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Stocking help with Congo tetras for 65 gallon tank

7K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  hazmat 
#1 ·
Hi,

I'm looking to add some Congo tetras to my 65 gallon planted tank. This tank had been housing some CPDs and I've already moved them to a smaller tank. I have been facing some minor issues with the ferns in the tank and wasn't planning on adding anymore fishes initially, but then, Congo tetras showed up in my LFS and I just couldn't resist. I got a trio of pearl gouramis today and intend to add 7-10 Congo tetras sometime next week and this will be my final stocking.

What would be the maximum number of Congo tetras that I can get away with, without overstocking the tank ? What would be the preferred/ideal number ? And finally, what would be the ideal male to female ratio if any ? Appreciate your help, thanks.

Tank size - 48"x18"x18" - 65 US gallons ; Filtration - 2 X Eheim 2217
Plants - Various Anubias, Java ferns and Red root floaters

Regards,
Gautham
 

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#2 ·
At one point I had 34 Congo tetras ( of 4 different types) in my 180 gallon-- 72 inches in length. It was a bit crowded. Now I am down to 25 Congo tetras and this looks much better. Congo tetras get big for a tetra and are very active, using the full length of the aquarium- but in the upper zone.

Considering this, I would say 10 would be a good number, with 12 being the maximum. Personally, I would go with 10.
I would also recommend 1 male per 2 females.
 
#4 ·
I would say 10-12 would be fine. For regular Congo tetras I haven't noticed any severe aggression of the males toward each other so I would either do all males or a 50/50 split. The females are pretty drab.
10 Congo tetras feels like a good number to stock without going overboard. The females sure are dull looking, which makes me skeptical about going with 1M : 2F ratio. It would be difficult to get all male specimens from my aquarist too. I think I'll start with a 50/50 split, say 8 numbers in total and add more females if need be or add a male and a female after seeing how things pan out. Thanks a lot guys.
 
#5 ·
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#6 ·
I went through some of the old threads where people had decent success with Pearl Gourami and Congo tetras in the same tank even though they occupy similar levels. Maybe, I should have checked here first. I did get one male and two females. I'll monitor the tank for few days after adding the Congo tetras and will rehome the gouramis if necessary.

I haven't been able to find quality corydoras in recent times, they always seem to come with some sort of baggage and Kuhli loaches are pretty rare to come by.

I've been meaning to add a circulation pump with the flow directed at the mound for sometime now, would it help ? Thanks.
 
#7 ·
Congo tetras aren't at all aggressive toward other fish the only issue is they are really aggressive feeders. They attack the surface like Piranhas and will often cause water to splash out of the tank while eating. This might spook slower, gentler, fish. I've kept pearl gouramis before but not with Congos. I feel like they should be able to hold their own but they are also pretty chill so might find the frantic energy of feeding Congo tetras stressful.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I have added 10 Congo tetras to the tank and it has been close to a week now. I asked my aquarist for 8 or 10 fishes with an equal split and he gave me 10 fishes assuring me that there are atleast 5 males in the group. So, with the group, one is definitely a male, with a nice tail extension and a large anal fin. As for the others, they still have a bit of growing up to do before I could sex them properly. So in theory, I might end up with anywhere between 5-9 females and if I were to hazard a guess considering my stars, it would be close to 9 ;)

They do swarm all over the food and as a consequence feeding the pearl gouramis has proved to be a difficult task like @OVT and @Triport have stated in their earlier posts. They don't seem to bother the Gouramis otherwise, but I am considering returning the pearl gouramis, would be a shame though, I really wanted to grow them out. The tank has also become top heavy, in terms of the livestock and as a temporary measure I have tried to offset it by adding some white fin rosy tetras that I already had. The rosy tetras sure have livened things up in the bottom half and they are equally aggressive, if not more aggressive during feeding time, but they just look lost against the hardscape.

