Enquiry on adding fishes

[Liew Yida]

Hi everyone.

im kinda new here
i have a 15gallons tank house with 12 tetras and 4 cories. I'm still in the mist of should I getting two more guppies. As I'm afraid if I would overstock the whole tank. My tank have already run for 4months, it's major planted and Hang on a dolphin filter/submerge filter and two air stones.


Appreciate if anyone could help me with this.
As I got the help from this website aquarium advisor calculator saying that keeping 18 of these lovely are less than 100percent at the overstock level.

i would like to have some advise whether should I keep two more guppies

[Urban Aquaria]

While the aquarium advisor calculator is a good guide to follow at the beginning, its more of a conservative guide as it is only based on water volume... it doesn't take into account filtration efficiency, plant density, tank maintenance frequency etc.

All those other factors also greatly influence the actual bio-load that the tank can handle. A tank with massive filtration, choc full of fast growing plants and receiving frequent water changes can easily handle many times the recommended number of fishes.

For a start, its best to progressively add livestock in stages and monitor your tank's bio-load capacity by measuring the basic parameters regularly (ie. ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, TDS), if the parameters stay stable and safe, then the bio-load is still within its handing ability.

If anything is out of balance, then its an indication to either reduce bio-load, increase filtration, add more fast growing plants or do more regular water changes. Its just a matter of adjusting the various factors accordingly.

Once you have maintained aquariums for a while, it will become easier to estimate a tank's actual bio-load capacity based on your own experience.

[Liew Yida]

Thank you so much for your explanation.

I got myself two small little lovely guppy on my way home.

Hopefully my community tank could cope these 18 fishes together.
i would like to know is my 18 fishes in a 15gallon counted as crowded. Let's take aquarium advisor cal aside.

[tetrakid]

It is best you find out by trial and error whether you can add two more guppies. But it should't be any problem if you stick to a routine of water change. For example, daily 10% WC, or weekly 50% WC, etc. as the case may be. Fish love clean aged water.

If you get a big filter with big amount of media, the bacteria colonies in the filter can also keep up with their job better in that if there's too little ammonia fouling, many bacteria will not survive and die off, thus creating a balanced environment. If ammonia fouling increases by the presence of increased fish poop, the bacteria population will increase naturally and thus be able to tackle the increased load. But if your media is too small, there would not be sufficient space (surface area) to effectively accommodate the increase in bacteria population. Therefore it is better to always ensure you buy a big filter.

[Liew Yida]

Thank you so much for the further explanation.

My filter is Dophin H200 running in 370L/hr. It comes with palm size of carbon cartridge and filter.
also, I have a small submerge filter running in the water to maintain the water. It run in 220L/hr.


Talk all about filter, I would like to know should i wash the filter and carbon cartridge once in a month??
Normally, I will clean the filter once a week for the submerge filter as it really gets dirty in a week.

[tetrakid]

Thank you so much for the further explanation...

... Talk all about filter, I would like to know should i wash the filter and carbon cartridge once in a month. Normally, I will clean the filter once a week for the submerge filter as it really gets dirty in a week.

Different people have different 'style' and 'pattern' of doing things depending on their taste and personal preference. For me, I usually don't 'clean' my filter media at all, because I value the accumulated dirt and mulm as additional media on which bacteria can reside. But most hobbyists regularly clean away the unsightly stuff. The accumulated stuff can cause a reduction in the water flow rate, but I personally like it that way because I don't like to have currents in my tank/s.

It is good to change the carbon granules regularly though, as they absorb harmful substances. But if regular water changes is done, you may, like me, not even need that, especially when I don' use any chemicals at all. What is important is to have good clean aged water for WC.

[tetrakid]

Thank you so much for the further explanation.
Talk all about filter, I would like to know should i wash the filter and carbon cartridge once in a month??
Normally, I will clean the filter once a week for the submerge filter as it really gets dirty in a week.

Different people have different 'style' and 'pattern' of doing things depending on their taste and personal preference. For me, I usually don't 'clean' my filter media at all, because I value the accumulated dirt and mulm as additional media on which bacteria can reside. But most hobbyists regularly clean away the unsightly stuff. The accumulated stuff can cause a reduction in the water flow rate, but I personally like it that way because I don't like to have currents in my tank/s.

