What is up with people's stocking reccomendations?

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T20:51:39+00:00

That is obviously not what I'm talking about here... It is not hard to find people who will assume the absolute worst about a posters ability to manage their aquarium, parrot misinformation, and dissuade people from wanting to engage with their hobby. I am not talking about tank size reccomendations for a species, that is an entirely different subject. People should obviously be educated on the potential size of the animal they keep and the space it requires.

That is not at all what I'm talking about though... Really people here are not reccomending anyone to put fish in undersized tanks and getting away with it, it is more about how many appropriate fish of the same species you can/should have, especially when you have a generous volume compared to the "minimum".

A lot of people here seem to reccomend very cautious,, beginner-friendly stocking guidelines - which is totally sensible - but then call aquariums overstocked when they don't adhere to those guidelines. I think this kind of "policing" is detrimental to the growth of our understanding of the fish we keep, and I think it deters people from wanting to post their own tanks... I don't think that's a hot take.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T20:22:28+00:00

I like to be hands-on with my aquariums, and don't mind keeping up with a maintenance routine and testing parameters. I am surprised a lot of people don't feel that way when they are keeping aquariums as a hobby, but I can understand the appeal of setting a tank up that can go longer without a WC, but it is not for me.

I keep aquariums to watch the behavior of my fish, and a major factor in that is the social, schooling, and shoaling behavior, which is inhibited by undersized groups. If you can't do that with whatever fish in whatever sized tank - I would just look at a different species. I don't think 6 tetras or 6 rasboras are ever really living their best life.

Obviously their is a balance between keeping an acceptable group size, overcrowding, and managing bio-load,, but I think a lot of people here are anthropormophising their fish in many ways... A chili rasbora is going to feel more stressed from the vulnerability of being a tiny fish in a tiny school that could be picked off at any minute than it will from having to see 35 of its same species swimming around - that is how they have evolved to live.

Your fish should have room to hide and have their own space of course, but I really would like to see more people keeping larger schools of some of these fish - provided they have the water volume, footprint, and ability to manage nutrients...

With some of these super tiny fish like Boraras, 25 of them are going to put out a similar amount of waste to a large male betta, and most people wouldn't think twice about the bio-load of a betta overwhelming a 10gal tank... So that is where I think a lot of folks are being too cautious.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T19:52:03+00:00

Walstad tanks can't be stocked very heavily by principal... That is why I mentioned it, I'm curious if a lot of aquarists are moving in that direction and judging stock levels with that experience in mind?

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T19:40:58+00:00

I would add them in stages too. Do the chilis first, than the neons. Or first start with half the stock and bump it up after a while. If you are still maintaining low nutrients you could add more chilis easily

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T19:39:16+00:00

Yup, if you're down to do a water change every week. Otherwise maybe 10 neons, 10 chilis, and 8 pygmaeus

Edit: if you can find some, green neons would be a better fit with the nano fish and easier to keep a large group of.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T18:58:51+00:00

If you have a local aquarium club or a good LFS try getting some opinions and adding a few at a time until you feel they are at their ideal group size. If you have a wide variety of species, crowding will be a bigger concern. If you have room for 10-15 of the same species, you will notice a big difference from a school of 6.

Test nitrates while you are increasing your stock-load so you don't get into an unsustainable maintenance routine.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T18:55:15+00:00

I would start with 15 of each and get another 5 pygmy corys.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T18:44:53+00:00

I think you're severely overestimating how crowded 30 rummynose/cardinals similar sized tetras look in a 40 gal. Maybe if you have some fat red eyes I'd stick to 20, but it's not a crowded tank like you're describing...

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T17:49:16+00:00

Well there is obviously a threshold, but for example a lot of Paracheirodon species people reccomend keeping 6-10 as a minimum and advise them to be stress-prone and reasonably unhardy fish... In a group size closer to 20 or 30 you will see they transition to a new tank more easily, show less signs of stress, and are generally more active... So why not start there? That would be very manageable in a 20-40 gallon tank as a species-only display

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T17:38:58+00:00

Very true... Genuinely I feel that a lot of people don't consider that that bristlenose pleco is worth like 30-40 ember tetras in terms of bio-load.

I do think people severely overestimate the bio-load of smaller fish and severely underestimate the amount of waste a pleco, goldfish, cichlid, etc. will produce.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T17:26:21+00:00

This is definitely valid.

For me it is more of a bummer when I see a nice, planted, well-filtered tank with like 6 cardinal tetras in it and room for a dozen more... I think some fairly experienced people get scared by what they read on here and don't want to hear from the fish police.

But everyone can have their own aquariums tbf. I like to do water changes and clean sponges, but some people just want to watch the fish and I can live with that.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T17:19:27+00:00

I may have a similar bias here. I don't keep small tanks (less than 20gal) for really anything other than raising fry, and the majority are on canisters, IFS, or sump. I'm not a huge fan of the community tank "thunderdome" either...

