stoking

Question
QUESTION: hi i have got a juwel trigon 190l   with fluval 105 and a fluval 205 i have got 2 angel fish 2 clown laches 2 albino pleco my tank is planted .  i want lots of community fish e.g guppies mollies .  i was wondering how much fish in total can i put in the aquariam.     
i change 25% of the water a week.    so how much can i stock.????    thanks.    i have got a 55galon air pump.    thanks.

ANSWER: Hi Zeashan;

Your current stocking limit depends on several variables. Just a couple are things such as how big your current fish get, how long your tank has been set up, and what kind of albino plecostamus you have. New tanks cannot be fully stocked until they are biologically balanced. It takes several weeks. Even established tanks (tanks not in break-in) must be stocked slowly to allow the bio-system to compensate for each new addition. Adding 3 or 4 fish a week for a tank that size is a good, slow stocking method that would work. But again, it must be fully through the break-in period first. As far as the pleco, there are many varieties and some get quite large as well as some are territorial toward their own kind. Albino simply means he lacks pigmentation, it isn't the actual breed of pleco. There are hypostomus albinos, bristlenose albinos, sailfin albinos, etc. It's important to know what you are dealing with so we can figure out your tank's stocking limit. Get back to me in a followup about those details and I can make more direct recommendations.

In the meantime, here are some web pages about stocking your tank for more information, as well as some suggestions for types of fish;

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerinfo/a/fishcalc.htm

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-154742.html

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerinfo/a/evenstocking.htm

Now for suggestions on compatible fish for your current population;

Keep in mind that angels are cichlids, they get quite large if they aren't already and can be aggressive as well as territorial. Clown loaches can get nippy as they grow too and grow to be quite large. Your community tank is considered semi-aggressive while you have all those guys in there.

Mollies might work out okay but the guppies would be eaten and/or picked on eventually by the angels and clown loaches. Swordtails get large enough to hold their own and there are many very nice color varieties. When keeping mollies, swords and other live bearers there should be at least two females per male to keep the females from being harassed too much by the males. Your other fish will probably eat any babies born so you probably won't have to worry about overpopulation from breeding.

A school of larger types of tetras such as Congos, Bleeding Hearts, Black Skirts, Colombian, etc., would be a nice addition too. Groups of five or more of the same type work well. Here are profiles of those, but avoid the Pacu and the Piranha. They are in the same family as the others but they are definitely not suitable for your tank (yikes!).

http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/list.aspx?category=2

A school of cory cats would be nice. They prefer to be in groups of 5 or more too. Here is a profile page of them;

http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/list.aspx?term=cory

Let me know more about your plecos and how long the tank has been set up and we can go from there about how many more fish can safely go in your tank...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi thanks for the info i have got a albino bristlenose pleco.     also i want my fish to breed.  my tank has been set up for 4months.    thanks very much

Answer
Hi Zeashan;

Bristlenose don't grow really large so that's good. You could probably safely add another 10" to 15" of fish in there. That means you could add 5 to 8 fish that grow to be about 2 inches, OR 10 to 15 fish that grow to be about one inch each. Tetras are good. They like to be in groups. Just take it slow, and keep up with those weekly water changes so your fish have a good chance of staying healthy.

Your fish may breed but you probably won't see many babies. The other fish will eat them. That's just what happens in semi-aggressive community tanks. If you give your breeders their own tank it will be more successful.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins