# stocking a 15 gallon...



## pitabread (Jul 14, 2006)

I've got a new 15 gallon (24x12x12) w/ the following inhabitants:

half-a-dozen cherry shrimp
three Amano shrimp
a single glass Rasbora

These are the leftover survivors from an older 5.5 gallon which I replaced with the 15.

To stock the 15 gallon, I was thinking:

a school of 8-10 rummy-nose tetras OR glowlight tetras OR lampeye killis
3-4 ottos

Those would be in addition to the current stock. I realize things aren't ideal for that poor lone rasbora, but glass rasboras are bloody hard to find.

Thoughts?


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## ray-the-pilot (May 14, 2008)

There is no answer to what is the right mix of species. 

This is my suggestion:

Try to make you set up more like a biotype then a zoo. Stick to plants and animals that are naturally found together in one location. It will take longer to research the possible soulmate of your tank but when you finish you can look at it as your little piece of the "Amazon River", "Lake Malawi" or where ever you like to visit.


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## Wire Fox Terror (Apr 7, 2006)

I would avoid rummynose in such a small tank. A school that size should really be in at least a 55 gallon as they are really active swimmers. Maybe look at some smaller tetras?


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## Kets (Feb 20, 2008)

Add more glass rasboras?


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## PRSRocker3390 (May 17, 2009)

I agree with the other poster, I would avoid the rummy nose in a small tank - especially that many. It all depends though, on how many plants you would have in the tank, the more plant bio-mass you have helps with the biological breakdown of the ammonia. If you have a heavily planted tank, you will notice you can have more fish than you would without the plant biomass. For example; aprox 8 rummy nose, might cause some problems with ammonia and water conditions, in a normal 15gal, but may not notice any problems with a heavily planted. Since the plant will help break down the toxins. Even though your water maybe fine, always consider swimming room, especially if you are hoping for breeding fish! Hope that gives you some help and ideas! Good luck and have fun with it!


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## Bettatail (Jan 14, 2009)

bioload of my 30G
1 betta male
5 panda cory
2 albino cory
4 kuhli loach
5 congo tetra
7 neon tetra
12 silver tipped tetra
6 bamboo shrimp
1 sae
2 false sae
5 oto
2 red phantom tetra
15+ zebra danio
15+ RCS
6 guppy
1 GBR female
1 butterfly loach
2 flag fish pair
--all adult fish
light source is 96watt, 10hours a day
HEAVILY PLANTED TANK! to reduce the biowaste. only feed twice a day, 1 minute feeding time. 
filter is 75G rate modified intank filter, create enough surface aeration, current and most important: pumps FINE AIR BUBBLES from the filter outlet. 

last month there was an incident due to air tube which connected to the filter outlet stuck, in 6 hours a pair of black ruby barbs and one of the 7 bamboo shrimp died, rest of the population was half floating nearly dead.

problem: if there is a filter failure or blackout more than 3 hours, it will become a tank of fish soup.


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## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

> bioload of my 30G
> 1 betta male
> 5 panda cory
> 2 albino cory
> ...


:der: Oh boy, even if the tank is biologically able to handle all those fish... there simply isnt enough space.

Otherwise its good to hear you can stock that heavily. Gives me good ideas for the 200G i'm setting up


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I agree with everybody else - rummynoses will appear too big in a 15 gal. tank. I'm pretty sure you will absolutely love Ember tetras. They are the tightest schooling small fish out there. And their intense color is like nothing else. 

Another good fish would be Rasbora nana. But they don't school as well as the Ember tetras. Unique lime green color though. Rasbora kubotai is even more green, simply spectacular, but slightly bigger than the R. nana.

A huge bioload like the one Bettatail has is fine in a heavily planted tank. But in a case of trouble (disease or equipment failure, or filter with diminished efficiency) bad things happen fast. You can stock 100 fish in a 10 gal. tank but you better do your maintenance religiously or else. So it's really what appeals to you and of course if the fish are hardy. Also some fish are much more dirtier than others - meaning producing more waste. Bettafish has VERY clean fish, but I can't really picture 5 even mid size Congos mixed with all the others in a 30 gal. tank. If you got fish that were the few survivors from a big batch you pretty much have cast iron animals that could withstand a lot. 

--Nikolay


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