can i put in a 26 gallon tank, would also like some shrimp as ive never had shrimp, and what sort of price do shrimp cost in the UK. (what are the easiest shrimp to look after) thanks
On schooling fish that stay below 2 inches, the one inch per gallon rule DOES apply, with the minimum tank size being 10 gallons. This does not hold true to non-schooling small fish or larger fish and is a stocking guide once the minimum aquarium size has been met (no one inch fish in a one gallon tank for example, but you are fine with 10 one-inch schooling fish in a 10 gallon tank). Each species/type of fish will have a different stocking guide so know the 1 inch per gallon guide is for small schooling fish and again only applies once you have a tank larger than the recommended minimum tank size.
In a 26 gallon, two to three small schools of tetra (like 6-8 fish in each school) would be great. If you did only two schools of 8 fish each, you could even add a few other fish, like a small species of pleco, a small school of oto cat, a small school of cory cat, or a few non-schooling but small fish (like a pair of dwarf gouramis) would make a great tank.
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I am not sure on UK pricing on shrimp. It does depend on the type of shrimp, though. In the US a ghost shrimp is cheap, a cherry shrimp is about $ 5, and a blue tiger shrimp can get very costly!
instead of trying to think about how many fish, I'd suggest going to a pet store and writing down the names of some fish you would like to see in your aquarium. then come home and do some research on them and see if they would work.
if you just want a bunch of small schooling fish ... a lot. you could probably do up to 30ish of them depending on what type you chose. however that doesn't mean you should cram that many in there! if you want lots of schooling fish, I'd recommend doing four larger schools. maybe 7-8 in each school. if you do medium sized tetras (think black skirt size) I'd keep it more like 5-6 per school for 4 schools. with this you could still do some shrimp since they barely contribute to the bioload.
however, if you want to mix it up a little, a nice layout for your tank would could be something like this:
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1-2 centerpiece fish (a single betta, a pair of gouramis, ram cichlids, ect)
15-18 SMALL schooling fish (break that down into small school of at least 5 or make it one big school, up to you)
5-6 of a bottom dweller like kuhli loaches or corydora catfish OR 10 or so shrimp.
all shrimp are pretty sensitive to water quality, however in a healthy aquarium this shouldn't be a problem! ghost shrimp are very cheap (in the US I can get them at petsmart for under $ 1) but they are kind of boring. cherry shrimp and bamboo shrimp are more pricey but many people find them more interesting:)
1 inch of full grown fish per gallon. I can't give you an exact number of fish due to different sizes in tetras but use that rule of thumb to figure it out and the pet stores should have it listed what the max size of the fish you are buying are.
As for shrimp I found ghost shrimp really easy to take care of and they are kind of neat since they are ghost like haha.
http://blog.captive-aquatics.com/.a/6a01 ... pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com that's what they look like. They are $ 0.99 canadian so using a currency converter it looks like 0.70 Euro?
Another shrimp I like is the rock shrimp. They are a little big bigger and more noticeable
http://www .oceanlight.com/thumbs/08641.j ... they can also be various shades of brown. They are $ 6.00 CAD so about 5 Euro.
Ghost shrimp are inexpensive ... I buy them six for $ 1.00 in the US. they eat food that collects on the bottom, great cleaners and they need minimal care. As far as the fish, you could go with around twelve to eighteen if they are small like a Neon Tetra with room for a Bristlenose Pleco or something as well.
You could put about 20-25 fish in your tank but as for the price i dont live in the UK so i dunno.
