Stocking My 20g Long

[Antler]

I got my 20 gallon long setup and cycled now. It's got a 30" Beamswork LED 400 and an AquaClear 70. One big river rock and 7-8 smaller rocks for decor, lots of hiding places for the crays and shark, along with plenty of tall and short artificial plants and grass, substrate is play sand. Right now there's a blue Florida crafish, a very small rainbow shark, and 5 zebra danios. The danios will be moved to my 10 gallon soon. I know it's not recommended to have these fish with crayfish or the rainbow shark, but the fish quickly learned to keep there distance from the cray, and he's not aggressive. Him and the rainbow shark actually share a cave.

I want to add 12 Celestial Pearl Danios, and 12 Black Neon Tetras. Eventually I'd like to add another blue crayfish as well, if it turns out to be aggressive I'll remove him. Seems like a lot of fish, aquadvisor.con says its 107% stocked, and recommends 40% water changes weekly for this stocking level and setup. You guys think I'll have any problems with the stocking level if I keep up on the maintenance?

 

[Rivercats]

CPD's are very shy nano fish that don't do well with larger fish. They are easily outcompeted for food and should be kept in a species or with other quiet nano fish.

 

[Antler]

CPD's are very shy nano fish that don't do well with larger fish. They are easily outcompeted for food and should be kept in a species or with other quiet nano fish.

Thanks for the reply. Everything I've been reading online say they can do well with Black Neon Tetras. The crayfish and rainbow shark shouldn't outcompete for food as they both just pick up the leftovers on the substrate. There's a risk the cray can kill the CPDs but I haven't had any problems with him catching my other fish so that's a risk I'm willing to take, if I have to move him out later I will.

I was more looking for opinions on overstocking the tank by that 7%. If it could be kept clean and done right with proper maintenance and water changes.

 

[rmiller]

Zebra danios are very active fish and are not suited for a 10 gallon tank. If you plan to keep the danios I would keep them in the 20L

 

[Antler]

Zebra danios are very active fish and are not suited for a 10 gallon tank. If you plan to keep the danios I would keep them in the 20L

I'll give them back to the pet store or a friend in that case. I checked aqadvisor and it doesnt show anything wrong with 5 zebra danios in a 10g, but thats not important. Anyone have any opinions on stocking the 20 gallon?

 

[rmiller]

AqAdvisor is a decent tool to start with if you know what species you are looking for. The problem is it does not take into consideration fish behavior. It will note nippiness and aggression, but not necessary swimming space. Zebra Danios are a very fast swimmer so they need lots of horizontal swimming space. Most of my experienced fish friends, including a couple marine biologists and ichthyologists recommend no less than a 4 foot tank for them. I've seen plenty of people who have kept them in 20L without issues, but a 10G is just to short for the to thrive in.

There are plenty of stock options for both of your tanks. What do your local shops have in stock that catches your eye? Ordering online opens up a completely different realm of possibilities, but at a much higher cost due to the price of shipping these days.

 

[Antler]

AqAdvisor is a decent tool to start with if you know what species you are looking for. The problem is it does not take into consideration fish behavior. It will note nippiness and aggression, but not necessary swimming space. Zebra Danios are a very fast swimmer so they need lots of horizontal swimming space. Most of my experienced fish friends, including a couple marine biologists and ichthyologists recommend no less than a 4 foot tank for them. I've seen plenty of people who have kept them in 20L without issues, but a 10G is just to short for the to thrive in.

There are plenty of stock options for both of your tanks. What do your local shops have in stock that catches your eye? Ordering online opens up a completely different realm of possibilities, but at a much higher cost due to the price of shipping these days.

I have no want for the zebra danios, the just don't catch my eye. I'm only going to stock my 20 long, I'll keep the 10g for the newer crayfish if he turns out to be aggressive after I get him.

I have my stock decided on already and it's listed in my first post. The main question I was asking was opinions on overstocking. Is it ok to overstock by a little? Aquadvisor tells me 107% for the number of fish I wanted.

 

[rmiller]

Ah, sorry I misunderstood, I though you were looking to add more fish to your 20.

