stock advise

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Boomer2244

Aquarium Advice Freak
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Apr 28, 2011
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I have a 55g tank with an aqueon 400 and an aqua clear 50 running in it and a few moss balls

Current stock
4-serpae tetras
3- cherry barbs
1- golf barb
4 buenos aires tetras
3- black neons
3- emporer tetras
5- danios
4 corys
1- albino bristlenose pleco
4- prestella tetras
3- swords
1 Molly
1 platy

My question is i put 2 "centerpiece" fish in and I'm stuck i'm currently looking at a honey groumi, a Bolivian ram, an apistogramma hongsloi and a female veiltail beta. Does any1 have any advise on which I could put with what I already have?( since I know I'm not fully stocked yet)
 
I would say you're pretty well stocked already. You might want to add some bottom feeders in there and maybe rehome the few tetras that aren't in a school. The platties are going to increase the stock with live fry as time goes on as well.
 
i have a 55g tank with an aqueon 400 and an aqua clear 50 running in it and a few moss balls

current stock
4-serpae tetrasneed 2 more
3- cherry barbsneed 3 more
1- golf barbneed 5 more
4 buenos aires tetrasneed 2 more
3- black neonsneed 3 more
3- emporer tetras need 3 more
5- daniosneed 1 more
4 corysneed 2 more
1- albino bristlenose pleco
4- prestella tetrasneed 2 more
3- swords
1 molly
1 platy

my question is i put 2 "centerpiece" fish in and i'm stuck i'm currently looking at a honey groumi, a bolivian ram, an apistogramma hongsloi and a female veiltail beta. Does any1 have any advise on which i could put with what i already have?( since i know i'm not fully stocked yet)

no centerpiece fish you need to fix the problems and get rid of some fish as is
 
The general rule of thumb is
1 inch of fully grown fish per uk gallon of cold and marine water
2 inch of fully grown fish per uk gallon tropical water
I.e
55 gal= 55inch(137.5 cm) cold & marine
55 gal= 110 inch(275 cm) tropical
FULLY GROWN FISH

But remember your tank size may state 55 gal. But you will need to take into accout water displacement by you substrate and ornaments.
This may take your water volume down to only 52-50gal.

Good luck sound like you have a nice setup there any chance of a pic to see?

Information taken of a good website for fish calculation.
 
koz said:
The general rule of thumb is
1 inch of fully grown fish per uk gallon of cold and marine water
2 inch of fully grown fish per uk gallon tropical water
I.e
55 gal= 55inch(137.5 cm) cold & marine
55 gal= 110 inch(275 cm) tropical
FULLY GROWN FISH

But remember your tank size may state 55 gal. But you will need to take into accout water displacement by you substrate and ornaments.
This may take your water volume down to only 52-50gal.

Good luck sound like you have a nice setup there any chance of a pic to see?

Information taken of a good website for fish calculation.

That rule isn't very accurate... It basically says that an 18 inch pleco could fit in a 20 gallon tank.
 
Not trying to be rude at all here, but any guideline that involves inches of fish and gallons of water should really be ignored IMO. Same goes for stocking calculator sites.

Also, 6 to a school isn't some magical number that is going to make the group of fish exponentially happier than a group of 5.

If this were my tank, I'd recommend choosing a few groups of fish that you like, and stocking 10-12 of each. A mishmash of small groups of different species is interesting at first, but you won't get the same experience watching them as you will with larger groups.

I suspect that the honey gourami or betta would be mercilessly nipped (if not while the fish are small, then definitely later), and the Apistogramma and Bolivian ram would be incredibly difficult to feed with all that activity going on above them.
 
I think most people have the common sense not to put an 18inch fish in a 20 gal tank. Let's keep it in perspective. Guy was talking community tank. And the calculations work with generally purchased fish not specimen tanks. If you wanted to talk specimen tanks then that's different and IMO any fish that grows bigger than 10 inch(25 cm) shouldn't be kept in a tank because it need room to swim and move. Unless you can and have the room for a really big tank. Which may I add most people don't.
 
koz said:
I think most people have the common sense not to put an 18inch fish in a 20 gal tank. Let's keep it in perspective. Guy was talking community tank. And the calculations work with generally purchased fish not specimen tanks. If you wanted to talk specimen tanks then that's different and IMO any fish that grows bigger than 10 inch(25 cm) shouldn't be kept in a tank because it need room to swim and move. Unless you can and have the room for a really big tank. Which may I add most people don't.

But you also have to remember, each fish has different needs. That rule doesn't factor in aggression, need to school, and area of the water column the fish swim in. Research is really the most appropriate way to stock.
 
I think most people have the common sense not to put an 18inch fish in a 20 gal tank. Let's keep it in perspective. Guy was talking community tank. And the calculations work with generally purchased fish not specimen tanks. If you wanted to talk specimen tanks then that's different and IMO any fish that grows bigger than 10 inch(25 cm) shouldn't be kept in a tank because it need room to swim and move. Unless you can and have the room for a really big tank. Which may I add most people don't.

Check Atlanta Craigslist sometime. You might be surprised. ;)
 
I total agree with you with out an argument that you need to research the species your going to put together due to conflicts and aggression

I would advise anyone to think about what type of tank and fish they are going to buy before even getting their tank.
But when it comes to how meany fish per volume of water, for a general community tank it is a reasonably good rule of thumb to work with.
 
Lol severum mama umm I see your point
We are in every sense human
 
ok let's get back to helping out boomer. I really think you need to thin out your stock and re-home a couple species. this may give you some room for a centerpiece. i love DG. i have 4 and they are great together and with others. they are right about the betta being nipped but i think you will be ok with a gourami depending on who you rehome!!
 
ok let's get back to helping out boomer. I really think you need to thin out your stock and re-home a couple species. this may give you some room for a centerpiece. i love DG. i have 4 and they are great together and with others. they are right about the betta being nipped but i think you will be ok with a gourami depending on who you rehome!!

As the thread is about stocking opinions, it didn't go off topic. ;)

How long have you had the 4 DG? This is most often a recipe for disaster.

The honey gourami is a small shy fish. The Buenos Aires and Emperor tetras are large and boisterous, and definitely have the potential to nip IMO... and with proper care, they will grow larger than the gourami. I see this as a major issue for the hypothetical gourami.
 
i have had them for 4 months now. i'm getting that 44 gal hex corner tank so 2 of them will be re-homed there even though everyone is very peaceful and pleasant around each other right now. I didn't mean it went off topic, i meant it went into more of an argument over the fish/gal rule than helpin the guy out with his proposed issue. no big deal though.
 
A few months isn't indicative of long term success though. If it ends up working out still a couple years down the road then that's cool, I'm just saying more often than not multiple DGs will harass or kill each other eventually.
 
They are a territorial fish not agressive fish. 2 very different things. If you provide them a big enough tank and alot of cover and hiding spots, they will not have a problem. That is advice i got from a breeder and keeper of DG who has been doing that for 8 years. If your good at keeping them than you can correlate personalities and put together a good match.
 
Yes. Territorial with their own kind. That's conspecific aggression. Breaking up lines of sight is a good thing, but doesn't always work. I've kept various species of anabantoids for 8 years now as well, and 44 pentagon isn't a big tank. The fact remains that you're basing your opinion of keeping DGs together after having done so for 4 months. That is not indicative of long term success. I've stated my opinion and I'll leave it at that.

Now we're off topic. Let's stop this here. Good luck with the gouramis.
 
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