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Jeff G asked in PetsFish · 1 decade ago

Is my aquarium overstocked?

I've got a 60 gallon long/wide aquarium. It is fully planted and almost double filtered with nerite/trumpet snails for cleaning.

Here is my stock list:

7 Skirt Tetra

11 Danios

5 Glowlite Tetra

3 Cardinal Tetra

I'm asking because my brother would like to rehome his 6 black neon tetra into my community tank and I didn't want to do it unless it was wise. I think I'm close to my stock cap or maybe even over. I just wanted to get several opinions on the matter before I decide!

Update:

Yeah, I plan to get more Glowlites. I've read most people say that 6 or more is rule of thumb for schools.

My LFS doesn't have Cardinals so I'll have to find another one that does.

But with the Black Neons and say... adding more Glowlites/Cardinals (maybe 3 each) would I then be close to cap?

Update 2:

Thanks for the formula! I've seen similar formulas...

But I've also read that you should also take into account types of fish and their needs. So I was also wondering if anyone with similar fish would have insight.

Seems to be fine to add them so far though.

3 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    You're not overstocked for a 60 gallon. The Neon tetras would be fine.

    Also some advice: get more of each tetra.

    Edit: Yes, you would still have room for even more fish. Wilma is wrong, formulas rarely work.

  • ?
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    Those are all pretty small fish and I'd hazard a guess that you have room for your brother's fish.

    but for future reference here is a basic formula that has always worked for me:

    for tropical freshwater tanks (cold water tanks and salt tanks will have a different formula):

    (L x W) / 12= inches of fish (final adult size)

    multiply you tank length (L) by your tank width (W) then divide by 12. your answer will be how many inches of fully grown fish you can put into your tank.

    let's say you tank length is 60 inches and your tank width is 15 inches.

    (60 x 15) / 12 = F (fish)

    900/ 12 = 75 inches of fish

    in this example if the adult sizes of all of the fish that are already in the tank totals less than 75 inches then you have room to put more fish into the tank.

    again this is just a basic formula. some critters which would meet the size requirements of this formula might actually require more room to move around so always know what you're keeping and what they need to be happy.

    edit:

    not much room to explain here but the formula has to do w/ the surface area of the tank. so if you have an oddly shaped tank you'll need to measure the surface area of your tank to get an accurate answer for the formula.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Not really those are small fish. Just be sure their healthy. DB*

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