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Sawyer_Peyton18

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
231
Location
Over Yonder
Hi I am 14 and I would like to start an aquarium. It would be 55 gallons with the following fish:
2 Angelfish
3 Pictus Catfish
6 Platies
6 Cory Catfish
4 Otos

How does the stocking look? It will be heavily planted with regular additions of nitrogen and iron. Will a 20 gallon quarantine tank will be large enough? And lastly can you tell be things I could feed them other than color enhancing tropical flakes dispensed by an auto feeder twice a day?
 
Well, I wouldn't add any more fish. :) There are LOTS of things you can feed your fish besides flake! I know angelfish like bloodworms (and when they get big you can cut up earthworms too! It's fun to watch them eat) Platies will also eat bloodworms if I remember correctly. Sinking pellets can be used for your cory cats and I think the Otos would go for some veggies (but don't quote me on that)
 
Hi I am 14 and I would like to start an aquarium. It would be 55 gallons with the following fish:
2 Angelfish
3 Pictus Catfish
6 Platies
6 Cory Catfish
4 Otos

How does the stocking look? It will be heavily planted with regular additions of nitrogen and iron. Will a 20 gallon quarantine tank will be large enough? And lastly can you tell be things I could feed them other than color enhancing tropical flakes dispensed by an auto feeder twice a day?


That sounds like an excellent stock! Kudos to not wanting inappropriate fish for that tank! Sounds like you did some research! The only problem I see that could potentially arise is the angels eating the oto cats however the inhabit totally different strata of the tank and I honestly doubt they'll even see each other. If it's densely planted with lots of caves and rocks and stuff I say it'll be fine but still something to keep an eye on! One other thing you may want to watch is that the Cory cats get all their required food, pictus cats are *extremely* fast so just watch and make sure they don't interfere with that. Good luck!
also I (and others) don't use color enhancing flakes, you can get all the awesome beauty out of fish naturally! Some foods I recommend, and use, are;
•Omega One Freshwater Flakes
•Omega One Shrimp Pellets
•New Life Spectrum Sinking Pellets (size of pellet will vary for you)
Hikari also puts out some excellent foods! Stay away from Tetra, Aqueon, Wardly(?) & Marienland. Those are all very low quality foods and the ingredients are nothing compared to the above listed ones!
 
Great tank outline!!As others have noted above, just make sure that they all get their food(especially the cories). If you're fourteen, in guessing you're in grade nine (Canadian standards) or around that. Are you sure you'll be able to take care of the tank, changing filter media monthly, changing water weekly, etc.? I'm not questioning you, when my sister was fourteen she went through a lot of schoolwork, had no time for anything else. just trying to help:) and you seem experienced:D
 
That sounds like a good ph, but I'm not that good on it. One other thing, unless I missed it, would be what are you planning for filtration?
 
You will probably want more filtration than that- I would do at least to AC 70s, and I would guess alot of people would agree.
 
Maybe, it might be able to, but I've heard of even 2 ac 110s on a 55g. I know it sounds like alot for filtration, but the filters are generally rated more than they should are. Try entering your stock, tank size, and filters into Aqadvisor. I would do it, but don't have a computer available (on spring break vacation) and i don't want to try from my phone.
 
Keep in mind that aqadvisor does overdo it a little and/or isn't completely accurate, so IMO you can go down to more like 95-100% on filtration and 100-115% on stocking, beyond those you probably will be having to do extra water changes
 
fish can usually adapt to pH as long as it's not in the extreme range one way or the other. The thing you are going to want to avoid is pH fluctuation, which can harm your fish more than a less-ideal constant pH
 
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