55 Gallon Stocking

[adadkins1]

I may be getting a 55g from craigslist in the near future, and I was wondering what y'all thought about this stocking. I will be combining two of my tanks and hopefully they will all fit comfortably:

Center Piece:
1 Dwarf Gourami

Top Level:
4 Guppies

Mid Level:
7 Bloodfin Tetras

Middle-bottom Level:
10 Glowlight Tetras
2 GBR's

Algae Eater:
1 Bristlenose Pleco
2 Otto's (if they make the transition in one piece)

Substrate:
5 Kuhli Loaches

Will this be a decent stocking? The tank will be planted with anacharis, some other stem plants, and duckweed. Thanks in advance for the input.

 

[jstfinch]

I think that stocking should be doable. Maybe someone with more experience will reply.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Sounds like an adventure!

I may be getting a 55g from craigslist in the near future, and I was wondering what y'all thought about this stocking. I will be combining two of my tanks and hopefully they will all fit comfortably:

Center Piece:
1 Dwarf Gourami
Good, just remember, they're finnicky
Top Level:
4 Guppies
Sounds good.
Mid Level:
7 Bloodfin Tetras
I have heard they are fin nippers but have never kept them before. Be careful with them and your gouramis and guppies.
Middle-bottom Level:
10 Glowlight Tetras
2 GBR's
Sounds good.
Algae Eater:
1 Bristlenose Pleco
2 Otto's (if they make the transition in one piece)
I would try three or four otos. The more you have, the less stressed out they will be.
Substrate:
5 Kuhli Loaches

Will this be a decent stocking? The tank will be planted with anacharis, some other stem plants, and duckweed. Thanks in advance for the input.

My thoughts in the bold underlined red, although I don't have a lot as it sounds alright. Good luck!

 

[absolutangel04]

That stock sounds superb to me.

I would recommend perhaps adding a few more otos since you have the space and they like friends anyway. Besides, otos tend to disappear in larger tank, so if you have more you will be more likely to see them. I would recommend a few more kuhlis as well for the same reason.

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

IMO glowlight tetras like to swim all over the tank. Middle-upper in the day, and sleep near the bottom at night

 

[adadkins1]

The Bloodfins are rumored fin nippers, but I haven't seen them be aggressive. Maybe chase each other around, but no nipping. Theses are all fish in my current possession, so I was just hoping it would work. I started with 4 Ottos, but 2 died in the first week. Thanks everyone for the input!

 

[adadkins1]

Just got to thinking; I am going to give my revisions to the stocking.

3-4 Otto's
7-8 Kuhlis

So....would that max me, or could I possibly up my bloodfin/glowlight school(s). I like to keep my schoolers in the largest group possible.
Thanks.

 

[absolutangel04]

Good plan to up the numbers on the otos and kuhlis. It should mean you see them all more.
I suggest you start with this base stock and see how well the water parameters hold before adding more. Honestly, as long as your filter can handle it, I do think you would be able to up the numbers of the bloodfins/glowlights. Having bigger schools makes the fish look so much more impressive too.

 

[adadkins1]

Okay, so far I have everything in except the Otto's, GBR's, and 2 of the guppies. Will keep you updated on the impending mini-cycle.

 

[absolutangel04]

Sounds good. You probably know this already, but I am mentioning it just in case. Remember that otos do best in a well-established tank with algae growth IMO.

 

[adadkins1]

Sounds good. You probably know this already, but I am mentioning it just in case. Remember that otos do best in a well-established tank with algae growth IMO.

Yeah, that is why I am kinda leery of moving them in any time soon. However my silly parents say "Well why don't you put all the fish in NOW". They understand nothing about aquariums except for when they had a 20g with Mollies, Common Pleco, Corys, etc. and they did fine. Oh and they say I have too many filters?!

Anywho, how long do you think I should wait? I was going to wait until I was out of the woods with this mini-cycle and slowly introduce the 2 remaining Guppies, 2 GBR's, and wait for at least some algae to add the 2 Otto's. I am trying to combine 2 tanks, but I will have 2 Ottos, a Bristlenose Pleco, and a Clown Pleco (unexpected). Hopefully everyone can find plenty of algae.

 

[absolutangel04]

Well, I have usually waited to put otos in until I had enough algae to scrape, but thats just me. With all those algae eaters, you will need to suppliment veggies and wafers anyway. Hopefully your otos won't get outcompeted. The clown really should eat more driftwood than anything else. The bnp will be competition though. Have you ever tried to grow algae on rocks and then add those to the tank? Those make good algae suppliments since not all otos really like wafers.

 

[adadkins1]

Well, everything has been going exceptionally well in the 55. I have all the previously mentioned fish stocked. Surprisingly my GBR's are very outgoing and my Oto Cats are constantly munching on algae that has developed. My Clown and Bristlenose Plecos have also been coming out more during the day!

Now, my question: I know that my tank is stocked or very close to it, heck maybe even overstocked if you ask some people. Anywho, I posted a thread about how I've been mislead to believe that Bloodfin Tetras would school towards the middle-upper part of the tank. Unfortunately they spend most of their time in the same level of the tank as my Glowlights, so now the bottom third of my tank seems too stocked. What should I do? Buy more Bloodfins to see if they would change behavior, take them back for something like Zebra Danios/Harlequin Rasboras, get another Guppy or two, or just leave it as is?

 

[Chronos313]

If you want to try something different for upper/middle try looking at long finned blue danios. As for being stocked or overstocked it's hard to say as most of your fish seem to have a small bio load. But I'm no pro on that

 

[adadkins1]

Yeah, I was thinking either some type of Danio or Hatchetfish. Hopefully if I get Hatchets they don't bring in Ich.