It is good to change the carbon granules regularly though, as they absorb harmful substances. But if regular water changes is done, you may, like me, not even need that, especially when I don' use any chemicals at all. What is important is to have good clean aged water for WC.

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, smaller filters like hang-on filters and submerged filters do tend to fill up with debris and clog up more quickly, so you just have to clean them more often.

Switching to a canister filter with larger filtration volume can manage higher bio-loads and can help to reduce maintenance as it can hold much more debris before getting clogged up, hence they usually only need to cleaned every few weeks (or even months) vs every week.

As for the carbon cartridge, the activated carbon only works for around 2-3 weeks, after which its absorption capacity is usually exhausted. So you should change the cartridge to a new one every few weeks to maintain its effectiveness.

[Liew Yida]

Thank you so much for the much advise.

One of the filter I'm using Dophin H200 Power Filter and I have already used for months. Yet I have not change the first cartridge.
Would like to know where can I get the same cartridge that I am using in Singapore?

[tetrakid]

... One of the filter I'm using Dophin H200 Power Filter and I have already used for months. Yet I have not change the first cartridge. Would like to know where can I get the same cartridge that I am using in Singapore?

Unfortunately, it is near impossible to get spare/replacement parts for small consumer items like these.
If I buy a hang-on filter, I always make sure I get one with the biggest media chamber I can find. Double chamber ones are best. This way, I can simply discard all the cartridges after first use and improvise my own custom media. In this regard, I adore top filters. They offer a greater amount of space for media than hang-on filters.

[Urban Aquaria]

You could check at LFS like Polyart or Seaview, those places usually carry a range of cartridges. They might stock the dophin replacement cartridges too.

But like what tetrakid mentioned, you can also DIY your own filter media, like buying a pack of white filter wool and cutting it to size to use in the filter, it works put much cheaper. You can also get higher quality bio-media and add them to your filters too.

[tetrakid]

@Lies Yida
While on this topic of adding more fish, have you ever wondered why when you visit aquarium fish shops that some of them have big display tanks which contain a crowd of big fish and yet the water in it is good and clear and the fish are comfortable and healthy?

Their secret lies mainly in effective bio-filtering, among other things. The owners of those shops are invariably very experienced Shifus.

[Liew Yida]

Thank you guys for so much of advise.
I will try to diy my own filter media by doing some research on the website videos. But still there is a risk of outbreak for crowded population. What I mean is effective bio-filtering doesn't always rule and control the whole community tank right?

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, it depends on all the different factors... larger water volume, more efficient filtration, more water changes, more plants to soak up excess nutrients etc. All contribute to determine the overall bio-load capacity of a tank. If you have excellent filtration and an extensive maintenance regimen, the water conditions can be kept cleaner and safer.

If your filtration is limited or maintenance is not as extensive, then you either have to improve it, or simply keep the bio-load within its handling capacity. Every tank setup is different, so there isn't a fixed formula to determine if x amount of filtration and maintenance can handle x amount of fishes. Its all variable. You'll have to test and see.

To avoid outbreaks, you still do need to quarantine all fishes before adding them to your main tank though. Even in the best tank conditions with low bio-load, existing healthy fishes will still be affected if you introduce new fishes that are ill or infected with parasites. Its always best if illness or parasites are not introduced into the main tank in the first place.

[tetrakid]

Thank you guys for so much of advise.
I will try to diy my own filter media by doing some research on the website videos. But still there is a risk of outbreak for crowded population. What I mean is effective bio-filtering doesn't always rule and control the whole community tank right?

You are perfectly right there. Home hobbyists generally seldom have sufficiently big bio-filters capable of handling huge water fouling, as they often overstock their small tanks with a lot of fish and other water creatures.

But even with the best bio-filtering capacity, eventual water fouling with toxins is still inevitable. And that is why regular water change is a must. Fish love clean aged water most, especially water which is not laden with chemicals. Water change is a strict regime of the Shifus and their shop helpers too.

As Shifu UA just mentioned above, there are other factors to consider too. I may also add that good oxygenation (my favourite factor) can also contribute to water excellence too. A well-aerated tank always smells better than one which does not include good aeration. You can try it out if you don't believe it.