90 gallon stocking

[HeatherW]

are these compatable? 90 gallon tank, 2 aquaclear 110 HOB

2 german blue rams
2 powder blue dwarf gourami
7 harlequin rasbora
5 boesmani rainbow
5 zebra or yoyo loach
7 black skirt tetra
1 dalmation molly
2 mm platy

other possible tank mates would be
panda barb
gold barb
bleading heart tetra

are the rasboras too small for this tank?

thanks for everyone's input!

 

[toddnbecka]

Rasboras should be fine, nothing on the list big enough to eat them. You don't need to cycle the 90 from scratch, just use some filter media from the 20 to seed the new setup.

 

[HeatherW]

thanks toddnbecka! I am not overstocked with this am I? can I add any more or am I full?

 

[Koikid88]

If there's only 7 rasbora, they will look too small, double or triple that in a 90g. I recently put all my neon,jumbo neon,cardinal, and glowlight tetras in my 90g and they look surprising good with the planted background, and being in front of driftwood. I started with what I had, which was 12 of those various tetra. Didn't seem like the school was big enough in the tank, so I added 9 more cardinals. Looks a lot fuller now, but doesn't draw your attention to them. The eyes are still drawn to the colourful or odd centerpeice fish, but when they swim through the school, it's neat to see them disperse then frantically find each other. I'd drop the blackskirts if you get a large school of something.

When you say Zebra or yoyo loach, are you unsure what they are? Because they aren't the same. Good call of getting at least 5, most people only get 1 or 2 and don't see their unique behavior.

You still have room physically, but what's your filtration?

 

[toddnbecka]

I read that as either zebra or yoyo loaches on the proposed stocking list.
Plenty of stocking space available for more schooling fish. I run 2 110's on my 90, and it houses 2 constantly spawning pairs of cutteri, 5 half-grown (lucky)juvies, 8 other mid-size (~4") cichlids, a couple dozen BN pleco's and 6 P. typus catfish to eat the hundreds of cutteri fry.

 

[HeatherW]

If there's only 7 rasbora, they will look too small, double or triple that in a 90g. I recently put all my neon,jumbo neon,cardinal, and glowlight tetras in my 90g and they look surprising good with the planted background, and being in front of driftwood. I started with what I had, which was 12 of those various tetra. Didn't seem like the school was big enough in the tank, so I added 9 more cardinals. Looks a lot fuller now, but doesn't draw your attention to them. The eyes are still drawn to the colourful or odd centerpeice fish, but when they swim through the school, it's neat to see them disperse then frantically find each other. I'd drop the blackskirts if you get a large school of something.

When you say Zebra or yoyo loach, are you unsure what they are? Because they aren't the same. Good call of getting at least 5, most people only get 1 or 2 and don't see their unique behavior.

You still have room physically, but what's your filtration?

thanks for your advice about the rasboras. do you think 15 would be enough to make a punch or should I up it more toward 19? (I heard odd numbers were good)
yes - I know the difference between the zebra and yoyo loaches - I just am not set on either one. I think I will have to order them as I don't see them at any LFS around here. I still want them but don't have my heart set on one or the other. either one will work for me - i think I like the zebra ones the best though.

I am running 2 aquaclear 110s on the tank. so do I still have room for the black skirts? you said you thought I had room for more, but also said to drop them? confused by what you meant here.

 

[toddnbecka]

If you're ordering the loaches have you considered polka dots? They're less annoying (to other fish) than yoyo's, and their patterns get more complex as they grow/mature. Never kept the zebra loaches, are you referring to the aka queen botia or the dwarf hovering loaches?

 

[HeatherW]

If you're ordering the loaches have you considered polka dots? They're less annoying (to other fish) than yoyo's, and their patterns get more complex as they grow/mature. Never kept the zebra loaches, are you referring to the aka queen botia or the dwarf hovering loaches?

what are the polka dots? i don't see them? I am not familiar with the hovering loaches - the ones I am looking at are botia striata for the zebra and for the yoyos botia almorhae

so my revised stocking plan is:
2 german blue rams
2 powder blue dwarf gourami
15 harlequin rasbora
5 boesmani rainbow
5 zebra or yoyo loach
1 dalmation molly
2 mm platy

not sure if I should add the 7 black skirt tetra in there or not. what do you think?

 

[toddnbecka]

Botia kubotai, also called Burmese border loaches, angelicus loaches, and probably a couple other common names. Juvies look similar to yoyo's, but their patterns develop as they grow/mature:

I really don't think the black skirts would be a problem, just keep up with regular partial water changes.

 

[Koikid88]

I didn't mean you have to drop the black skirts, I just didn't like how they looked in my 90g. If you like them, go ahead. I didn't even see that you said your filter in the 1st first!

^I like the border loaches, just waiting till my lfs has them then I'll get some in with the yoyos lol


With the gourami, are you getting a male and female? I would recommend that.
There's also a possibility that the gourami may not like the rams. May not be the case, as a lot of people have had docile gourami, but from my experience I think they would go after it. That being the case, GBR aren't very hardy and have a hard enough time adapting with out being bullied.

I would suggest adding a handful of different coloured, similar sized rainbow fish. Maybe something red, white or green.

You still have quite a bit of room at the bottom too. If the GBR are M/F pair, they'll spend most of their time amongst their favourite rocks.
Leaving lots of empty space elsewhere. My yoyos only spend 40% of the time on the bottom, about 40% mid-tank, and 20% at the top.

Why not throw a krib or a bristlenose in there?

 

[HeatherW]

i found some yellow rainbow fish too. they are very cool looking. if I get more rainbow fish do I need to keep each color in a school?

so I think I am going to up my zebra loaches to 7, maybe add another school of rainbow fish, and a school of giant danios or halfbeaks for the top. still looking for top level swimmers. I may also add a bristlenose for the bottom. am I getting too full?

 

[toddnbecka]

A bristlenose should be fine with the botia's, but rainbows do grow to a fair size, giant danios even larger. Open-water, active schooling fish like those really should have plenty of space, so I wouldn't crowd too many into a 90. Smaller rainbows like M. parva or praecox would be a better fit.

 

[HeatherW]

A bristlenose should be fine with the botia's, but rainbows do grow to a fair size, giant danios even larger. Open-water, active schooling fish like those really should have plenty of space, so I wouldn't crowd too many into a 90. Smaller rainbows like M. parva or praecox would be a better fit.

OK, so maybe not the giant danios. how about adding the rainbows though. how does this list look? do I still have room to add something else in the top?

2 german blue rams
2 powder blue dwarf gourami
15 harlequin rasbora
5 boesmani rainbow
5 yellow rainbow
1 dalmation molly
2 mm platy
7 zebra loach
1 bristlenose

 

[toddnbecka]

I'd see how it goes with those first, you may not want/need to add any more after they settle in.

 

[HeatherW]

OK, so maybe not the giant danios. how about adding the rainbows though. how does this list look? do I still have room to add something else in the top?

2 german blue rams
2 powder blue dwarf gourami
15 harlequin rasbora
5 boesmani rainbow
5 yellow rainbow
1 dalmation molly
2 mm platy
7 zebra loach
1 bristlenose

I'd see how it goes with those first, you may not want/need to add any more after they settle in.

so with this mix will I still have room to accomodate all my little baby platys that will be sure to be born? I don't want to overcrowd my tank. should I go less on the loaches or less on the rainbow fish? can I mix the two rainbow fish and do something like 3 and 3?

sorry for all the questions - just want to figure out my plan

 

[toddnbecka]

The other fish will take care of the platy fry.