Stock suggestions

1344 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by lauraleellbp, Apr 23, 2014

Chickie_online

Discussion Starter · Apr 20, 2014 (Edited)

Hi all. First thanks to all those who helped me get this far with the new tank. My 55 gallon is up and running and fully planted (plants aren't huge yet but doing well so far). Tank has cycled in four days with the help of gravel, driftwood, plants and media from existing tank so now I'm looking at stock. Tis will be my only big tank due to room so I wanna be sure haha. (Info 2x20" finned planted lights - therefore I love the blue light feature and want fish that will look good with it as well .... No co2 just daily dosing with flourish excel and I also weekly dose with flourish comprehensive and add root tabs when needed) ph 7.5

So far I'm doing ...
2 albino bristle nose
3 otocinclus
8 neon tetras
8 pink danios (zebra)
2 dwarf frogs (May need to be relocated)
And some cherry shrimp

I would also like to add in a school of harlequin rasboras and some glofish danios if I can find them.

Now I want my showpiece
So far suggestions have been given of angelfish or blood parrot (both bought young to grow up with smaller species). I've also been considering congo tetras, German blue rams and bosemani rainbows. Thoughts or suggestions welcomed!

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naich

· #2 · Apr 21, 2014

a 55 could house any gourami species, they make nice larger centerpieces.
Glofish or any "glowing fish" are pretty common at petco or petsmart.
a few rainbow fish could work too, they are colorful too

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Chickie_online

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 21, 2014

K so I'm thinking in this.

1 albino pleco
4 otocinclus
2 dwarf frogs (May be moved if needed)
5 bosemani rainbow fish
7 pink danios
7 neon tetras
7 harlequin rasboras
7 rummynose tetras
2 German blue rams
1 pearl gourami (possibly)

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jem_xxiii

· #4 · Apr 22, 2014

im a big fan of bolivian rams. they have great personality and are good around community fishes.

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spirgeyooh

· #5 · Apr 22, 2014

In my experience, it's usually better to pick 1 or 2 schooling type fish and have larger schools rather than several small schools. The fish feel more comfortable, interact more, and the tank seems less busy. Of course, just my opinion, but thought I'd share.

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Chickie_online

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 22, 2014

spirgeyooh said:
In my experience, it's usually better to pick 1 or 2 schooling type fish and have larger schools rather than several small schools. The fish feel more comfortable, interact more, and the tank seems less busy. Of course, just my opinion, but thought I'd share.

Yeah I've decided the same thing. I'm going to do three schools of ten instead I think.

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lauraleellbp

· #7 · Apr 22, 2014

I'll post the feedback I PM'd you here, too

That's a REALLY heavy bioload for a 55gal tank. Also, it's generally not a good idea to mix Rams with Gourami- they are too similar in shape and size and often will not get along.

I'd probably pick either the Rams or the gourami, put the frogs in a different tank (I've never kept them myself, but heard reports of them eating smaller fish like neon tetras and danios... apparently they snag them at night?) and then lose one of the schools. Or better yet, lose two of the midwater schools and instead beef up your scavenger crew with some Amano shrimp, nerite snails, and a small school of Cories or Loaches.

Or instead of 2 schools, just skip the Boesmani. Keep in mind that a full-grown Boesmani is a fairly large fish, so represents a much, much heavier bioload than tetras, rasporas, or danios. Your tank is definitely big enough if you want a school, but I think you need to lower the bioload in the rest of your stocking plan if you want them.

So that's my 2 cents. :icon_smil

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trds

· #8 · Apr 22, 2014

+1
1 or 2 schooling type fish.
my favorite schooling fish are harlequin rasboras, congo tetra in the lower level of the tank glowlight tetras. i would put frogs in a different tank. just sharing my thoughts

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Tihsho

· #9 · Apr 22, 2014

Another +1 on having 1-2 larger groups of schools. In my 33L years ago I had a school of Harlequin's and Lemon Tetras. They had their own personalities and kept the tank active. Over the years there were a few oddball schools added from other tanks that got torn down, but it made the tank too busy with no natural flow as it use to have.

I'd look at replacing the frogs with something else as they get messy due to hogging food and in turn bumping up the waste load. At night like someone else mentioned they are opportunistic and can pray on something that passes in front of their face, in your case a small tetra/rasbora or even the shrimp.

As Laural stated you might want to consider bumping up your scavengers. They will help by cleaning up left over food and assist in some algae control. Plus it's nice to see activity on all levels of a tank rather than just mid level. Look into a school of some species of corydoras and leave the algae control to some snails, shrimp and the bristlenose.

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Chickie_online

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 23, 2014

Ok so what about this instead?

Rainbows
1 angelfish
School of danios and school of rasboras
1 bristle nose
Small school of false Julii cats
Cherry shrimp that I have are creating a small colony so long as the angel or rainbows don't kill them all off.

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Tihsho

· #11 · Apr 23, 2014

Rainbows and Angels will make a quick snack out of shrimp. What specific species of Rainbows are you considering? They can range from 1.5"-6"... The larger species (Boesemani's, Turquoise, Madagascan for examples) seem to prefer slightly alkaline waters. It brought out their color and natural behavior more. The smaller species like Praecox (which still get a decent size), Celebes and Threadfins you should be fine with. They will still pray on the shrimp though.

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lauraleellbp

· #12 · Apr 23, 2014

Yeah, I'd try for Amano shrimp (and you'll need to make sure they're larger adults if you get adult Angelfish) rather than Cherry shrimp if you want to avoid them all turning into snacks.

Amano shrimp may not be as colorful as Cherries, but they're still a lot of fun to watch in a tank. They tend to have lots of "personality" - especially at feeding time. Another nice thing about them being bigger is it's easier to spot and watch them in a bigger tank.

Other than that- sounds like a really good stocking plan to me. :icon_smil

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