55 gallon stocking

[matratzac]

Hey guys, right now I have a 55 gallon and wanted to figure out how many more fish I can get.

Right now I am limiting my goldfish tank to 3 goldies (one is a baby, one medium sized, other medium-large)

I have 2 cory cats (want to get more)

I have 2 white clouds (want to get more)

1 black mystery snail

So the tally is:
3 goldfish (2 lionhead, 1 panda telescope)
2 white clouds
2 cory cats
1 small snail

How many more white clouds/cory cats can I get?
Any other fish I should consider?

My filtration is as follows:
1 Penguin biowheel 200 on the left side of the tank
1 aquaclear 50 on the right side of the tank

I have a digital thermometer and my water temperature hovers around 79.

My water quality is fine, nothing to worry about there, and green algae grows like its nobodys business.

Thanks in advance!

 

[eah]

I'm guessing that people will get worked up about you having goldfish in with tropical fish. I used to have goldies myself, but I found them new homes because I wanted to go tropical. If you are very, very careful about water changes you might be able to pull off keeping goldfish with tropicals. However, I don't do it myself and have heard that goldfish are likely to eat small tropical fish since they are very greedy eaters. I've read and heard that a good rule of thumb for goldfish is 10 gallons per goldfish -- they are VERY messy. If you've got three goldfish already, then you might consider drawing up a stocking plan for a 25 gallon tank (55 gallons minus 30 gallons = 25 gallons). Also -- read up on the temperatures preferred by the fish you contemplate getting. Some fish prefer their temperatures in the 80s and they would definitely not be good tankmates for your goldies.

Sorry if I've misread your post and you aren't planning to combine tropical fish with your coldwater goldfish.

 

[matratzac]

I'm guessing that people will get worked up about you having goldfish in with tropical fish. I used to have goldies myself, but I found them new homes because I wanted to go tropical. If you are very, very careful about water changes you might be able to pull off keeping goldfish with tropicals. However, I don't do it myself and have heard that goldfish are likely to eat small tropical fish since they are very greedy eaters. I've read and heard that a good rule of thumb for goldfish is 10 gallons per goldfish -- they are VERY messy. If you've got three goldfish already, then you might consider drawing up a stocking plan for a 25 gallon tank (55 gallons minus 30 gallons = 25 gallons). Also -- read up on the temperatures preferred by the fish you contemplate getting. Some fish prefer their temperatures in the 80s and they would definitely not be good tankmates for your goldies.

Sorry if I've misread your post and you aren't planning to combine tropical fish with your coldwater goldfish.

white cloud mountain minnows arent tropical fish and corys thrive in the temperature i have, so unless i was considering something like angels then i dont think i have anything to worry about.
i know goldies are messy, they are my fav fish, thats why i only have 3 of them. i dont want to overstock but i know i can get some more schooling fish, im just not sure how many. :?

anybody else have opinions?

my parents are coming up to visit in a week so id like to have the tank 100% finished by then

 

[eah]

I forgot to add -- I did a bit of research about plecos and goldfish. Rubberlip plecos are very cute, stay small (about 4"), are relatively cheap (I got mine for about $5) and prefer cooler temperatures. That might be an interesting addition to your tank. I've heard people say that you should never put a pleco in with goldfish but I didn't ever have a problem back when I had my coldwater tank.

As for the overstocking -- I would go with 10 gallons per goldfish and then use the 1" of fish per gallon of water for the remaining gallons as a guideline. I always overestimate a little on the adult size of the fish just to give myself a little buffer. Also, as I'm sure you know, it depends as well on how often you do water changes. What's your program for that?

It sounds like a great setup you have there. Can you post photos??

 

[fish_4_all]

Personally, not going into the goldfish issues, I think the tank has a lot more potential than goldfish. If you want to keep them, remember one thing, they will eat anything that will fit in their mouth.

 

[matratzac]

Personally, not going into the goldfish issues, I think the tank has a lot more potential than goldfish. If you want to keep them, remember one thing, they will eat anything that will fit in their mouth.

goldfish are the coolest fish on earth, nothing better than seeing an 8 inch lionhead swimming around the tank

 

[morefishies]

here's my two cents...

considering you have 10 gallons per goldfish that gives you 25 gallons for white clouds and corydoras as eah said.

I think you could go for about 8 corydoras and 15-20 white clouds if you keep up your water changes. I guess it depends on your corydoras though. With pygmy cories you could have up to 20 but with bigger cories, 8-10 is a good number.

 

[matratzac]

anyone else?

 

[triazole]

i'm not sure if keeping cories/white clouds with goldies is a good idea - might become food eventually.
go through this post -
http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/fre...tions/40587-white-cloud-minnows-all-gone.html i tried keeping american flag fish, but they started nipping at the goldies. currently i have ruby barbs with them. but assuming you still want cories and WCs, i'd suggest about 10 WCs and 6 cories.
dojos are good additions too.