How to stock tank

[AnimalCrazy]

Hello-
I am about to be setting up a new 55 gallon freshwater community tank.

I know definitely that it will have guppies.

However, I would also like it to have some schooling fish.

I would love to have rummynose tetras, green neons, pygmy corys, and celestial pearl danios. I would also like to have some ghost shrimp and 2 blue mystery snails.

My question is-with these species in mind, how would you recommend I go about stocking this tank? I would like the bulk of the fish to be guppies.

I figured I could have 6 of each of the schooling species, and then about 20 guppies.

Would this look messy? would it be overstocked? Should I not do all 4 schooling species?

What do you recommend?

The tank will be heavily planted with a 30 gallon sump.

Thank you!

 

[Ketso]

Not sure what your idea of "heavily planted" is. But if it's what I think of as "heavily planted", my opinion is you'll be overstocked. Here's my thinking. Taking into account the substrate and that you can't fill a tank to the very top, you're probably in the ballpark of 40 to 45 gallons of actual water in the 55. Now fill it with plants that take up a lot of space and your fish have, what, 30 to 35 gallons (or less) of free space to roam. That's a bit crowded for nearly 50 critters. Again, it's MY opinion. Others will chime in.

 

[AnimalCrazy]

Not sure what your idea of "heavily planted" is. But if it's what I think of as "heavily planted", my opinion is you'll be overstocked. Here's my thinking. Taking into account the substrate and that you can't fill a tank to the very top, you're probably in the ballpark of 40 to 45 gallons of actual water in the 55. Now fill it with plants that take up a lot of space and your fish have, what, 30 to 35 gallons (or less) of free space to roam. That's a bit crowded for nearly 50 critters. Again, it's MY opinion. Others will chime in.

Yep, that's what I was thinking too. What would you recommend then in terms of numbers?

 

[Sharmon]

In my opinion it depends on whether you want more plants or fish. Are you going with all male Guppies? If not then you need 2 females with every male. And they are prolific breeders.From what I have read Tetras are middle dwellers and like to school. I would stay with only one kind of Tetra. In my opinion I would choose either the ghost shrimp or the pygmy cory and 1 snail.
Like Ketso said you are running out of room.
You can always get another tank.
Those are my thoughts from reading everything I can on the fish load of a tank.

 

[AnimalCrazy]

In my opinion it depends on whether you want more plants or fish. Are you going with all male Guppies? If not then you need 2 females with every male. And they are prolific breeders.From what I have read Tetras are middle dwellers and like to school. I would stay with only one kind of Tetra. In my opinion I would choose either the ghost shrimp or the pygmy cory and 1 snail.
Like Ketso said you are running out of room.
You can always get another tank.
Those are my thoughts from reading everything I can on the fish load of a tank.[/QUOTE

Thanks! I definitely want more fish than plants. I was under the impression that planted tanks are great for fish so I am planning on a planted. I will only be getting male guppies. I'm thinking of maybe eliminating the rummys because they grow up to 2 inches, whereas the neons, CPDs and corys only get about 1 inch. I might also eliminate the neons. I was under the impression that shrimp didn't make a big impact on the bioload of the tank. I'll look into whether or not I should still get them. Finally, is it ok to only get one snail? I don't really see why not, it just seems like most people order more...but I'm fine with just one. Thank you for all your advice!

 

[Sharmon]

Plants are great for fish but they need room to swim freely and play. Have the plants just don't go over board the plants will grow. Besides you want to see the fish. From what I read it's 1 inch of adult fish per gallon that adult size I might be wrong on that though.

 

[AnimalCrazy]

Plants are great for fish but they need room to swim freely and play. Have the plants just don't go over board the plants will grow. Besides you want to see the fish. From what I read it's 1 inch of adult fish per gallon that adult size I might be wrong on that though.

I see your point. The 1 inch of fish per gallon rule really is not always reliable...you could have, for example, many more tetras in a 55 gallon than you could goldfish because the goldfish are very messy, while tetras have a very small bioload. But yes, it can be useful.

 

[Sharmon]

This is what Ketso said:
Not sure what your idea of "heavily planted" is. But if it's what I think of as "heavily planted", my opinion is you'll be overstocked. Here's my thinking. Taking into account the substrate and that you can't fill a tank to the very top, you're probably in the ballpark of 40 to 45 gallons of actual water in the 55. Now fill it with plants that take up a lot of space and your fish have, what, 30 to 35 gallons (or less) of free space to roam. That's a bit crowded for nearly 50 critters.

I agree with them it's not just bio-load it's also space. Less is more in my opinion. Something that's incredibly hard to do.
One thing you can do look at other peoples tanks on here.
I'm at the very beginning of my 29 gallon tank. I'm reading every forum that comes close to what I want.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Hello-
I am about to be setting up a new 55 gallon freshwater community tank.

I know definitely that it will have guppies.

However, I would also like it to have some schooling fish.

I would love to have rummynose tetras, green neons, pygmy corys, and celestial pearl danios. I would also like to have some ghost shrimp and 2 blue mystery snails.

My question is-with these species in mind, how would you recommend I go about stocking this tank? I would like the bulk of the fish to be guppies.

I figured I could have 6 of each of the schooling species, and then about 20 guppies.

Would this look messy? would it be overstocked? Should I not do all 4 schooling species?

What do you recommend?

The tank will be heavily planted with a 30 gallon sump.

Thank you!

Small tetra of a similar body size/shape will shoal together. Occasionally they'll split back into species groups.
Personally I prefer a large single species group at each level. (My first tank was a mix up of bits of everything, didn't like it as much as the separated tanks.)

So your lower level would be the Pygmy corydoras, although a 55 would be ok with the larger species, you'd get 8-10 easy, more of the Pygmy sp.

For a shoal of tetra anything over 10 has good impact visually, the closer to 20 you get, the better.

With 85 gallons of water total and 55 gals display tank, these numbers are not unreasonable.
Plus your guppy.

Smaller tetra and possibly the celestial pearls would live for around 4-6 years. So you could get everything today, or enjoy one shoal at a time! Really that is your decision.

 

[flchamp89]

Cpd love plants and with rummy nose being active. I would not put together

 

[AnimalCrazy]

This is what Ketso said:
Not sure what your idea of "heavily planted" is. But if it's what I think of as "heavily planted", my opinion is you'll be overstocked. Here's my thinking. Taking into account the substrate and that you can't fill a tank to the very top, you're probably in the ballpark of 40 to 45 gallons of actual water in the 55. Now fill it with plants that take up a lot of space and your fish have, what, 30 to 35 gallons (or less) of free space to roam. That's a bit crowded for nearly 50 critters.

I agree with them it's not just bio-load it's also space. Less is more in my opinion. Something that's incredibly hard to do.
One thing you can do look at other peoples tanks on here.
I'm at the very beginning of my 29 gallon tank. I'm reading every forum that comes close to what I want.

Hmm I haven't even really thought about that...good point! I'll be sure not to over-plant.

 

[flchamp89]

Ya...I figure my 10g is about 7.5. But...I don't think looking at the plants as a negative has merit. The more plants the better. Majority of fish have zero concern with how think your plant mass is.

I always want at least 50 percent mass.

 

[toolman]

Ya...I figure my 10g is about 7.5. But...I don't think looking at the plants as a negative has merit. The more plants the better. Majority of fish have zero concern with how think your plant mass is.

I always want at least 50 percent mass.

Second this thought, unless it's absolutely a thick jungle, you can't have enough plants IMHO.

 

[AnimalCrazy]

Second this thought, unless it's absolutely a thick jungle, you can't have enough plants IMHO.

That's what I was thinking. The fish don't mind!