[shane3fan]

Ive got a 50 gallon tank stocked as stated below--it seems to me that it is pretty well stocked ( I was worried I might be over stocked, thats why I checked AqAdvisor ) AqAdvisor says its only 83% stocked. Looks pretty darn full when they are all swarming around food--lol.

Just thought I would see what some of yall thought about the stocking level.

Equipments:

Tank (LxDxH): 36 x 18 x 18 inch (50.5gUS)
Filters: Rena Filstar XP3

Selected species: [Edit Species]

11 x Albino Cory (Corydoras aeneus)
11 x Bloodfin Tetra (Aphyocharax anisitsi)
2 x Bolivian Ram (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus)
1 x Bristlenose Pleco (Ancistrus sp.)
1 x Clown Pleco (Panaque maccus)
1 x Mystery Snail (Pomacea cuprina)

You have plenty of aquarium filtration capacity.

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 237%.
Recommended water change schedule: 28% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 83%.

 

[DarkCobra]

You're fine, below traditional limits.

Planting a tank can drastically increase stocking limits, both in terms of biological load and subdividing physical space to relieve overcrowding stress; and I don't think AqAdvisor takes that into account. I'm sure some of my past tanks would have gotten 400% stocking levels by that calculator. :hihi:

 

[astrosag]

I think the advisor is a gross underestimation of stocking capacity - assuming you have at least medium levels of flora - because it doesn't take flora into consideration. Its good for fish-only, not so accurate for planted tanks.

Like Dark said, plants drastically increase your stocking capacity (in terms of the biological cycle). Enough plants and then it simply becomes an issue of whether the fish can actually fit in your tank and if you're providing humane levels of space for the fish - that might come out wrong.

I have a 20G with more bioload per gallon than yours (my estimations because besides the pleco, all my fish are about the same size as yours) and my tank has been doing great for over 6 months.

So feel free to add more..you're low by non-planted tank standards. You can bump the stock up considerably if your tank is medium-to-heavily planted.

GL!

 

[Leah]

I have small tanks (10g) so I am cautious with stocking. I would definitely feel like I was living dangerously if I loaded in as much as Aqadvisor says I can. Also, I like to leave latitude for being late with a water change if I get busy. I don't have an opinion about your stocking (cause I don't know enough!!), but one question is how "forgiving" you want the setup to be.

Leah

 

[astrosag]

I have small tanks (10g) so I am cautious with stocking. I would definitely feel like I was living dangerously if I loaded in as much as Aqadvisor says I can. Also, I like to leave latitude for being late with a water change if I get busy. I don't have an opinion about your stocking (cause I don't know enough!!), but one question is how "forgiving" you want the setup to be.

Leah

With smaller tanks, this is a great point. Even though my stocking levels are high, I was diligent when I added more fish. I'd add more fish, wait a week or two at least and measure ammonia and nitrite levels. Then introduce more, and recheck, etc. All this was done while maintaining my scheduled water changes and fert/dosing.

After all was said and done though, I was surprised with my tank's capability to handle so many fish. It's largely due to the plants but also because of my over sized 2215 which, relatively speaking, has a ton of surface area for bacteria to grow on. I'll also say that I don't have CO2 injected into my tank which may be another limiting factor because it starves fish of O2 without methods of introducing O2 into the tank. The more fish you have, the less O2 to go around - could be a limiting fact.

In a 10g, I'd be more cautious...however, from my experience, you could push the envelope there was well with added precautions (not missing multiple water changes, making sure you have a nice sized filter, heavily planted and not over feeding/removing food). In fact, a 10G low-tech would probably fare better than a high-tech 10G in terms of pushing stocking levels.

In a 55g though, this is far less likely to happen. With that much volume, any water parameter change is likely to be much slower...slow enough to safely catch - assuming you're not gone for weeks. Again, slowly keep adding fish you like and are compatible and check the water parameters while maintaining your normal maintenance schedule. Hard to see you making the mistake of overstocking to unsafe levels if you do that.

For now, you're A-ok.

 

[shane3fan]

ooops- I see a BIG omision from my stock list. I also have 5 Otos That probably puts me over the top--lol.

 

[Jadelin]

Otos are small fish, and five of them in a 50 gallon isn't going to make a big difference.

 

[Abrium]

im going to go do this lol I want to know what my damage is.

 

[Abrium]

So this is what aqadvisor gave me. I have to admit I was liberal with some of the numbers like the MTS and the CRS. I can't see the MTS and for every CRS I see I am guessing there are 5 more. I got to admit their required ranges for my hardness, pH, and temp were dead on.


Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 136%.
Recommended water change schedule: 40% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 118%

Equipments:

Tank (LxDxH): 72 x 18 x 22 inch (123.4gUS)
Filters: Rena Filstar XP3, Rena Filstar XP3


Selected species: [Edit Species]

10 x Harlequin Rasbora (Trigonostigma heteromorpha)
500 x Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda)
12 x Otocinclus vestitus (Otocinclus vestitus)
12 x Kuhli Loach (Pangio kuhlii)
3 x Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus siamensis)
6 x Silver Hatchet (Gasteropelecus sternicla)
6 x Glass Catfish (Kryptopterus minor)
4 x Albino Bristlenose Pleco (Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus)
100 x Malaysian Trumpet Snail (Melanoides tuberculata)
20 x Assassin Snail (Antentome helena


Note: Silver Hatchet may jump - lids are recommended.
Note: Albino Bristlenose Pleco needs driftwood.
Warning: Assassin Snail is not recommended to be with Malaysian Trumpet Snail - other snails will likely be eaten.
Recommended temperature range: 75.2 - 77 F
Recommended pH range: 7 - 7.8.
Recommended hardness range: 10 - 15 dH