Please help me with stocking an 88 gallon tank

[Lovin Fish]

Hi everyone! Please help me. I'm planning the set up of an 88 gallon (48" long, 19" wide, 22" tall) tropical tank (upgrading from 30 gallon 36" long). I did tons of research (and still going). I have my tank planned out but need some ideas for fish.

My 8 Glass Cats are my favorite! I have different schools of tetras, and would like to re-home them. Also have a male Betta and 1 pair of Kribs waiting for the big tank plus a "clean up crew". Rather than the Tetras, (might keep the rummynose)I want to put one school of a larger peaceful community fish that adds action and a pop of color to the middle/top areas, as well as bold black fish. Mollies are brackish, so they won't work. Gouramis won't do well with their cousin the betta or the bottom dwelling Kribs. Not discus, although I love them; I don't feel I'm ready for such a fish. See my dilema? I can't find the right fish. Something to compliment the beautiful, long bodied glass catfish.


If you're interested in what I have in my 30 gallon, here it is:
* 8 Glass Catfish (my favorite)
* 6 Serpae Tetra (high fin)
* 1 Black Skirt Tetra
* 3 White Skirt Tetra
* 7 Rummynose Tetra (love these little guys)
* 6 Glowlight Tetra
* 3 Corydoras
* 5 Kuhli Loach
* 2 Singapore Shrimp
* 1 Common Pleco (came with the tank) (will be re-homed)

Nitrates 0, Nitrites 0, PH 6.7
My tank flows nicely with the schools. It's just not right though. Something is missing...a WOW factor! I love tight schooling fish like the glass catfish. Not so much the schooling behavior of the skirt tetras. I'm not worried about the betta getting nipped because the tank will be set up in such a way, he will be vertually un-noticed. If a problem does arise, it will be taken care of. I prefer not to have shredded fins and stressed fish.

Thank you for your suggestions!

 

[ebondaruk]

IMO you are really overstocked, that stock list is probably more suited for the 88.GL with your new tank

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Ya i agree, that way too much for a 30. I would put them in the 88, and maybe add more corys, black skirts, and shrimp.

 

[torres]

42 fish in a 30 gallon

Edit: this might help you. http://aqadvisor.com/

 

[ashleynicole]

why bash her? She said she was upgrading to the 88 gallon so she is doing the right thing getting a larger tank.

Personally I think your pleco will probably do fine in the 88 gallon. I would increase the school of cories and rehome whichever schooling fish that you don't really like. Look into rainbow fish. Some boesamani or turqouise rainbow fish would look awesome in a tank that size, especially if you decide to plant it.

 

[Lovin Fish]

@ ashleynicole, thank you. I appreciate you understanding what I am trying to accomplish. Because of my stocking issue, I do 25% water changes every 2 days and check my water parameters once a week...perfect! N-0, N-0 & PH-6.7)
I know without a doubt my tank is over stocked, thanks to trusting the LFS owners (a married couple, whome I've known personally for 15 years!) I researched all about stocking. 1" of full bodied fish per gallon and 1" of thin fish per 2 gallons. But, I trusted them and believed them full heartedly when they guided me to which fish to keep. It makes me mad that they lied to me I would expect that from a chain pet store! Wow, people would be really bashing me if they knew what was in the tank before I took bags of fish back to them! The tank was horrible! Still is. At least most the fish are all tiny juveniles right now.
I'm trying to get the LFS to take back the Serpae Tetras, the the Skirt Tetras, possibly the corydoras. The Glowlights will be moved to my son's tank (not set up yet). 2 Kuhli Loaches will be moved to my daughters tank (also not set up yet). The pleco is leaving for sure. Too much bio-load.

ps.I am 100% female! Laughing Out Loud (since I can't use "computer short-talk")

 

[ashleynicole]

ps.I am 100% female! Laughing Out Loud (since I can't use "computer short-talk")

lol, sorry, it is hard to distinguish male/female based on user names sometimes... ha ha.... I edited it

 

[Lovin Fish]

Oh no worries! You didn't have to edit! Thanks again for your suggestions!

 

[ashleynicole]

Oh no worries! You didn't have to edit! Thanks again for your suggestions!

No problem, its good that your upgrading. Unfortunately some mom and pop stores are very much set into their old ways of thinking. It's not really the "inch per gallon" that matters, but rather the activity of the fish along with the size and temperament you have to take all of those things into account.

 

[mudraker]

, I do 25% water changes every 2 days and check my water parameters once a week

This will keep issues of overstocking to a minimum.

If you are looking for colorful, peaceful, tight schoolers, check out Harlequin Rasboras. They hang out on mid to top, also, very busy fish that get along with other peaceful fish.

Or have you considered a really large school of rummynose?

Large schools of same-type fish can be really awesome when they swim tightly together

 

[Lovin Fish]

@ ashleynicole You are very correct. I have a notebook that I used to list peaceful species, looked at images of each, highlighted my favorites and narrowed it down by comparing their needs, size, habits, tempermant toward eachother and other types of fish, habitat, feeding. One thing I have learned from experience with Ich, is to be careful not to combine medicine sensitive fish with fish prone to disease breakouts. A tough one is to not combine salt sensitive fish with fish who can handle salt in the water in case a salt/heat treatment is needed.

 

[Lovin Fish]

@ mudraker I love HR! Rummynose too. Originally I had 7 Rummynose, added 5 more cause I liked them so much, but when there was 12, they quit schooling so nicely and broke of in pairs and 3's. So I took 5 back. Nice school again.

I love 4 " Pictus Catfish, but read they eat small fish the size of Neons (under an inch). Would they eat Rummynose? They are 2" on average. Here's what I'm thinking...

Pretend there's nothing in the tank.

