Stocked!

[Thumper828]

Stocked my aquarium last night:
3-guppy(1 mail,2femail)
3-false julii cory(woulda got 5 but they were out)
7-cardinal tetra
3-mickey platy(for the daughter)
3-ghost shrimp
1-dwarf powder blue gourami
3-black skirt tetra(did not want them but wifey "loved" them)

Took about 2 hours to acclimate, just really took my time. So far no loss of any fish. Checked water params this morning,

Ammo-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-10
ph-7.2

I figure I'm pretty close to being fully stocked. I would still like some hatchets...stupid black skirts......... Any criticism or advice is welcome. You can brutal if need be

 

[Laser]

Is this for the 36g bowfront in your profile? I'm not a fan of the black skirts either. I don't have much experience with the black skirts, but I think you'll want to add a few more of them or they may start bullying the other fish. I could be wrong about that though. I think you still have room for some hatchets.

 

[Thumper828]

Is this for the 36g bowfront in your profile? I'm not a fan of the black skirts either. I don't have much experience with the black skirts, but I think you'll want to add a few more of them or they may start bullying the other fish. I could be wrong about that though. I think you still have room for some hatchets.

yes,it is the 36. I think i'm gonna take em back. they are being really nippy so you are right as far as them being bullys. They actually ticking me off....lol... They done got one of my gourami feelers...stupid black skirts.....

By the aqua adviser calculator just those 3 alot for 25% of stocking options.

 

[Samzter]

yes,it is the 36. I think i'm gonna take em back. they are being really nippy so you are right as far as them being bullys. They actually ticking me off....lol... They done got one of my gourami feelers...stupid black skirts.....

By the aqua adviser calculator just those 3 alot for 25% of stocking options.

Did you add all those in one go?

 

[flitabout]

I am going to say you could probably do some hachets too.

 

[jwh0818]

All that is fine in a 36g tank. I would remove the skirts and up the julies

Edit- if you cycled your tank fishless with 4 ppm of ammonia then adding all that is fine. 4ppm of ammo is used in order to stock your tank completely like you want. It alot of ammo for a tank therefore no bad effects of adding fish-just saying before someone jumps the gun

 

[LadyApril83]

My skirts are pretty cool got 5 they only bug eachother they were my first school of fish ever and they all lived
::knock on wood::
so I think its safe to say they are very hardy.. named this school prototype cuz I thought they were all gonna die lol

 

[Thumper828]

Well....took the skirts back and up'd the julii's. I did add all at one time but did a fishless cycle adding 4ppm of ammo till cycled.

 

[Paul1792]

Hey Thumper828, Can you post some pics to an album in your profile

Your fish selection sounds good. The powder blue gourami sounds like a fantastic choice. I may steal your idea and add one to my 29 gallon.

How do your fish show up aginst the lighter colored gravel? In my 29, I ended up having to throw in some black gravel on top of my "river rock" because many fish barely showed up.

I added some glo-tetra (genetically re-engineered black skirts) to both tanks.
Lemon Lime ish in the 29 gallon and pink in the 38 gallon. They come in all kinds of bright colors instead of "boring black" I think the "fin nipping" of most such tetra goes away when you keep the them in schools of 5 or more.

Have you thought of rainbow fish ?? They are super colorful and listed as a good "beginner fish"

Tropical Fish for Freshwater Aquariums: Boesemani Rainbow

I am thinking about getting some if I can find one. Nobody has them locally right now but our LFS has some on back order.

 

[Thumper828]

Your fish selection sounds good. The powder blue gourami sounds like a fantastic choice. I may steal your idea and add one to my 29 gallon.

How do your fish show up aginst the lighter colored gravel? In my 29, I ended up having to throw in some black gravel on top of my "river rock" because many fish barely showed up.

I added some glo-tetra (genetically re-engineered black skirts) to both tanks.
Lemon Lime ish in the 29 gallon and pink in the 38 gallon. They come in all kinds of bright colors instead of "boring black" I think the "fin nipping" of most such tetra goes away when you keep the them in schools of 5 or more.