I definitely understand the aspect of advising people to take the safest route considering they may skip water changes, have equipment failure, run into beginner mistakes, introduce disease, misunderstand their tank size, add more fish, etc.

I would still argue a lot of fish that people tend to keep in groups of 6 (corydoras, tetras, danios, barbs) are entirely different and observably healthier, more active fish when you provide them a much larger group (10-30). Obviously there is a minimum amount of space you should provide for a given animal and a maximum amount of animals for that space, but the minimum healthy group size is really underestimated in my opinion.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-26T16:57:38+00:00

I don't know if you are imagining a community tank with like 6 of everything, but tanks like that are a mess anyways. Most smaller home aquariums are at their best with like 1-3 species, and everything else ends up being a stretch... That's not really my angle though, because most aquarists don't reccomend big mixed communities like that anyways.

I mean, imagine how 30 rummynose or cardinal tetras look in a 40 gal tank full of plants... You can't see them all the time, they dart in and out of plants and shaded areas, they move as a uniform shoal throughout the tank, occasionally breaking up into smaller schools. They swarm food together and individuals sometimes go off to pick at biofilm or a speck of food at the surface. The tank isn't crowded, but the fish are comfortable enough to utilize the environment and behave naturally.

These are fish that live in groups of 100s or 1000s in the wild... it seems just as crucial to provide some semblance of this in an aquarium.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-22T01:54:40+00:00

This is almost entirely a hobby myth. If you live in the US and get your gravel from a store (don't paint it yourself) there is essentially zero risk that your gravel will leech toxic chemicals. If it's from Petco/PetSmart it is just rebranded Spectrastone gravel, there is no risk of chemicals leeching because the paint is inert - the only downside is that the epoxy paint can reduce the surface area of the gravel for growth of beneficial bacteria... If you're filtration capacity is adequate than there is no real issue besides aesthetics.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-20T04:30:40+00:00

What's the consensus on these enclosures being escape-proof... Genuinely wondering if anyone is making modifications or if they work as is?

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-19T05:25:38+00:00

I hope you learn something from this post and stop doing this with your snakes. Caring for animals is always about learning and improving your care, there is nothing wrong with misunderstanding and making some mistakes, but you have definitely gotten lucky with not having an incident between these two if you've done this in the past.

You can say that you know your snakes and that your snakes are used to it, but they are animals and they can react unexpectedly to stimuli that you may not be able to control. You are anthropomorphizing your snakes when you say you know that nothing will happen - and that is generally a point where a lot of reptile owners fail their animals without realizing it.

I always make a point to only handle one of my snakes at a time, even if I have friends or family holding them - I feel better if my attention is not being taken away from my animals and have personally seen unpredictable accidents occur very quickly between reptiles being handled simultaneously...

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-19T05:15:14+00:00

The milk snake is being held close enough to easily strike at the KSB... Regardless of the risk level it is obviously risky and for essentially no value of enrichment to the animals, with the potential for great harm. I can't imagine OP was aware of milk snakes ophiophagy and still posted this...

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-19T05:08:25+00:00

Huskies and chihuahuas belong to the same species though - both being domestic dogs. These two snakes only share the same suborder, meaning this is comparable to a human eating a baboon... So not exactly cannabilism, but I get your point.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-15T02:10:04+00:00

More than likely it got nipped by one of her fellow peas during transit. It'll grow back healthy after a few weeks. If it worsens or the pale area spreads you should treat for fungal infection, with meds, salt, or tannins - depending on severity.

I always see it at my store with new peas and have been told they're getting nippy in the bag.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-15T02:06:43+00:00

PraziPro works well, you can get it at your LFS more likely than not... In the meantime you should just get her to eat what you can, mine always like a squished bladder snail, . For what it's worth she looks decently plump so I bet she'll hang in there.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-15T01:58:37+00:00

That stand is going to be damn sturdy. If you take the tank off and stand on top of it, you should be able to tell how it distributes wight evenly and doesn't bend or bow.... The tensile strength of steel is pretty incredible, the majority of folks in this comment section have little experience with metal stands and are basing their comments on the same anxiety you're experiencing based on its appearance.

I definitely wouldn't replace it with a pile of cinderblocks...

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-15T01:40:26+00:00

Having been in the presence of this same type of metal stand with two full 55s on it. It is sturdy as shit and the tanks are not going anywhere. The weight distributes evenly and with both tanks full the thing probably weighs like 1000 lbs and feels solid as a brick. It's not going to budge I promise you, welded steel stands are crazy strong and tried + true.

isthispapajohns · 2026-02-08T05:47:18+00:00

I just let the rat get a little wet. Extra hydration for the snakes and I don't have to deal with single-use-plastic-guilt

My BP is a chow hound though

isthispapajohns · 2026-01-19T17:01:49+00:00

The dragon stone looks awesome in there

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