I would love to try another small school of tetras, that would occupy bottom to mid levels of the tank, has bright color/s and can handle higher temperatures. I've considered Harlequin rasboras, Lambchop rasboras, rummy nose tetras and lemon tetras so far, and open to other tetra options as well. I don't want to go with cardinal tetras and would like to stay away from Serpae, silvertip and the likes. Looking forward to some nice suggestions, thanks.

Gautham
 
#9 ·
I would love to try another small school of tetras, that would occupy bottom to mid levels of the tank, has bright color/s and can handle higher temperatures. I've considered Harlequin rasboras, Lambchop rasboras, rummy nose tetras and lemon tetras so far, and open to other tetra options as well. I don't want to go with cardinal tetras and would like to stay away from Serpae, silvertip and the likes. Looking forward to some nice suggestions, thanks.
Gautham
I didn't happen a lot, but when I had Congo tetras they inadverently ate my Rasbora espei. During feeding time i saw a few Congos with tails sticking out of their mouths. Yes they are definitely aggressive eaters.
 
#10 ·
I keep 8 Congos (5 M, 3F) and 24 Cardinals in my 125G discus tank. The discus are slow grazing eaters who I feed 3x/day. I feed fast sinking pellets for the discus morning and afternoon so they sink before the Congos get much. When I feed all the fish in the evening I feed the tetras on the left and the discus on the right as simulanteously as possible. That helps minimize the Congos beating everyone else to the food. The Congos are a great addition for me. Their coloration reminds me of my wife's rainbowfish, except the Congos look quite colorful 24.7 even in low light, while the rainbows show most color in the mornings only. Not good for a nighthawk like me.

As far as fish that swim the bottom, you mentioned Corys, which I think is a fantastic idea. They clean the substrate and eat all the food on the bottom. They are hilarious in their schooling behavior, with games of "leap-frog", etc. My cardinals "moved downstairs" when the Congos joined the community. They school fairly tightly and are fascinating to watch even from a distance. I tried Rummys but all but 2/12 ended up as snacks for the larger fish. Those two now stick with the cardinals for the most part.

You can see them all in my tank journal, link below.
 
#11 ·
My favorite combo when I was in my 20s was based off a display tank in the original location of my old LFS in NJ called Reef Encounter. They had a tank with Congos and cardinal tetras. It is a combo I repeated a few times back in the day. Now I prefer to keep just all fish from the same general continent together but I would do this again if I had to cut back on the amount of tanks I could keep.
 
#17 ·
Mate, I had to rehome the pearl gouramis, they didn't show any inclination towards pellets/FDBS and were only trying to eat the algae off of the wood and stones.

also they make great dithers for cichlids, ditch the gouramis and try some west africans. Any mouth brooder can easily protect their fry from the swarm. If the congos get real big go for something large like hemichromis sp. they'll have no problem dominating any tetra.
I've bred f2 kribs, O. stormsi, L. congoensis and H. liliflali all with congos in the tank without any problems at all.
Congo tetra also love to eat duckweed if you ever can't seem to get rid of it (anything on the surface is fair game, they're voracious)
Kribs and yellow tail Congo tetras are about the only planted tank compatible African fishes that would popup in the stores here, from time to time, only if we had something like a Wetspot here in India :grin2:. And, I only moved away from raising some Geos, so I wouldn't want to try some large mouth brooders either. I honestly was thinking something along the lines of a nice school of Rummy nose tetras, harlequin rasboras or C.adolfoi (not sure if they can handle higher temperatures) and I'm open to trying out Kribs, Apistos and the dwarf rams too. Cheers.
 
#16 ·
also they make great dithers for cichlids, ditch the gouramis and try some west africans. Any mouth brooder can easily protect their fry from the swarm. If the congos get real big go for something large like hemichromis sp. they'll have no problem dominating any tetra.
I've bred f2 kribs, O. stormsi, L. congoensis and H. liliflali all with congos in the tank without any problems at all.
Congo tetra also love to eat duckweed if you ever can't seem to get rid of it (anything on the surface is fair game, they're voracious)
 
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