With the fish you have listed I see no problem being slightly over stocked, but I am concerned that as the cray matures you may see more issues of aggressiveness. I've never kept them so I can't say for sure. Just keep a very close eye on him and be religious about your maintenance.

 

[Antler]

Ah, sorry I misunderstood, I though you were looking to add more fish to your 20.

With the fish you have listed I see no problem being slightly over stocked, but I am concerned that as the cray matures you may see more issues of aggressiveness. I've never kept them so I can't say for sure. Just keep a very close eye on him and be religious about your maintenance.

Ok thanks. I ran the numbers on my 10 gallon and I was actually stocked at 147% without knowing and kept the tank perfectly clean and water chemistry good. So I'm confident now dealing with a slightly overstocked tank with double the volume shouldn't be too much trouble.

 

[Antler]

Ok I'm headin to the city tomorrow to pick up some supplies and fish. As you can see from the previous posts I'm going to add 12 of each, black neon tetras, and CPDs.

How many should I add to the tank right now?

Should it be all one species or a mix?

 

[Antler]

Anyone?

 

[Piratechest]

Anyone?

personally I would go with 2-3 fish a week.

 

[rmiller]

Since you're cycled there is no reason you couldn't do 6 of each today. Just make sure to watch for ammonia spikes (mini cycles) and treat accordingly.

 

[Rivercats]

If you did a fishless cycle and dosed ammonia to 4ppm then your bacteria count is as high as it going to be and with the fish you want you can literally do them all. That bio-load of fish isn't going to produce 4ppm of ammonia a day which is what your BB can process right now daily.

 

[Antler]

If you did a fishless cycle and dosed ammonia to 4ppm then your bacteria count is as high as it going to be and with the fish you want you can literally do them all. That bio-load of fish isn't going to produce 4ppm of ammonia a day which is what your BB can process right now daily.

When I set up this tank about 6 weeks ago I started it with filter media from another well established tank. I waited a week then added my crayfish, rainbow shark, and 5 zebra danios. I didn't dose the tank at all.

From my reading the last few hours I think my BB is only enough to handle my current stock, and I should add my new fish slowly rather than all at once? Do you guys agree or should I just get them all tomorrow?

 

[rmiller]

Oops, I thought this was an empty tank. Didn't realize you had so much already.

As for neons and CPD, I don't know that they would mix well with the crayfish.

 

[Rivercats]

I absolutely would not do CPD's as they are very shy and are easily out competed for food. They do best in a species or nano fish only tank.

With your stock you can probably safely add 6 fish at a time if they are small.

 

[Antler]

I absolutely would not do CPD's as they are very shy and are easily out competed for food. They do best in a species or nano fish only tank.

With your stock you can probably safely add 6 fish at a time if they are small.

Everything I've read says that tetras and CPDs go really well together, I've done a fair bit of research before coming up with the fish I wanted. Not saying your wrong, just saying several people have done it without problems.

Oops, I thought this was an empty tank. Didn't realize you had so much already.

As for neons and CPD, I don't know that they would mix well with the crayfish.

I know what you mean with the crayfish. He has been with the rainbow shark and danios since day 1 and been fine. The danios learned in about 10 minutes to keep their distance. The shark on the other hand is strange. They don't bother each other and actually share a cave. I've seen it swim between the crays claws and he didn't budge. I know it's a risk but I'm willing to take it. If he gets aggressive I'll move him back to his own tank.

 

[Rivercats]

You already have a shark and danios in the tank, they are your problem. Danio's are crazy active which can spook the heck out of CPD's. I've kept CPD's off and on over many years and you have to be careful of what you stock them with. Your looking at it from keeping them with small tetra's but forgot your other stock.

 

[Antler]

You already have a shark and danios in the tank, they are your problem. Danio's are crazy active which can spook the heck out of CPD's. I've kept CPD's off and on over many years and you have to be careful of what you stock them with. Your looking at it from keeping them with small tetra's but forgot your other stock.

The danios are going back to the pet store when I pick up the CPD's