stocking ideas

[courtanee]

I have my 60 gallon all ready to go. Here's what I had in mind for it(planted with driftwood and rock)

2 angelfish
5 praecox(dwarf rainbowfish)
3 zebra loaches
4 otocinclus
6 cardinal tetra
1 synodontis eupterus

Any comments input etc?

 

[trickshot3102]

Here is a great site for stocking ideas:

AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

 

[Khuligirl93]

Sounds like a lovely tank! My suggestion would be to increase the rainbowfish school to 10 or more- they're amazing beautiful little fish, and the bigger the group they are in the more natural they will behave. One thing to remember though is that you want 2 or 3 times as many females as makes. In my 36gal I have 3 males and 5 females. The males have red fins and females have yellow/clear fins. The males will display to the females by swimming circles around them and spreading their bright red fins- I love watching them!
Also I don't think it would hurt to increase your schools of cardinals and Otos (but remember Otos need a very established tank and should not be added until it is a few months old).
Regarding the loaches- I'm not an expert on zebra loaches but I believe they are very similar to yoyos. I had 2 yoyos recently but had to return them because they were killing my neon tetras one by one every few days. Zebras might be different, but it would be worth looking into before you buy

 

[courtanee]

Ahhhhh! Thanks for the clarification on the praecox! I have 3 that have orange/yellow fins. Looks like I'll be needing to find some males!
I was thinking about more cardinals but wasn't sure if I was gonna be over stocked with that list. I do weekly 30-40% changes and cleanings

 

[courtanee]

Thanks trickshot for the link!!

 

[Khuligirl93]

No problem! with a 60gal I think you have plenty of space, especially if it's planted. (Unless there is an issue with the synodontis- I know nothing about them). You can put your desired stock into aquadvisor, but it is pretty conservative and I personally think it's fine to stock up to what it says us 120% as long as you have a good weekly water change schedule and are aware of your nitrate levels.

 

[courtanee]

Khuligirl,
The featherfin squeaker (synodontis) is such a cutie. A large catfish very hardy. I'm gonna half a clay pot and cover it with moss as a hideout for the catfish.
I have 40ppm straight out of my tap but I use either amquel or prime to get that under control. Is there a better way to do that? I always have to dose a lot of prime and I go through it quickly.

 

[Khuligirl93]

Oooo 40ppm of nitrate? That's pretty high. Probably best to make a new thread about that since the moderators prefer the threads stay on the same topic as the title so people searching the site can find info they're searching for. My guess would be that people are going to suggest you mix with RO water though, and remineralize.

 

[courtanee]

Good idea. I'll try that. As for now prime does the job.

 

[Khuligirl93]

To my knowledge, prime nor any other additive can remove nitrate. It may change the chemical composition of dangerous compounds like ammonia or nitrite temporarily- but the only way to lower nitrate us with water changes. Which is a problem when your tap has 40ppm. It might be a good idea to ask around because I know there are people way more knowledgeable than me on the subject of water chemistry.

 

[courtanee]

Prime doesn't get rid of it it just detoxifies it I believe.

 

[courtanee]

Finally found dome boys! Chasing the girls around as I type!

 

[Rivers2k]

Congrats on the new rainbows. I had a school of about 25 cardinals and 25 cherry barbs in my 75 gallon looked really cool. You should up your cardinals to get a larger school. Silver mollies look good with them to but they breed allot unless you get all females.

 

[courtanee]

Congrats on the new rainbows. I had a school of about 25 cardinals and 25 cherry barbs in my 75 gallon looked really cool. You should up your cardinals to get a larger school. Silver mollies look good with them to but they breed allot unless you get all females.

How many cardinals do you think I should get? I have 4 right now. I only have one filter running and I wanted to add a spiny eel to the list. A buddy has one for 10$.

 

[DragonFish71]

View attachment 218229

Finally found dome boys! Chasing the girls around as I type!

Just so you know, those are gold giant danios not rainbows They might have had them marked wrong.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I think the OP is talking about the fish behind the gold danios. Appears to me to be a male dwarf neon rainbow. Silver body, red fins, right shape.

OP- you didn't mention these danios in your first post

 

[courtanee]

I think the OP is talking about the fish behind the gold danios. Appears to me to be a male dwarf neon rainbow. Silver body, red fins, right shape.

OP- you didn't mention these danios in your first post

Oh yeah they are giant danios I was referring the new rainbows. The giant danios aren't staying, they were borrowed from a friend for cycling but its been 4 months Noe and time to give them back!

 

[Rivers2k]

How many cardinals do you think I should get? I have 4 right now. I only have one filter running and I wanted to add a spiny eel to the list. A buddy has one for 10$.

In a 60 gallon you could 15 -20 I love large schools of those. It looks awesome to see them dart back and forth in unison. I don't know much about the eels but I think they snack on smaller size fish like cardinals.

The onle thing I will warn you about with these guys is get a quarantine tank. I had some large schools built up and one outbreak of ich wiped them both out. Ich medicine doesnt work well on tetras and this was before I learned about the salt heat method. So I dont know how that does with tetras.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

With small fish (tetras ottos) and the flowing fins of the angels I wouldnt reccommend a syno. Maybe a syno nigriventris because tehy stay around 4", but they can be fiesty. Also, the loaches should be in groups of at least 5.

 

[courtanee]

Yeah I had an outbreak of camallanus worms awhile back and that absolutely made me qt everything after that and treat with quick cure before I put them in. The camallanus wouldn't have been prevented that way buy if even a small disease is stopped its worth it.