Stock for a 65g

[el_heb]

Hi all

I just recently purchased a 65g tank and i'm planning on moving my existing stock over from my 20g.
Current stock:
11 Harlequin Rasboras
4 Schwartz Cory
1 Otocinclus
1 Gold Algae Eater
1 Red Honey Gourami
2 Veil Angelfish

I'm looking for advice about adding other fish. I was thinking of adding 1-2 clown loaches (snails are a PITA) 4 other angelfish or a school of 6 discus, and maybe a couple of GBR or bolivian rams.

I don't particularly care about the rams, i've had trouble with them recently. I would very much like a school of discus.

What do you think?

[lauraleellbp]

IMO your tank is on the small side for discus, I personally wouldn't keep them in less than a 90gal as they need their swimming room. I don't think you've got room for discus in your tank with all the other fish you've already got, too.

You'll need to rehome your gold algae eater sooner rather than later- those things not only grow to 12" or more but become ugly, vicious towards other fish, and stop eating algae once they exceed about 4-5" in size. You definitely won't want to keep one with discus, as there's a good chance they'll start eating the discus' slime coats.

Clown loaches also can exceed 12" in size so would not be a good choice, but there are lots of other smaller loaches that would work instead. Zebra loaches, Sidthimunkis, Angels, Yoyos... those max out at about 4" so would work better. Loaches are schooling fish, so 3 would be a minimum number, and I'd keep about 5 for your size tank.

If you add a school of loaches IMO you won't have room for anything else in your tank except perhaps another small school of small fish.

[el_heb]

Thanks for the advice Laura

The tank dimensions are 48x18x50, and i've seen discus housed on much shorter tanks. For filtration i have an odyssea canister filter rated for up to 100g.
I had the same thoughts about the algae eater, and i haven't found any more otocinclus to replace him.
The only thing i'm afraid about keeping discus is the almost extreme care they need, and their tendency to die easily, that's why my alternative are more angelfish.

[Airphotog]

48x18x50 would be 187 gallons

[Sharkfood]

My 65 gallon is 36x18x24 inches.

[el_heb]

ah, sorry, confused inches with centimeters
it's 48x18x20
it's a flatback, the front corners of the tank were removed, reducing the gallons from 70 to 65

[Sharkfood]

Even with the 18" depth and the 4' length, I don't think I would put any more than a single pair of discus in that tank. They're fairly large fish and the tank is going to seemed crammed with any more. I like to think the fish in my tanks have lots of swimming room. The fish may or may not care, but I've never like the looks of tanks that are loaded to the gills (pun intended). To me an aquarium is more than just a box to keep your fish in. Huge numbers of large fish in a tank thats 4 feet by 2 feet just doesn't look realistic or comfortable to me.

That being said, I definately tend to understock my tanks. It's not that I don't think the filtration could handle a higher bioload, but I just don't like a crowded look to my tank. Stocking lighter will always leave room for impulse buys, rescue fish, unplanned fry, etc. The stock you are moving over from your 20g is more than what I keep in my 65g.

[el_heb]

Well, thanks for all the advice guys
I'll think about how to stock my 65g, for now the current stock will do (minus the algae eater).

BTW, will angelfish eat cherry shrimp? i'm currently breeding some in my NC6, just got my first gen of shrimplets, so i thought of using them to control algae in my bigger tank