Have you thought of rainbow fish ?? They are super colorful and listed as a good "beginner fish"

Tropical Fish for Freshwater Aquariums: Boesemani Rainbow

I am thinking about getting some if I can find one. Nobody has them locally right now but our LFS has some on back order.

I like the rainbow and for it to only get 3 inches,I think would be a great choice,.I might have to steal your idea.........

 

[azmodan]

Boesemani rainbows are a bit too big for a 36, but rainbows such as praecox, threadfin and furcata would work well.

 

[Paul1792]

Technically correct .... but how about the real world

Boesemani rainbows are a bit too big for a 36, but rainbows such as praecox, threadfin and furcata would work well.

I plan on adding 5 rainbows and 1 dwarf powder blue gourami in my newly established 29 gallon despite getting the same warning on aqadvisor.com.

However, so long as when you use the ACTUAL size of the fish rather than potential adult size of the fish and the fish are healthy with proper parameters on the water, it's like who cares what "might happen."

Realistically, if your fish begin to outgrow the tank, you can either "upgrade" as your hobby skills &/or interests become more advanced OR you can humanely return them to an LFS or even Petsmart in my area.

If everyone with less than a 55 gallon tank used the "adult size" rule, all our tanks would have the same boring selection of platies, tetras, guppies, corys yada yada.

Geez ...... if all animals are to be treated "right" ...... there would be no such thing as ZOO's.

About the only fish that will grow so fast that it will truly outgrow your tank in less than a year are Cichlids.

I was contemplating an African Cichlid tank in my 29 gallon ..... but the LFS guy told me they grow sooooooooooooo fast .... I'd need a bigger tank sooner rather than later. Although I plan to add a 55 maybe in 2014, not wanting to be "forced" into it, I decided to focus on just putting interesting fish in both my community tanks.

 

[azmodan]

I plan on adding 5 rainbows and 1 dwarf powder blue gourami in my newly established 29 gallon despite getting the same warning on aqadvisor.com.

However, so long as when you use the ACTUAL size of the fish rather than potential adult size of the fish and the fish are healthy with proper parameters on the water, it's like who cares what "might happen."

Realistically, if your fish begin to outgrow the tank, you can either "upgrade" as your hobby skills &/or interests become more advanced OR you can humanely return them to an LFS or even Petsmart in my area.

If everyone with less than a 55 gallon tank used the "adult size" rule, all our tanks would have the same boring selection of platies, tetras, guppies, corys yada yada.

Geez ...... if all animals are to be treated "right" ...... there would be no such thing as ZOO's.

About the only fish that will grow so fast that it will truly outgrow your tank in less than a year are Cichlids.

I was contemplating an African Cichlid tank in my 29 gallon ..... but the LFS guy told me they grow sooooooooooooo fast .... I'd need a bigger tank sooner rather than later. Although I plan to add a 55 maybe in 2014, not wanting to be "forced" into it, I decided to focus on just putting interesting fish in both my community tanks.

My apologies as I should have explained it better. It's not so much their size but more their activity level. Boesmani's can hit around 4 inches and can be very active fish so a group of them need a pretty good amount of horizontal swimming space. At full size I can't really imagine them in tanks shorter than 48 inches. You'll see someday when you have a group of adults during feeding time.

You can certainly put any fish you want in your tanks but why force it when there are other fish better suited for your tank's particular size?

 

[severum mama]

It's not so much their size but more their activity level. Boesmani's can hit around 4 inches and can be very active fish so a group of them need a pretty good amount of horizontal swimming space. At full size I can't really imagine them in tanks shorter than 48 inches. You'll see someday when you have a group of adults during feeding time.

I completely agree with this. Adult rainbows are a lot larger than what you've probably seen in pet stores, and they have a bit of bulk to them as well. They're also very, very active.

 

[Paul1792]

Nice response ....... except one thing

My apologies as I should have explained it better. It's not so much their size but more their activity level. Boesmani's can hit around 4 inches and can be very active fish so a group of them need a pretty good amount of horizontal swimming space. At full size I can't really imagine them in tanks shorter than 48 inches. You'll see someday when you have a group of adults during feeding time.

You can certainly put any fish you want in your tanks but why force it when there are other fish better suited for your tank's particular size?

