advice on additional stocking on 30gal long

[tomherndon]

I've got the 36" tank with inhabitants pulled from 2 independent 10 gals back in august.

There are 2 aquaclear 200's on it (rated 50gal) and I rotate sponge inserts in and out of both of them about monthly (remove oldest of 3 and add one that's been rinsed and sun-exposed)

I just tested it today using API kit and parameters with current total fishload
pH 7
NO3 5-10ppm
KH 3deg hardness

flora:
java fern bundles
beard algae on oldest driftwood and rocks It's thick and burly and kind of iridescent. . . It hasn't taken over so I haven't made an effort to eradicate it. . .

fauna:
2green cories (oldest one has streaked eggs across tank twice following PWC's, assuming second is female or sexually immature male?)
2 pepper cories
3 otocinclus (rarely seen but fun to watch when they come out of java ferns)
1 lonely panda cory (no restock at LFS)
4 zebra danios
4 harlequin rasboras
5 rummy nosed tetras, not sure if authentic or false or that it matters
7 neon tetras
1 mystery snail

I'm thinking that I'm fairly close to full, but I'm thinking that I'd like to introduce something that does a better job of hanging out midtank once I add at least one other panda cory.

the danios are reliable to wander all the vertical range. the raspboras hover in the midspace a bit, but not regularly. the neons and the rummy nose tend to hang very close to the floor. all the catfish do what one would expect.

suggestions?

 

[mgamer20o0]

dont think you really need to do that with the sponges. i just clean them in tank water and put them back in. personally if you add something i would make sure its nothing that gets to big. have you looked at honey gourami.

 

[tomherndon]

I've found that the sponges tend to clog a bit and the flow at high or low can be affected. I'm not sure why the clog, there's not a lot of algae or uneaten food. Minerals?

It may not help, but it probably doesn't hurt, there are three sponges per filterbox. .

 

[Johnny Tuttle]

I've got you at properly stocked exactly now in terms of inch per gallon (not that my guestimates on fish size are fully reliable).

I like the honey gourami idea, and I could also see you just getting a single dwarf gourami.

A swordtail (the neon variety) would work, too.

I have a neon swordtail, a dwarf gourami, and neon tetras in my tank, and the effect is nice.

 

[mgamer20o0]

inch per gallon so called rule is wrong more often then its right. it should never be used.

 

[Johnny Tuttle]

That's an extreme comment (or pair of extreme comments). It's not something that sanctions putting a 10" oscar in a 10g, but there's a reason why that's a general baseline for stocking maximums.

Here, I'm seeing occupants for all zones, and a stated preference for a fish for an underused zone. Further, I'm not seeing plecos or goldfish or other known violators of the inch per gallon guideline (in fact, with otos, neons, harlequins, and others, he's got fish that fit the rule really well). I'm not seeing the rule/guideline twisted to justify a stocking mismatch. Without knowing that he does or would do daily PWCs or has or would obtain monster filtration, I don't see how I could ethically encourage him to add more than 3-4" to his lightly planted tank. Here as well, without seeing an all bottom feeder or obvious mismatches in his fish selections, I don't see how a new pair or single fish selection for the mid realms is risky or selfish at all.

I'm not in the habit of assigning homework to other posters--by that, I hate how in Web 2.0, the burden of proof is always the other guy's.

Here, I ask to hear more about your stance, gamer, out of sheer interest. Feel free to ignore my request--you owe me nothing

 

[reun]

well, first off you are destroying your bacteria colonies and prolly forcing a mini cycle on your tank when you remove the sponges. only remove sponges when they are clogged, even then, i ussually just squeeze them and rinse them in some tank water emptied into a bucket and dump out the used water and pop the sponges back in.


now, inch per gallon rule doesnt always apply and fails regularly, but, its always better safe than sorry.

first off...the fish you have need to be in schools...most experts recommend schooling fish be in 6+ numbers at the least.

there are several reasons you dont see the ottos. first, they can be shy, regardless. second, they prefer schools, not trios. also, ottos behavior is often affected by their food intake...and most tanks of your size do not have enough of the right kind of algae to support them. they can live off substitute foods, but they need real algae to thrive...and not the hard junk on the glass...only things touching that are plecos and snails.


instead of getting a centerpiece fish, you need to enlarge your schools. the cories will prolly school together, but even when keeping differant sub varieties together, i wouldnt go with less than 3 each. and the schooling fish would be happier in 6+ groups.

that leaves us with needing to add 12 fish just to get the schools to the size where the fish would feel at least secure.

way too many for that tank. with that being said, i cant condone dumping that many fish into one tank, so i will just say what everyone else is, throw a DG in there to harrass the fish already timmid from being in a small school. that will fix things im sure...

 

[mgamer20o0]

lol i dont mind explaining my self. always welcome to pm me with any questions on anything i say. each tank is different. heck i have 9 or more 20 longs with the same heater same filter same light but each one is different. stocking is so subjective plus so many different factors. i hate any of the rules then people try to pass off as guidelines. same with the whole wpg stuff. people worry so much about these rules they dont learn the basics. like you were saying some fish add more to the bio load then others. you also should have a balance of fish.... like you were saying. i been on fish forums for a while now and over and over i see a couple things. A someone has no clue what they are doing just toss fish in using that and come up with some crazy things. B they use it ok but dont get a understanding of why. C there stupid people out there that will put that oscar in that 10 gallon tank. D someone uses it to do crazy things pulls it off some how and then gets others to believe its ok. i rather take the time to explain things a little better.

with filtration you can only filter so much before it really doesnt do much good. though with wc every day or some type of drip system you can add more with out a problem. with plants you have a little more room. if someone is starting out i try not to take them to the limit and play it safe. we all prob know someone who ment well when they start but just slowly slacks off. though i might not be as crazy as i sound any other questions just pm me.

 

[reun]

well, i do agree with that...understocking vs overstocking...understocking wins!

lets be honest, if you have been running home aquariums for many years, and have a heavily planted tank with hundreds invested in your filtration and lighting,ect. the same stocking rules dont apply.

but for someone starting out, who may not even be doing water changes weekly, giving them the same stocking advise as a veteran is a bad thing.

dont take that as a attack, i didnt read the whole thread here so i dont know who suggested what.

however, at this point the stock list is not looking good. too many differant types of schooling fish for that size of tank. the irony is most people suggest a centerpiece fish in this situation...ussually a DG or betta who often get bossy and stress out fish who are already stressed because their numbers are too low for a schooling fish.

can it be done? yes! but its like keeping a goldfish in a 1/4 gallon bowl...the fish will live but its doubtfull that it will thrive.

just my opinion anyway.

 

[tomherndon]

I always learn a lot when I ask questions.

Thanks for the advice/suggestions.

I'll get that other panda or two, watch the parameters a bit and see what I think I can do. If I make an additional species, I'll put a line out to let folks know how it turns out.

-there's a misunderstanding in my use of the filter sponges, there are always five cycled sponges in the filters. I only pull one out at a time. Over time the sponges rise in the HOB chamber and pressure the lid while reducing flow, simple rinsing and replacing didn't affect that, I got back normal flow with the rotation.

-my tank puts the minimum school member number up for grabs. I'd like to have a much larger setup to have the larger schools, but have held out for smaller groupings with more variety in the space my house currently allows with kid/furrypets/etc. I don't think the individuals are particularly stressed out, they're just more comfortable hanging low and I'd like something that is more comfortable higher up.