Stocking 60 gallon long

[piao liang yu]

Currently I have 16 neon tetras, four guppies and two red wag platies. Some say go by the inch per gallon and others say that is rubbish. I was told that neon tetras have such a negligible bio-load that they do not count for much in that regard. They look pretty cool together though.

I pose this question to the masses to try and get a majority opinion to help in my decision. Obviously I am not going to add anything for a while as I just got finished treating my tank. Plus I am going to quarantine any new arrivals from now on. With that said, I would like to add more, but of what and how many I am not sure. I like platies, but the ones I have stay hidden a lot so there is hesitance on my part to add any more of them. The guppies are all over the place and very colorful so additions of those are possible. I also like the looks of clown loaches, but not sure if that works with what I am doing. I want a totally peaceful community tank. Suggestions and recommendation are very much appreciated.

I also have two red cherry shrimp and plan to add a few more, but I am waiting until I get more input on that. Again, I am keeping peaceful fish and I do have plants now and plan to add more plants.

 

[piao liang yu]

Currently I have 16 neon tetras, four guppies and two red wag platies. Some say go by the inch per gallon and others say that is rubbish. I was told that neon tetras have such a negligible bio-load that they do not count for much in that regard. They look pretty cool together though.

I pose this question to the masses to try and get a majority opinion to help in my decision. Obviously I am not going to add anything for a while as I just got finished treating my tank. Plus I am going to quarantine any new arrivals from now on. With that said, I would like to add more, but of what and how many I am not sure. I like platies, but the ones I have stay hidden a lot so there is hesitance on my part to add any more of them. The guppies are all over the place and very colorful so additions of those are possible. I also like the looks of clown loaches, but not sure if that works with what I am doing. I want a totally peaceful community tank. Suggestions and recommendation are very much appreciated.

I also have two red cherry shrimp and plan to add a few more, but I am waiting until I get more input on that. Again, I am keeping peaceful fish and I do have plants now and plan to add more plants.

I have plants also by the way. currently 10 low light low tech plants and plan to add more. Again, any insight on amount of fish and type that is compatible with what I currently have is appreciated. I have asked before and I have received general answers like I can add a lot more etc, but no specifics. Should I draw the line at 30 even though 16 of them are neon tetras? I just picked up some otocinclus that are in the QT tank for now (algae wafers in tank) I got four of them. They are very small though. So what else? Want to slowly add so that I am fully stocked in another four months or so.

 

[piao liang yu]

Also, can a tank of my size (60 gallon, 48' x 13' and two feet deep) sustain more than one large school? I currently have 16 neon tetras as my only schooling fish although they don't seem to school much. Anyway, would I be wise to have another school or would it not be ideal? If it is permissible and safe what and how many would y'all recommend?

 

[Scottyhorse]

Rummy Nose Tetras are really nice, and they school great too. Very pretty. 15 or so would look lovely.

For a third and final school, Lemon Tetras are nice. Interesting colors, and pretty peaceful. 10-15 would be great.

For bottom schoolers, you are going to need something fairly small so it won't bug the shrimp. I LOVE cory cats, I have five in my tank with 5 or so cherries. They might have picked off a couple, but if you get enough cherry shrimp, they should be fine. If you go with full size cory cats (peppered, julii, panda, etc) you could so 6 or so, and if you go with dwarfs, I would go with 12. I though I wouldn't like corys, but they are a hoot to watch.

A honey gourami would be a great centerpiece fish. They have great colors, and really won't bug your other fish.

So your total numbers would be:
2 Platy
4 Guppies
16 Neon Tetras
15 Rummy Nose Tetras
10 Lemon Tetras
6-10 Cory Cats (depends on what species)
1 Honey Gourami
30 Cherry Shrimp
4 Otos

I would feel a lot more comfortable with this if you didn't have the gups and platies, but the majority of the fish have small bio loads, so you should be fine ad long as you stay on top of water changes.
If you only add one more mid dwelling school along with your neon tetras, your tank would probably look a lot better than if you put everything in IMO. Less hectic and more peaceful, but you wanted to know how many fish max you could put in there, and you could do something like I suggested.

-Sydney

 

[piao liang yu]

Rummy Nose Tetras are really nice, and they school great too. Very pretty. 15 or so would look lovely.

For a third and final school, Lemon Tetras are nice. Interesting colors, and pretty peaceful. 10-15 would be great.

