55 Gallon stocking question.

[Louise0328]

Alrighty. i have had my 53 gallon tropical tank for a while now and wanted to start stocking it soon. i really enjoy Angel Fish and would love to get 2-3 of them. Here is what i was thinking for the tank.

2-3 Angel Fish (centerpiece)
8 Cories (4 albino, 4 peppered)
4 Black Skirt Tetras ((already have))
5 Male Guppies (i just love my guppies)
1 Albino Bristlenose Pleco
6 Neon Tetras ((already have 3.. need to add more))

When i say i have a 53 gallon tank.. It really started out as a 55 but i section off a piece of the tank for my female betta. She has her own filter too.

The tank is, of course, heated a filtered properly. It is also planted and natural looking.

Please help me out! I really don't want to overstock.

 

[Kristian Tombs]

Alrighty. i have had my 53 gallon tropical tank for a while now and wanted to start stocking it soon. i really enjoy Angel Fish and would love to get 2-3 of them. Here is what i was thinking for the tank. 2-3 Angel Fish (centerpiece) 8 Cories (4 albino, 4 peppered) 4 Black Skirt Tetras ((already have)) 5 Male Guppies (i just love my guppies) 1 Albino Bristlenose Pleco 6 Neon Tetras ((already have 3.. need to add more)) When i say i have a 53 gallon tank.. It really started out as a 55 but i section off a piece of the tank for my female betta. She has her own filter too. The tank is, of course, heated a filtered properly. It is also planted and natural looking. Please help me out! I really don't want to overstock.

why not
Eave the female betta in there?

 

[Louise0328]

Well, the piece i sectioned off is not easy to take apart. It is made from plexiglass and aquarium sealant. It has gravel and plants and a filter all ready to go. It's not just a divider (i never had any luck with those.) I don't actually have my betta yet. I am just really wanting to get a female this time around. It would be cool to have a a little sorority of females in the big part of the tank. But i would also want to have something in the 2 gallon part i sectioned off (since it was SOO much work to put in.) Any suggestions? should i add several female bettas in the large part of the tank? would i be able to put a male in the smaller part?

 

[Louise0328]

Should I do:

2 Angel Fish
8 Cories
3 Male Guppies
4 Black Skirt Tetras
5 Neon Tetras
1 Bristlenose Pleco
3-5 Female Betta's
???
And a male Betta in the 2 gallon part?

This is so difficult to figure out. ?

 

[KantGetRite]

I'm getting a similar setup as you but I have been advised that when the angels are fully grown that they will eat the guppies and possibly neon tetras. Also I as told to keep the angels in pairs so either get 2 or 4 not 3.

 

[Louise0328]

Okay, so for sure 2 Angels. I already have the 8 Cories so that's staying the same, I have 1 male guppy from an old batch of fry. He was the only one that survived so i just thought I'd get him some friends. And I have 1 angel already and have noticed some of my smaller neons going missing. I wonder if that's from him. He's not huge or anything but maybe he murdered them while I slept..

 

[KantGetRite]

I just got my angel about 2 weeks ago and I currently have 4 guppies but I'm going to rehome them before my angel has a chance to have an unplanned snack

 

[Louise0328]

I think ill rehome my guppy and neons in one of my other tanks. To give them a fighting chance.

 

[Louise0328]

Okay, I rehomed my neons and guppy so they wouldn't become my angels new food source. Here is my current stock for the 53 gallon section of the tank.

14 Fish Currently:

1 Angel Fish
8 Cory Catfish
4 Blackskirt Tetras
1 Albino Bristlenose Pleco

Along with:

2 Ghost Shrimp
3 Nerite Snails

What else should I stock it with. 1 more angel and a sorority of 5 female betta's? That would put me up to 20 fish..

 

[Kristian Tombs]

Okay, I rehomed my neons and guppy so they wouldn't become my angels new food source. Here is my current stock for the 53 gallon section of the tank. 14 Fish Currently: 1 Angel Fish 8 Cory Catfish 4 Blackskirt Tetras 1 Albino Bristlenose Pleco Along with: 2 Ghost Shrimp 3 Nerite Snails What else should I stock it with. 1 more angel and a sorority of 5 female betta's? That would put me up to 20 fish..

Sounds good. I like the stock list. Keep an eye on the ghost shrimp and make sure it doesn't go MIA. Your angels could view it as a meal but it depends from fish to fish

 

[Louise0328]

So if I have a sorority the sorority in the large part of the tank do you think it would stress anyone out to have a male in the 2 gallon section? I just found a beautiful male at the local petsmart.

 

[Rivercats]

I'm getting a similar setup as you but I have been advised that when the angels are fully grown that they will eat the guppies and possibly neon tetras. Also I as told to keep the angels in pairs so either get 2 or 4 not 3.

Angels will not automatically eat neons unless you have wild caught Altums. If you start out with small (dime to nickel) sized angels and neons there is usually no problems with the adult angels going after smaller fish. I have 12 large adults in a 220g with tons of small fish. I added a group of 25 cardinals that were about 3/8" long after the angels were over a year old without incident since my angels were raised with small fish. Guppies are fine with angels but angels will gladly eat guppy fry. The only time over the past 30 years I had with any angel attaching small fish was from very large overly aggressive males which I would remove from my tanks.

As for keeping angels you can start with 3 and if 2 pair off just rehome the 3rd. Sometimes if you get a male and 2 females they will form a trio. I have one of these right now in my 220g. If you have a large enough tank it's best to keep at least 6 if not more as then aggression is spread out amongst the group and no one angels gets picked on exclusively.

 

[Rivercats]

Something you need to know is betta's are very good jumpers and you might just find the male in the main tank.

 

[Louise0328]

Okay, how many more fish do you think I could add to my 53 gallon community? The majority right now are bottom feeders. I want to get one more angel and then a sorority of female betta.

Here's my stock right now

1 angel
4 black skirt tetra
4 albino Cory
4 peppered Cory
1 bristlenose pleco

How many female betta do you think I could keep?

I also have a couple nerite snails and some ghost shrimp.

Here's a picture of the tank and my new betta. He is in the top left section of the tank. He will not be in contact with the females at all.

I just really want to put a big colorful sorority together but I don't know what too much is.

I am planning on adding some taller plants and more hiding places.

How many female betta can I add?

 

[Rivercats]

You could try 3 to 5 IMO but they too may or may not work. Betta's are unpredictable so just have a back up plan.

You know instead of a sorority of Betta how about upping your school of Black skirt's and adding a colorful group of cardinal or rummynose tetra's?