# 26 Gallon Bowfront Stocking advice



## Jcmalouie (Apr 2, 2015)

Hi there, newcomer here to the hobby.

I just finished fishless cycling my 26 gallon bowfront and now thinking about stocking the fishes.
It will be a low tech planted aquarium. Currently I have water sprite , java fern, amazon swords and jungle vals. I will be adding some anubias nana soon.
For filtration, I am using AC50 and AC30.

Here is my stocking plan:

10 Cardinal Tetra
6 Harlequin Rasbora
6 Panda Corydoras
2 Otocinclus
1 male Dwarf Gourami

Aqadvisor shows 209% filtration capacity
Recommended water change is 27% per week
Stocking level is 105%.


Any suggestions or comments regarding my choices?

I will be on top of my water changes once a week at 25%. Am I asking for trouble being overstocked by 5%?

Please advise.
Thanks


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

You should not have problem with the stock. In my opinion, with plants and two of your current filters, I think you can actually increase the number of cardinal tetras.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

105% will be no problem at all. I also agree with Charles - feel free to increase your groups up a bit if you're willing to up the water change.


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## Rogo (Mar 1, 2015)

Hi JcMalouie,

Until recently I also had a 26 gallon bowfront. The tank doesn't have as large of a footprint as a standard rectangular tank so the "floor space" is lessened, especially if you have rocks, wood, etc. I'd reduce the number of Panda Corydoras to 3, and add another Otto to the mix (3 instead of two). This actually decreases your overall current stocking levels and gives the fish more floor space to swim around without bumping into each other. That's the mix I had and it worked well. I'm not saying what you've listed won't, I'm just sharing what I did (fyi: the fish are still alive and well; they just got moved to my Dad's community tank).

One thing to note about Otto's is that they usually do better in more established tanks; make sure you feed them algae every day and they should be fine until it starts to grow naturally.


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## Jcmalouie (Apr 2, 2015)

Charles and Steve,

Should I add more rasboras? Since the school is only 6. Or should I add 2 more Cardinal tetras as 6 is enough for rasboras?

Also upping the water change as in a larger amount or more frequently (twice a week)?

Thanks in advance


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

wc depends on many things: how often you feed, how much you feed, how much leftover food (that also includes the food that goes into your filters), dead plant matters, etc. So I would suggest do a water parameter testing after you move your fish in. Monitor how much build up you are getting (you might not get any at all as you don't have much bio-load there with plants), and decide from there.

In a 26g, it is space enough to have at least 6 corydora panda. The number of otocinclus is up to you. I would do at least 12 cardinals and 6 more rasboras.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Jcmalouie said:


> Charles and Steve,
> 
> Should I add more rasboras? Since the school is only 6. Or should I add 2 more Cardinal tetras as 6 is enough for rasboras?
> 
> ...


Whether you want to do 2 per week or one larger one is up to you. I do 1 50-70% WC per week on each of my tanks. The only thing to not about doing larger water changes is that the parameters will swing harder if your pH is drastically different from your tank water to the water you're adding.


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