For bottom schoolers, you are going to need something fairly small so it won't bug the shrimp. I LOVE cory cats, I have five in my tank with 5 or so cherries. They might have picked off a couple, but if you get enough cherry shrimp, they should be fine. If you go with full size cory cats (peppered, julii, panda, etc) you could so 6 or so, and if you go with dwarfs, I would go with 12. I though I wouldn't like corys, but they are a hoot to watch.

A honey gourami would be a great centerpiece fish. They have great colors, and really won't bug your other fish.

So your total numbers would be:
2 Platy
4 Guppies
16 Neon Tetras
15 Rummy Nose Tetras
10 Lemon Tetras
6-10 Cory Cats (depends on what species)
1 Honey Gourami
30 Cherry Shrimp
4 Otos

I would feel a lot more comfortable with this if you didn't have the gups and platies, but the majority of the fish have small bio loads, so you should be fine ad long as you stay on top of water changes.
If you only add one more mid dwelling school along with your neon tetras, your tank would probably look a lot better than if you put everything in IMO. Less hectic and more peaceful, but you wanted to know how many fish max you could put in there, and you could do something like I suggested.

-Sydney

wow, I had no idea. That is exactly the kind of response I was looking for. Like you said, if I put all of those in it might look hectic, but it is good to know I can support that. I will definitely take up your advice/recommendations. Maybe only one more middle dwelling school so I will go out and see which ones from the list I will go with. And as for the cories, will probably go with the dwarfs. And I will check out that honey gourami.

Thanks Scotty, also, you mention you would feel better if I did not have the guppies or platies in there. Are they considered more messy as far as tropicals go? They have a higher bio-load than average?

 

[Scottyhorse]

wow, I had no idea. That is exactly the kind of response I was looking for. Like you said, if I put all of those in it might look hectic, but it is good to know I can support that. I will definitely take up your advice/recommendations. Maybe only one more middle dwelling school so I will go out and see which ones from the list I will go with. And as for the cories, will probably go with the dwarfs. And I will check out that honey gourami.

Thanks Scotty, also, you mention you would feel better if I did not have the guppies or platies in there. Are they considered more messy as far as tropicals go? They have a higher bio-load than average?

Oh yeah. Since it is a 'long' tank, it has a larger footprint. Larger footprint = more swimming room. For example, you could put more fish in a 20 long than a 20 tall.

The stronger you cycle, the more fish you will be able to put in sooner because you have a strong colony of bacteria.

I call guppies/platies/mollies etc mini goldfish in my head because they have a large bio load compared to their small bodies. You can still keep them for sure though!

 

[piao liang yu]

Oh yeah. Since it is a 'long' tank, it has a larger footprint. Larger footprint = more swimming room. For example, you could put more fish in a 20 long than a 20 tall.

The stronger you cycle, the more fish you will be able to put in sooner because you have a strong colony of bacteria.

I call guppies/platies/mollies etc mini goldfish in my head because they have a large bio load compared to their small bodies. You can still keep them for sure though!

glad you told me that because I was contemplating adding more guppies. Much rather go with another school though. During research of the rummy nose and lemon tetras I saw a you tube vide of the serpae tetra aka red minor tetra. What do you think of them? Would they work? Are they in the same category as what you recommended? Or can they be aggressive? bio-load incompatibility?

 

[Scottyhorse]

glad you told me that because I was contemplating adding more guppies. Much rather go with another school though. During research of the rummy nose and lemon tetras I saw a you tube vide of the serpae tetra aka red minor tetra. What do you think of them? Would they work? Are they in the same category as what you recommended? Or can they be aggressive? bio-load incompatibility?

They are nippy, and best kept with other nippy fish like tiger barbs. Large schools can help reduce this, but I wouldn't risk it with guppies.

Other schooling fish could be ruby red barbs, gold or rosy barbs, glowlights, hatchetfish, black neons, rainbow fish like furcata, thread fin, bosemani, etc.

There are lots of options.

 

[piao liang yu]

They are nippy, and best kept with other nippy fish like tiger barbs. Large schools can help reduce this, but I wouldn't risk it with guppies.

Other schooling fish could be ruby red barbs, gold or rosy barbs, glowlights, hatchetfish, black neons, rainbow fish like furcata, thread fin, bosemani, etc.

There are lots of options.

Great. Thanks for the recommendations.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Glass catfish are a neat and unusual schooling fish. Maybe get a school of 6 to 8 of those to add to the tank.
And they love plants, so it sounds like your tank would be perfect for them.