88 gallon 48" long x 19" wide x 22" Tall

8 Glass Catfish (middle/Top)
3-4 Pictus Catfish (Bottom/Middle)
2 fully grown Bamboo shrimp (All over)
7 Rummynose (or Serpae Tetras due to Pictus Cat) (Bottom)
7 Harlequin Rasaboras (or a large shoaling colorful species 4"-6") (Middle/Top)
1 small algae eater (All over)

I plugged this into a stocking tool and it said was 96% stocked. Perfect!

 

[mudraker]

It looks good except I'd be worried about the Pictus cats with most of these fish because they are known to try to eat smaller fish, even if they can't fit in their mouths right away...they often pick on them.

You might want to look at different bottom fish, though the pictus is hard to beat for the beautiful spots. You might want to look at Synodontis or a Synodontis hybrid, or hopolos for spots, and cleaning capabilities.

Siamensis are good, but not as distictive looking. They are excellent tank cleaners though and usually peaceful.

Even a few calico variety of brushy nosed pleco might be nice. They only get about six inches in lenght when full grown.

 

[Chronos313]

Your new stocking plan looks great! I love my rummy noses also. What kind of filtration do you plan on having? Also I noticed you say no nitrates, what kind of tests do you use? If you like colorful maybe look into Praecox dwarf rainbows. I have a few and love the coloration when the light bounces off their bodies.

 

[Lovin Fish]

Thankyou guys!! I love suggestions!
So @ Mudraker I checked out each species you suggested, and I am sooo inlove with the synodontis Multipunctatuc. I am definetely skipping the pictus and getting a school of these cute little 4" darlings! Thank you thank you thankyou!
@Chrono 313, I went to youtube and watched some vids of the dwarf neon rainbows. Amazing little fish! I watched one completely change colors from blue, to green to yellow! Amazing! It's a toss up for me with them and the Roseline Shark. I am hesitant about the Roseline though because they are not bred in captivity (like Glass Catfish) and are very popular, hence possibly causing strain on the population. I will do more research before I buy. I will not promote depleting natural communities. No Way!

So!

7 Rummynose 2" (or 6 Serpae Tetras (?")
5 synodontis Multipunctatuc 4"
8 Glass Catfish 4"
7 Roseline Shark 5" (or Dwarf Neon Rainbow (?")
Maybe 2 Bamboo Shrimp ?

I will be plugging this in to the stocking site along with several different filter suggestions to be sure everything will be perfect!

The possible filters are:
Rena Filsta XP, Aqua Clear AC110, or Fluva Canister. Possibly a Mariland Magnum 350. I need to do some research...to decide through these

 

[Lovin Fish]

Alright! With the help of the cool stocking site, Aqadvisor, I'm closer! Rainbow fish, Rummynose and Serpae Tetras require lower PH than the Synodontis Catfish, so I 'm thinking 1 male Kribensis. A pair would not be good for the shrimp or Glass Cats. Also, I read they beat on eachother without a dither fish to chase. Anyonme have personal experience with keeping 1 Krib? Wondering if he would be happy in his shell condo without a wife to argue with.
Still in the air about the safety of the Roseline Shark (Denisonii Barb), but if the species is NOT suffering due to demand, I will so get them! They have just what I was looking for to compliment the Glass Cats. Long, torpedo like bodies with a lot of color!

Here's what I got from the aqadvisor tool: (did find out that MalawiMahem had my gallons off by a few. Or, perhaps Aqadvisor does? I'll go by the smaller volume just to be safe.

Check out all the info this tool gives! Woo-Hoo Cool!

Recommended temperature range: 75.2 - 77 F. [SIZE=-1][Display in Celsius][/SIZE]
Recommended pH range: 7.6 - 8.
Recommended hardness range: 10 - 15 dH.

By using the Rena Filstar XP4, you have plenty of aquarium filtration capacity.

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 173%.
Recommended water change schedule: 34% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 107%.

Tell me what you all think! I would love to know! Very exciting!!!

 

[ashleynicole]

Personally I find aqua adviser to be pretty useless. And you don't really have to worry about different Ph requirements, as long as your Ph OS stable, most fish will be able to adapt. I have very hard tapwater with a Ph of 7.8 and most of my fish list that they prefer "soft slightly acidic water".

Also about salt sensitive vs. Salt tolerant species, you can mix them as long as they don't require bracksh conditions to thrive, just skip the salt altogether. I can't use salt due to live plants and I leaned that you can cure ich with heat alone, I've done it several times.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

I agree, that site is cool and can be put to good use, but it shouldnt be the be all end all site. Also agree about the PH, its not that big of a deal with almost all fish, just keep it stable and the fish will ajust.

 

[omgitzmollie]

88 gallon you lucky duck i would love to have that size tank sounds like a great tank, i would suggest that you seperate the betta from the community fish seeing ad the betta is a semi agressive fish. If you keep the betta in the 30 gallon and move the rest to the 88 gallon there should be no problem at all:

For the 88 gallon:
Try some gouramis if you want color dwarf and sunset are good for community tanks. I would also try some neon tetra great holor and awsome schooling they look soo cool in a tank especially this size youll get a lot of action from them. Livebearers such as platys and mollys are a good idea because they will populate your tank over time, if you keep them in the tank and let the fry fend for yourself the population wont get out of control, the add great color and seperation to a tank.

For the 30 gallon:
Definatly keep the betta there he will be much happier, add some danios and tiger barbs they are great because they will fill up the empty areas of the tank and i personally love tiger barbs in fact that was my first tank set up and the betta was beautiful he loved the space he got and the tank mates, make sure you feed them though the betta and the tiger barbs are known to nip at other fish if they are hungry!
I hope this helped, good luck, and have fun


Mollie

 

[paytertot]

You have a lot of the same fish I either have now or have had before, but I also have angels