorallineAlgae]

You have a really cool tank even if it's over crowded. Very interesting setup. Well done.

 

[Wyomingite]

Ok I won't get the rasboras. There is only 3 neons right now ( been 3 for a year) and the raph cat will come out. There is only 3 plays now too. So that would be 23. I'll keep heck in my water and if it seems like its still too much I'll move one of the schools to a diff tank.
Thank you

That would be much better. Still overcrowded, but it can be managed with water changes and good filtration.

AQAdvisor isn't a bad tool from the standpoint ya can plug everything in and get some basic idea as to species compatiblity, where ya stand on stocking levels, and filtration capacity. Using it as the ultimate guideline for settin' up yer tank could be a mistake, though.

WYite

 

[Rivercats]

I agree it's a unique tank and you set it up quite well. You definitely don't need to add any fish but as stated as long as you keep up on WC's and tank maintanence you should be okay.

 

[Dreamwallaby]

Thank you for the help. I finally got the API master test kit today (no more dipsticks for me). Ammonia was 0.25, nitrite is 0 and nitrate is between 10 and 20. Oddly, pH was 7.6 when the sticks had been reading 6.8. I thought the driftwood would have lowered the pH. So keep doing daily PWC until ammonia is 0?? 30%

 

[Rivercats]

Odd that your nitrates are 10-20ppm and you still have a trace of ammonia. Have you done a ammonia test on your tap water? Actually you should do an ammonia and nitrate test on your tap water just to be sure there is none in there. And if you continue to have that small amount of ammonia it could be an indication that your bio-load it too heavy for your tank or that you are feeding too much. But yes, until you get rid of that ammonia the daily WC's will be a big help.

 

[Oceangirl]

I'd nix the platies, I just got rid of mine and what a difference! The poop level and messy appearance of the the tank is night and day. They are poop machines! I took 4 out of a 29 gallon, added tetras neons and glowlights. They look amazing, they shoal flutter and less than half the mess of platies. I still have 2 girls, my favorites. I had a aquaclear 70 in there and they love it. The betta doesn't bother anyone. not like he catch anyone with such big ears!

 

[Dreamwallaby]

I'm not a huge fan of the platys either but my son loves them. I will test my tap to get an idea what I am working with but I think the overstocking sent my tank into a mini cycle. I can't wait for my eheim to arrive. Then I'll run both filters together until the eheim has bacteria and then remove this crappy filter.