30 replies to this topic

[9darlingcalvi]

I was wondering how many Johnny darters can live in a ten gallon planted with hornwort and a aqueon 20.

[BenCantrell]

15

[9darlingcalvi]

Really, okay. What Minnesota dace specie live with the Johnny darters?

[Evan P]

Personally, I would suggest far fewer. 4 at most, if you are keeping any other fish in the tank. Johnny Darters tend to be finicky eaters, so Dace, especially in such a small tank, will out compete them to an extreme degree.

[9darlingcalvi]

Maybe just darters, shrimp (grass) and pea clams

[Irate Mormon]

Ben is right.  Most people would say 10, some people would say 12.  But 15 is the only correct answer.  You can't have more than that, because they start cannibalizing each other at 16.  If you have only 14 (or fewer), then they establish a pecking order, and the one at the bottom always starves.  So yeah.  Keep in mind that this varies according to water volume.  The assumption here is that 5-7% of the tank volume is taken up by the substrate.  The substrate affects stocking levels too, but not unless you are using something larger than 3mm or smaller than 0.1 mm diameter (mean diameter).  Studies show that the amount or type of plant material does not affect optimum stocking levels for Johnny darters.  There is a slight effect from the lighting spectrum you are using but in a system this small the effect is negligible. 

[9darlingcalvi]

Okay... That seems like a lot of darters. Then how many grass shrimp could I have

[9darlingcalvi]

Would a log perch work in a 10 gallon

[Dustin]

Irate typically gives some every specific information which is oftentimes, intentionally, not terribly accurate.  Just a heads up.

 

If you are only keeping johnny darters and you have a good live or quality frozen food source, then you could easily keep 12-15 with proper filtration and water changes.  If you plan to keep other species of fish along with the darters, I would suggest far fewer like Evan suggested and you will likely need to target feed the darters after the other species have been satiated.

 

I would not keep a logperch in a 10 gallon.  That is a large darter that spends its entire existence roaming from place to place.  They would be miserable boxed in such a small space.

[Irate Mormon]

Okay... That seems like a lot of darters. Then how many grass shrimp could I have

 

22

[9darlingcalvi]

okay? could i just get 30 and see how many survive. HOw do you breed johnny darters

[Josh Blaylock]

[9darlingcalvi]

Really? Cool

[gzeiger]

This was not the avatar I meant when I said I preferred the other one...

 

30 grass shrimp is probably fine.

[Michael Wolfe]

This is my official moderation voice... Y'all are very close to the edge here.  I am getting a twitchy "Lock Thread" finger.

[9darlingcalvi]

What did I do?

[9darlingcalvi]

I didn't mean the sarcasm and I didn't know that many darters and grass shrimp can live in a 10 gallon

[Michael Wolfe]

I think you should start of with significantly fewer fish and not try to put the absolute most into a tank. Your questions are kind of jumping all over the place.  Investigate your local fishes more and decide what you really want to try to keep.  Then start with just a few see how you can manage them.  Asking about one fish and then the next and then the next is not likely to get you the most serious answers.

[Josh Blaylock]

I didn't mean the sarcasm and I didn't know that many darters and grass shrimp can live in a 10 gallon

 

I was directing that at the other comments, not yours.  That many darters and shrimp likely won't survive in an aquarium that size.

 

I kept a 10 gallon for years in my office.  I kept a swamp darter once.  I usually kept 5-6 darters and 5-6 minnow, shiners, or dace (smaller ones) with the darters.  Start with that.  You could probably throw in a few grass shrimp as well.  Like Michael said, start with smaller numbers and then add up to max.  There are a lot of variables in an aquarium of any size.

[9darlingcalvi]

Okay, I was thinking Iowa or johnny darters. What Minnesota dace/shiner species would work. This is my idea for the tank the "Sand plains" of Minnesota
Photo credit to Guest_PeterE_*

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