heeeeere fishy fishy......stocking question

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crispo069

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Mar 13, 2007
Messages
55
ok....so, many of you have helped me get to this point, successfully, so I'll keep picking the brains of those that know better than me (or is it "I").....anyway, I have set up my tank, added some plants (pics to follow shortly), cycled the tank, added a few oto's for that inevitabel algae that seems to follow the plants everywhere.....and now (drumroll please)....I'm finally ready to add fish.

I've done some research and have decided what fish I want:

72 u.s. gallon bowfront

6 Panda cories
6 Otos (already in)
12 Harlequin Rasboras
12 Cardinals
6 Zebra Danio
6 Turquoise Danio (aka Pear or Blue)
6 Cherry barbs
2 SAE's (got some nasty hair algae i inherited with my Java ferns...)

So, I guess my question is two sided.....

1) most of these fish will eat bloodworms, however, in my research some state frozen and some state freeze dried.....are they interchangeable?????

2) are these too many fish for my tank???? Again, it is moderatley planted and I'm running a Filstar XP3 (rated for 350gph)

The tank has been up and running for about 2 weeks now. Most of my plants have some algae on them already, and I also noticed some growing on the back glass so the oto's will at least have a bit to eat.

As for the fish.....I listed them in order of addition to the tank (except for the oto's and cories). I knew that I cant add all the fish at once and was going to do one species at a time. I figured that since they were all small fish, I could get away with the larger numbers in the final population. The cardinals stay pretty small, the otos and cories stay "out of the way" and the rest dont get to be more than 1.5 inches or so. Also, my filter is rated for 175 us gallons...so I figured that could handle a bit more bioload. Then of course, you got the plants, which help also.

it might seem like I know what I'm talking about, but I'm really just regurgitating what I've been reading for the last few weeks. I dont want to do things because I "think" I know what I'm doing, but would rather take my info and look for confirmation or rejection....

ok....questions, comments???
 
I like the stocking. They are all small fish so I don't think it is overcrowded. You may decide you like a bigger school and less species but that is up to you.

Blood worms are blood worms, your fish will prefer frozen but freeze dried works too. Remember to feed other things as well. Variety is very important. A good flake food and some sinking pellets will serve you well.

Looking forward to pictures.
 
pics are coming very soon.....the flakes were a given. I just wasnt sure about the worms. I've never done variety before, so I wasnt sure about the worms. I'd like to do one big school of fish, but the mrs and the little one want more variety. Hey Rich311k...I see youre from long island...ever been to aquarium adventure on Carle Place????
 
As long as you pace yourself adding the fish, I don't think there is anything wrong with that list. It probably is near the max bio-load for that tank, so keep that in mind. Of course the plants and XP3 should help.

As for the frozen v. freeze dried debate - i think that the prevailing thought is that frozen retains more useful nutritional value versus freeze drying. That is why generally frozen is more expensive for a lot less. Overall, I would recommend frozen, but to each his own.

Being that your tank is planted, it will be a lot more responsive to adding more fish than a "regular" tank. Make sure you acclimate your fish, and if possible, QT them. Be very careful once you put the cories into the tank, because they are scaleless, and respond very badly to lots of common medicines.

Cardinals are very touchy fish, and require very stable water to survive IME. I have been unsuccessful in keeping them alive, so I have given up on them for now. You may have a better experience, but I would definitely wait to add those to the tank. And they will appreciate the tank a lot more once the plants have grown in :).

Good luck and keep up updated on how things go!
 
I've heard that about the cardinals....maybe I'll leave those guys for last. I was figuring one species per week. My favorite "Local"FS is actually about 45 minutes away so I can only go on Saturday's. Is one week enough for filter "catch up"???
 
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