Stocking advice

[blackandwhite]

Hi all

I am in the process of cycling a 90 gallon tank. This will be my first experience in fish keeping and I am trying to plan everything properly so that hopefully I won't lose any fish. Here is a list of the kinds of fish I have in mind and how many.

If you could please let me know if the numbers are too many for the tank and if the fish species are incompatible.

Please note this is my end goal. I am not about to dump all these fish in there all at once. I will put them in over the course of a few months with the angelfish going in last. About a year after everyone else.

Roseline shark 6
Sunset platty 8
Cardinal tetra 12
Blushing skirt tetra 6
Hatchet fish 6
Madagascar rainbow fish 1
Climbing perch 1
Bumblebee goby 4
Otto 4
Bristle nose 2
Cherry shrimp 4


Severum 2
Dwarf gourami 2

German blue ram 4

Angelfish 5

 

[Fishkeeping411]

I am not great with knowing what stocking limit is okay for such a large tank but it sounds like it may be a little too much & I'm unsure about the compatibility of some of these fish. I do however have an important thing to say:

The cardinal tetras, German blue rams, angelfish, severums, hatchet fish, bumblebee goby & blushing skirt tetras are in a different temperature range to the roseline sharks, sunset platies, climbing gouramis, dwarf gouramis & bristlenose pleco as the latter prefer cooler water than the others.

You need to make sure you choose fish from within the same temperature range otherwise there will be issues.

 

[Potluck]

Agree with temp range, also most sharks are aggressive no matter what your lfs tells you maybe in a bigger school they will calm down, you can go to an aqadvisor.Com insert all your specs, tank size, filter, fish and it will tell you compatibility/temp ranges etc etc, as a general rule it's 1 inch per gallon so you have to keep In mind how big the fish get, no this didn't mean put 90 1 inch fish in the tank I never go over half so I will only do 20 inch of fish in my 55 to cut down on problems

You also have to look at ph ranges as well, there's a lot of stuff you need to check before Stocking including your source water example I know my source water is 7.4 ph do to prevent me from having to add peat to my filter, or dilute with distilled water I stay in the fish category of my sources ph, no you don't have to do this but I am fairly new to fish keeping and I don't have the expertise to keep very sensitive fish like discus, gbr's etc etc.

 

[Fishkeeping411]

I definitely don't think the inch per gallon rule is reliable. It's best to just get the opinions of highly experienced tropical community fishkeepers as there is no real set rule for tropical community fish, unlike goldfish where there is a general minimum per fish. This does make things a little harder to work out especially when a beginner.

Also regarding pH, many fish are captive bred nowadays and the online pH figures are for the wild caught fish, this means that a lot of fish can adapt to your pH unless it's extremely low or high.

 

[The camaro show]

Roseline sharks are very peaceful also called the Denison barb idk about the severums but I'd like to try one if they were peaceful I have a uaru, a festivum and a keyhole and a breeding pair of kribs and they all do well I've had the festvium for 3 years and he's never shown any aggression at all and the kribs are peaceful but will defend the fry but never had a issue with them I also have a 90 and my angels are aggressive at feeding but I would recommend them all great fish!!

 

[abw0004]

First of all, major kudos to knowing you need to cycle your tank first. Seriously. No one does that mainly because they don't even know about cycling.

Second, that is 62 animals in your tank, which is way too overcrowded. The one inch per fish rule is a good rule of thumb, with minor exceptions as Cardinal Tetras has a small bioload, but your pleco is a massive bioload for its size. Also, some of the fish are not compatible. Your GBR's will eat your shrimp in the first hour. Your Dwarf Gourami most likely will fight to the death. Your GBR's will fight anything if they are breeding and need a hotter tank. Incredibly sensitive fish too. The different tetras together are perfectly fine though.

Good start though, just need to start thinning your list out. Also, some of your fish will require a planted tank with driftwood. Is it a planted tank?

 

[Potluck]

Ahhh okay I didn't know they were Denison my apologies I stay away from Denison because they are endangered and well they cost an arm and a leg lol, but on aqadvisor you will get the information you need if possible conflicts etc etc.

 

[blackandwhite]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I will definitely rework this list. And yes I do have driftwood and plants.

 

[The camaro show]

I paid about $25 each for roselines

 

[toolman]

$25 [emoji47] Where did you get them?
Lfs had them under $10

 

[Potluck]

Denison's I can't find cheaper than $30.00 per, I'm not buying any but I called a few places

 

[toolman]

$11.99 on liveaquaria right now.
Even if you don't like them, order online or somewhere else because that's highway robbery. Guess I'm just lucky. #stickershock

 

[Potluck]

When I look at your list your rainbows need a school of 6 and 100+ gallons at adult age and very swift current but rainbows are absolutely amazing I have 7 of them... 2 emerald, 2 red Iranians, 2 bosemani, 1 Turquoise... The rainbows caught my eye because they're amazing, but that species requires more in depth care and a bigger tank and more in their school

 

[rlederer]

I would skip the Madagascar Rainbowfish for two reasons. They get to be about 6 inches when mature and they are schooling fish which need at least a group of six to be happy. Virtually all fish are better off in groups. And, in my opinion, tanks look much more attractive with fewer species and more of each species than a smattering of species with one or two or three individuals of each.

 

[Fishkeeping411]

I agree, less variety of fish & a larger school of selected fish will look much prettier for your tank. For example, I would put more cardinal tetras in your tank as 12 is not many for a 90 gallon, this will make the whole school look much prettier.

 

[Potluck]

But here's the thing with aqadvisor they are wrong in many many circumstances as you do not need 5 of each of my rainbows as they will all school together I called 10 highly reputable fish stores to confirm before I purchased, also there's no way im 95% stocked with 7 rainbows and 6 lemons and 6 ornate tetras and one calico BN I didn't include my clown loaches cause they are going back to the fish store as I do not have a big enough tank for them, absolutely no way am I that stocked lol, so I guess i won't be looking at aqadvisor anymore lol.

 

[blackandwhite]

When I look at your list your rainbows need a school of 6 and 100+ gallons at adult age and very swift current but rainbows are absolutely amazing I have 7 of them... 2 emerald, 2 red Iranians, 2 bosemani, 1 Turquoise... The rainbows caught my eye because they're amazing, but that species requires more in depth care and a bigger tank and more in their school

Would a fast current be a problem for the smaller tetras? And eventually angelfish?

 

[The camaro show]

I have fast current from my overflow and mine have no issue

 

[nirbhao]

Curious-- which shop in Michigan did you call?

 

[Potluck]

I called stingray Bay, Moby (bad word), lou's pet shop, kee's, fishy bizness, and then confirmed with my lfs the best in my area pretty much all of Downriver aquatic treasures