# When is it too many fish and invertebrates?



## rusticitas (Mar 10, 2004)

I have a 10g with lots of plants, in a new aquarium about a month old. I have six White Clouds, one Oto, one tiny Gourami (Gold Flame Honey Gourami?).

My question is, is that too much "fish-inches" for a tank that size? I have been wanting to put in an order at AZ Gardens, and I wanted to get some of the algae-eating shrimp, and perhaps some of the small nerite snails (aside from lots of plants, of course). I have been told that one should limit fish to "one inch per gallon". By that rule, I have probably overstocked already, but only slighly. 

Would the shrimp and snails add significant load to the tank? Could/should I add them? If so, how many would be "safe" to add? I was thinking of either the Amano shrimp or the smaller Rudolf shrimp.

-Jason


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I had a ten gallon with two dwarf gouramis, 3 ottos, 1 SAE, 2 columbian tetras, and two yo-yo loaches. With a 50% weekly water change I never had any problems. They have all been moved to my new 75 gallon now though.


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## wicked_good_guppies (Mar 19, 2004)

I have had 30 full grown guppies in a five gallon planted tank. That would be 6in per gallon and I had no problems. The one fish inch per gallon isn't really true. A two inch fish is 4 times as big as a one inch fish (not precise measurements) and a 5 inch fish is much larger than that. The point is as long as your fish are small, you monitor nitrites and nitrates, and you do water changes you won't have any problems with overcrowding and your plants might like the extra fertilizer.


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## wicked_good_guppies (Mar 19, 2004)

I have had 30 full grown guppies in a five gallon planted tank. That would be 6in per gallon and I had no problems. The one fish inch per gallon isn't really true. A two inch fish is 4 times as big as a one inch fish (not precise measurements) and a 5 inch fish is much larger than that. The point is as long as your fish are small, you monitor nitrites and nitrates, and you do water changes you won't have any problems with overcrowding and your plants might like the extra fertilizer.


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## rusticitas (Mar 10, 2004)

That's relieving to hear. I kind of figured they would be ok, as they are small fish, and they seem pretty clean, unlike my girlfriend's goldfish (they're like a bunch of rowdy fraternity brothers).

Guess, it's time to put in that AZ Gardens order. 

Thanks for the help!

-Jason


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## aquoi (Mar 21, 2004)

All aquariums are overloaded compared to nature. There's no definite rule on how many fish inch per gallon... It depends on your plant mass and the nitrogen cycling ability and efficiency of your bacterii.

Max out your biofiltration and then check your nitrites from time to time. If you have too high nitrites, you are probably overloaded or the biofiltration isn't optimised.


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