55 planted South American- Overstocked?

[jadedSuperman]

Hello, I have doing research for some time now and keep ending up on this forum. I have tried to absorb as much information as I can but there is a LOT of information out there. I have a 55 that housed my oscar for 6 years before he passed away. I am now converting it into a South American Community tank. I am so used to having one very large aggressive fish though so the community thing at this scale is new to me, although I have done smaller 29 community tanks in the past. So after checking around I have created a list of what I would like to stock the tank with:
1 dwarf gourami
8 emerald corydoras
10 neon tetras
6 dwarf rainbowfish
1 Bolivian ram
6 Zebra Otocinclus
Is this too much? or is there still room for more?
Also ANY suggestions on plants would be greatly appreciated.
The tank is a standard 55 gallon tank that will be planted with small gravel/sand substrate. I will be running 2 x 60 gallon rated HOB filters... one on each side of the tank.
Thank you for any suggestions

 

[azmodan]

What sort of lighting will you have?

 

[Rivercats]

That stocking IMO would be fine.

 

[Fishperson]

I think that is a bit too much actually. A couple of notes:

Emerald corys grow HUGE! Like, 4 inches. With a smaller species, like corydoras habrosus, hastatus, pygmaeus, (spelling?) you could have much more fish. Also, otocinclus poop a LOT. Literally, you can see pieces of their **** floating around them when they suck on the algae in your tank. Don't get me wrong, they rock, but they poop a lot.

Edit: Actually, emerald corys aren't even corys. Their scientific name is brochis splendens, and they can get to 4" long.

 

[jadedSuperman]

Thanks for the replies, For lighting I currently have the Aqueon colormax t8 bulbs, one on each side with the split hood. This can be changed if needed though. The Oto's are optional, If I got rid of the Oto what would be a good substitute? I am not a fan of the hatchet fish.

 

[jadedSuperman]

I will probably go with a smaller Cory too then. Maybe a panda or peppered school.

 

[Rivercats]

I have twice that many Oto's in my one 55g and they don't put out that much waste and have a small bio-load. I have close to 30, maybe more in my 220g. If you do weekly 50% WC's your water will stay pristine. One thing about Oto's tho is that they do better in mature tanks over 4 months old. A lot of their diet is actually the bio-film which new tanks have very little of.

Also Emerald cory's rarely grow to that size in an aquarium unless kept in very large tanks. I like Julii cory's as they are very active if kept in a larger group. If you can find them Apisdoras are very active little guys which are in the cory family as well. I have two different types. I have 10 in my 55g nano fish tank.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello jaded...

As long as the fish won't get too large and are generally peaceful, then all you need to worry about is the water chemistry. A heavily stocked tank will require a lot of plants like Anacharis, Pennywort, Anubias varieties, Java fern, any of the mosses, like Singapore, and Cryptocoryne. All these are easy to grow and aren't very particular about lighting.

The plants and the fish will take care of themselves, provided you keep their water pure. I keep larger tanks too and all are heavily stocked with fish. I keep the above plants and change out large amounts of tank water every week. Half the volume of the tank isn't too much.

B

 

[jadedSuperman]

Thank yor for all the help, I have went ahead and got some plants from my LPS although I was not able to stick to only south american plants. So I am not doing a full Biotope but rather using it as a starting point. The Plants I have now are:
Lobelia Cardinalis (Cardinal Plant)
Cryptocoryne Undulata
Dwarf Hairgrass
Anubius Nana
I still want to get some java moss and driftwood along with few more plants.
I don't mind some Tea color but want more clear water but still having the benefits of the Tannins.
Any Suggestions of Driftwood?
I have also updated my stock list since the Rainbowfish don't really fit the water parameters.
Updated list:
1 dwarf gourami (Maybe)
8 panda corydoras
8 Cardinal tetras
8 Columbian Red/Blue Tetras
2 German Blue rams (pair)
6 Zebra Otocinclus
I don't know about the Gourami, I want a centerpiece fish in the upper part of the tank. I wanted a blue Angelfish but I heard it will end up eating the cardinal fish.
Any other recommendations instead of a Gourami, maybe one that fits the South American species list and gets along with the list above?
Any information is very welcome

 

[Rivercats]

Angelfish will not eat the cardinals. I've kept them over 30 years and currently I have 12 large adults in a 220g with close to 30 cardinals and 20ish runnynose tetras. I raise them around little fish and have had tiny fish in the tank without issue. If you wanted wild caught Altum angels then you couldn't keep neons or small, non adult cardinals as these are food in the wild. You have to remember todays angels, especially the specially colored ones, are far removed from their wild counter parts.

You would have to watch that the Columbia Tetra's don't nip at an angels fins.

With the lighting you listed above you won't have much luck with Dwarf Hair Grass. It needs high light, CO2, and good macro and micro fert dosing.