Looking for opinions!

[Mikeyboi86]

Hello Hello, Been coming up with a tank setup I want to try and I want to know your opinions!

Anyway lets start with tank size obviously. I am wanting a 57 Gallon framless tank. Indonesian Biotope or as close as i can get to it!

Fish
Striata Botia Loach- 3
Tiger barb-
Green - 9
Normal - 5
Albino - 4
Siamese Algea eaters - 3
Moonlight gouramis - 2 (pair)

Plants
Limnophila Sessiliflora - along the back of the tank.
Pellia- On any rock work i may have
Vallisneria spiralis - weaving through any drift wood i may have.
Eleocharis acicularis - Foreground
Riccia - Floating
Nymphaea lostus- Floating/ foreground corner.

Any suggestions? Comments? Advice? please let me know!

 

[Lotus]

It sounds like a reasonable plan. I'm not entirely sure if two pairs of gouramis will work. The males tend to fight. It might work, though.

 

[Mikeyboi86]

It sounds like a reasonable plan. I'm not entirely sure if two pairs of gouramis will work. The males tend to fight. It might work, though.

sorry i didnt mean two pairs, I mean't 2 gouramis that are paired. Lemme edit that haha.

Aww crap I can't, Anyway for anyone who reads down this far! Its not 2 pair, its 2 gouramis = pair

 

[Newman]

sounds cool

 

[Mikeyboi86]

sounds cool

Thanks, There is a person on Tropicalfishkeeping.com That said

"the Siamese I'd really only get when you can house them in group of like 6+ and that's not possible with your tank size and other choices. So in your set up you may be much happier with a group of Oto's like 6-8 of them.
The peaceful Gouramis I'd def not add to the mix listed above."

I ignored the oto part b/c they are from south america and not indonesia... But is that true about SAEs? and what about the moonlights? My back up plan is Chocolate Gouramis (Depending on how far southeast they range)

 

[Newman]

no idea on the moonlights as I never kept them. maybe try a male gold gourami? those are supposed to be mean.

My SAEs do fine with 5 individuals. the reason you were suggested to get more is to spread their aggression because there will always be one SAE that will be dominant and it will be chasing all the others quite frequently to keep them in line.
3 SAEs *might* be ok. is there anyway you could push to 4 SAEs? thats a much safer number. a 57 gal will hold them for a long while, but eventually you may need to transfer them to a larger system as they each grow to be about 6"

I have 5 in my 40 gallon, but I'm going to be selling them to someone with a 125 gal tank once they out grow mine. I just keep them for BBA control, and they're really quite nice

 

[Lotus]

I've had several sets of SAEs, and I've usually kept them in smallish groups--2 or 3 of them. To be honest, I don't really like them as fish. They get really big and lazy very fast. They seem to have a fairly short lifespan, maybe 3 years or so. They are good for algae control when they're small, though.

 

[lauraf]

Thanks, There is a person on Tropicalfishkeeping.com That said

"the Siamese I'd really only get when you can house them in group of like 6+ and that's not possible with your tank size and other choices. So in your set up you may be much happier with a group of Oto's like 6-8 of them.
The peaceful Gouramis I'd def not add to the mix listed above."

I ignored the oto part b/c they are from south america and not indonesia... But is that true about SAEs? and what about the moonlights? My back up plan is Chocolate Gouramis (Depending on how far southeast they range)

I think chocolate gouramis don't get as big as moonlights, and might be a bit more fragile. They also like tanks really warm - like 82 degrees.
I agree that blues or goldens tend to be bigger and more aggressive. And kissing gouramis look a lot like moonlights, and could work with all those fast moving barbs - I believe kissers can be 'trouble' fish in certain community setups? Not sure of their provenance though . . . .

 

[Mikeyboi86]

Kissing gouramis like to eat live plants >.< But yeah they are from indonesia.
Blue and gold typically do not meet tiger barbs in the wild. Pearl gouramis do... but they only get 4" which is why i picked Moonlight which get 7"

I do think if... IF i go with the moonlights I will add them to the tank first and let them get settled in before adding anything else. If that doesn't work and the moonlights are still unhappy I'll take them back to my LFS and get Opalines. I like they way they look and from my experience they are not timid.

 

[Doomhed]

I would avoid the Siamese algae eaters, they have been known to get quite aggressive when they get larger, ripping scales off other fish. I used to have them and ended up feeding them to my Oscars after they killed platy I was fond of.

 

[Mikeyboi86]

Well based on all the advise ve gathered so far I plan on doing the following;
tiger barbs
green - 12
normal - 8
zebra loach - 5
moonlight or opaline gouramis - a pair of 1 or the other

 

[Mikeyboi86]

Any more suggestions??

 

[hayer]

won't the tiger barbs nip at the gouramis?