55 Gallon - Day 7

[kdcorliss]

Hi all,

Against everyones opinion I went with using fish to cycle my tank. So far things have been fine. Been checking water daily and doing water changes as neccesary. No large ammonia spike yet, but it is starting to show up on tests.

Added a bit of decoration and a background to the tank, plan on doing a bit more with it.

I have thinking about having Angels as a centerpiece fish but everywhere I read there are contrasting opinions on what the adult size will be. I have seen everything from 4" to 10" which makes a big difference on the stocking plan.

Also I want to add a pleco or two once the tank is cycled. But would prefer the smaller variety in the 4-5" range. The lfs stocks snowballs which I think have an excellent look, but havent found what there adult size would be.

Thanks for everyones help.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Bristlenose Plecos are very cute and stay within the size range.

The reason why Angel sizes vary is because it depends on the Angel. From what I have gathered (new to Angels myself), the larger ones such as Marbles and Black Veils grow substantially larger than something like the Blushing. I haven't read 10 inches, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

 

[RoK]

By 10" they probably meant from the top of the fish to the bottom, instead of the usual left to right, is my guess. Some do get pretty tall.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Snowball Plecos (L102) get to be about 6.5".

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/loricari/hypancis/204_F.PHP

It is a carnivore but will also do well on a variety of foods. Feed mainly with spirulina, tabimin and some shrimpmix / artemia

 

[TomK2]

Well, not EVERYONE would tell you not to cycle with fish! I musta missed your posts. I have done this safely and humanely several times, and you can check out my rather wordy treatise on the topic at:

http://home.comcast.net/~tomstank/tomstank_files/page0017.htm

From what I have seen in your tanks picture, you seem to have a rather low bio-load, and could quite possibley never see ammonia or nitrite AND have an established biofilter in about 6 weeks. Hope it works out!

 

[TomK2]

Oh, and angels make great centerpiece fish for a 55 gal tank. Two mature adults would be happy in a 55 gal community tank. If you buy them reall small, you could start out with 4 to 6, then remove the survivors to get down to two as they grow. Angels are real hardy, once you have an established tank and get over the initial losses. If you add angels at different times, you will likely have some losses. If you add angels of different sizes and ages, you might have some losses. Best to get them the same size and age, and introduce them at the same time. Make them the last fish you introduce unless you get juveniles. Definitely don't do it until the tank is well cycled / established. I think a max size in the 4 to 6 inches is most common, but I have seen some real monsters from time to time.

Nice looking tank. Well done.

 

[kdcorliss]

Thats a great read TomK2, we are now on day 11 and I have yet to get any signifigant readings from testing and the 6 platys appear to be quite happy and healthy. I feed them lighlty a couple times a day and they are voracious eaters. A few of them were a bit aggressive before I got some decorations in the tank, but now everyone seems pretty happy. I have been considering putting in 5 tetras to increase the bio load a little bit. This is my first tank over 10 gallons so I wasnt sure how many fish to start with. In my smaller tanks I always used 2 fish in my ten gallon tanks to cycle them.

Once the angels are full size my tank would only be able to accomodate 2, preferably a mated pair ?

I am thinking of gouramis or angels as centerpiece fish, with a group of mixed platys and a group of same type tetras. Also a pleco of the smaller variety would finish off the tank.

 

[TomK2]

Just remember to go slow, otherwise you will get ammonia and nitrite, and have to do water changes to keep them low. But as you read, I increased to a similar bioload at 2 weeks too. Then it is no more until you see nitrates increase. That means you have to measure nitrates now, because sometimes the intitial reading is not zero. I did not do any water changes until about 30 days, and that was just because I wanted to do a light gravel vac. If you feed sparingly, keep the bioload low, you should be able to grow a biofilter without seeing ammonia or nitrite at your kits lower limit of detection. This requires patience and faith that it is taking place, even though your test kit does not show it. Feeding a lot with a low bioload means that uneaten food gets to the bottom because there are so few fish to catch every flake, which causes more ammonia, which defeats the purpose of a low bioload.

Having a mating pair of angels can cause difficulty. Spawning can make them agressive to other fish. But every angel owner would love to see spawning, and perhaps even grow out some fry. If they spawn, next time move them to an QT/spawning tank by themselves, and this forum has advice on how to do this. I think a 20 gal is the recommended size for angel spawning.

Good luck!

 

[TomK2]

Oh, and elmers has a web page with community stocking ideas, not bad to check out:

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/h701elmers_freshwater_handbook.htm