*******
It is nice that you suggested other alternatives. What you say is correct, but there is the one problem:

When you go to liveaquaria.com and review the entire selection of rainbows:

Rainbowfish

None of the alternatives are anywhere near as colorful is the rainbow I personally like. The rest looks pretty bland to me !!!!!! Excerpt from liveaquaria.com"

overview
The Boesemani Rainbow creates a colorful centerpiece for any freshwater home aquarium. Males have a beautiful bluish purple head that fades into a gorgeous orange and yellow posterior.

********
The coloring of other rainbows simply does not lend itself to the term "centerpiece" fish.

 

[severum mama]

Of course, it's your tank to do with as you see fit, but if you're interested in the long term health and growth of the fish, keeping the Boesemani rainbow in a 29 gallon isn't a great idea.

The page you linked is nowhere near the number of species that are available for purchase in the hobby, and some of the photos there aren't great. If you've never seen those other species in person, in a tank where they are comfortable and showing their best coloration, then you don't really know what you're missing. Even the boesemanis don't look like much in a pet store most of the time.

 

[azmodan]

*******
It is nice that you suggested other alternatives. What you say is correct, but there is the one problem:

When you go to liveaquaria.com and review the entire selection of rainbows:

Rainbowfish

None of the alternatives are anywhere near as colorful is the rainbow I personally like. The rest looks pretty bland to me !!!!!! Excerpt from liveaquaria.com"

overview
The Boesemani Rainbow creates a colorful centerpiece for any freshwater home aquarium. Males have a beautiful bluish purple head that fades into a gorgeous orange and yellow posterior.

********
The coloring of other rainbows simply does not lend itself to the term "centerpiece" fish.

You should try looking at sites other than liveaquaria.

There are a plethora of great options for centerpiece fish for a 36 gal bowfront. In direct regard to your problem though perhaps the best solution if you love the look of Boesemani's would be to upgrade the size of your tank?

 

[Paul1792]

Well azmodan ...... you were 100% correct about my 29 gallon

You should try looking at sites other than liveaquaria.

There are a plethora of great options for centerpiece fish for a 36 gal bowfront. In direct regard to your problem though perhaps the best solution if you love the look of Boesemani's would be to upgrade the size of your tank?

********************
Turns out my original plan probably does not work with a 36 gallon bowfront either (sorry Thumper 828)

OK ...... so I go to my LFS with a full printout of how beautiful the Boesemani Rainbow is, knowing he has 50 in stock.

Turns out despite being 3" each, ...... their colors looked "depleted." So I assume it is because they are housed in 20 gallon tanks for purposes of selling only. WRONG. When I showed him the pictures of what they are supposed to look like, he says .... "that is correct ..... once they've reach 4 inches" I also notice that despite the Internet site saying they only need 30 gallons ........ the same site says they need to be in "schools" of 5 or more and need a tank at least 40 inches wide.

I owe you an apology, azmodan. All worked out fine in the long run. I bought two more (golden) dojo loaches + 3 bright yellow glo-tetra + a male and a female dwarf gourami as centerpiece fish.

The fish are all getting along and I want to thank you for your opinion ..... which turned out to be correct.

 

[azmodan]

********************
Turns out my original plan probably does not work with a 36 gallon bowfront either (sorry Thumper 828)

OK ...... so I go to my LFS with a full printout of how beautiful the Boesemani Rainbow is, knowing he has 50 in stock.

Turns out despite being 3" each, ...... their colors looked "depleted." So I assume it is because they are housed in 20 gallon tanks for purposes of selling only. WRONG. When I showed him the pictures of what they are supposed to look like, he says .... "that is correct ..... once they've reach 4 inches" I also notice that despite the Internet site saying they only need 30 gallons ........ the same site says they need to be in "schools" of 5 or more and need a tank at least 40 inches wide.

I owe you an apology, azmodan. All worked out fine in the long run. I bought two more (golden) dojo loaches + 3 bright yellow glo-tetra + a male and a female dwarf gourami as centerpiece fish.

The fish are all getting along and I want to thank you for your opinion ..... which turned out to be correct.

No prob! Learning new things is what this great hobby is all about and I learn new stuff everyday! Sounds like your stock is coming along nicely.