What would you do!?

[AquaticTim]

So I think I might bring my angelfish back with my pleco, clown loaches, and balas which would leave

9 glofish danios (3 red, 3 orange, 3 green)
6 fancy guppies (2 yellow, 2 orange, 2 blue)
3 starburst platies
and soon to be 5 cories

i would imagine this would make it a bit understocked, but am hoping with less fish, it would keep parameters longer and along with my plants 3 lucky bamboo (which will be removed if they start turning yellow), 2 swords, 1 java fern on a piece of driftwood, and 2 balls of moss should keep params pretty good and may be able to go longer without water changes..

I guess my question is, if you had a 55 gallon gallon with 9 glofish, 6 fancy guppies, 3 startburst platies, and 5 cories. What would you add? I'm thinking about just keeping these small guys in it and not get anything too big. It would be a community tank that doesn't have a big guy to eat the little guys and poop them out all over the tank lol. more glofish? more platies? something else? I'm trying for a very colorful tank.

(you can click on thumbnail to make it bigger)

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[aakaakaak]

I'd replace the bamboo with wisteria. Then I'd wait for a while. Like a month or so. In that month you could go to each of your LFS and look at the fish they have, then go home and do research on what you think would look cool.

IMO you're missing your centerpiece fish. Maybe a pair of pear gourami? Or a pair of GBR's? The choice is yours to make. Just don't make it right now. Let everything in your tank settle in.

 

[OrangeCones]

A male Badis badis

And agreed, remove the non-aquatic plants and add some more low light planst. Anubias, watersprite, more java ferns, maybe African ferns too (they get taller and you have the height for them).

 

[bassbonediva]

I'd keep the angels...but that's just because I LOVE angels. lol

If you really want to take back the angels, I would do as aakaakaak suggested and look around to see what you like. I wouldn't suggest German blue rams, but maybe Bolivian rams instead (they're hardier and less expensive).

 

[Newman]

I posted some suggestions in one of your 55 gal tank threads. you have to stop making those its hard to keep track of them now xD

my suggestions were increase the cory squad to around 10. maybe do two different species if you want, but same species will look just as good.

Also increase the platy numbers to around 10-11. try different colors and patterns of those: red wag, blue wag, yellow, coral, black, theres a bunch to choose from.

what are the readings in your tank like? temperature, pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, GH, KH? the first 5 are the most important to know.

 

[AquaticTim]

Thanks for all the advice!

Ok, I JUST went to petstore today and KNOW have accurate readings! (Just wanted to double check as my testing equipment is not as good as theirs. BUT good news. (I think?) Ammonia and Nitrites read 0, and Nitrates read about 15ppm. (My tank has been cycled for just over a month and Nitrates are continuing to slowly decrease.. time will tell when they stop slowing down,) I have a top notch heater that has a knob that I can set at an actual temperature which is currently at 78, (the most It's ever dropped is maybe to 76 before kicking back in) I have a strip thermometer that came with the tank as well as the kind that hangs inside of it. I don't know what GH or KH are and havn't tested them.. ever? If the petstore does, they must be ok as they didn't say anything. Ph is at 7.4 and in all previous tanks it has always been at 7.4 and I havn't seen a problem yet, so no worries right? Anyway.... since the trip I now have the following..

10 female fancy guppies and 4 male fancy guppies (assorted colors- blue, red, orange, yellow, black, and crosses of each)
6 glofish danios (3 orange and 3 green) -soon to be 9.. adding 3 red as soon as fish store gets them in
3 sunburst platys (will be getting 6-12 more..3 of each variety available?..
4 cories (1 emerald, 1 albino, 1 green, 1 peppered... may add more at next visit)
1 rainbow shark ( I honestly forgot about this guy,, he's only about an inch long and likes the back of the tank

I did donate my balas, pleco, clown loaches and angelfish.

I'd prefer not to get any fish that will get more that about 3 inches. I am hoping my rainbow stays friendly with his tankmates, as they only get 5-7 inches from what I've read? If he gets more territorial as he gets bigger, I will have to give him up, but at his small size, I think he's doing ok. I've researched a bit and it seems to depend on the rainbow, some are fine with communities, some use them as a buffet... We will wait and see as he gets bigger!) But back to topic.. I just want a friendly community type tank where everyone gets along, no fighting. I'd prefer small, colorful fish ( I also think it'd be neat for one of these gals (guppies, danios, or platies) to get pregnant.. should be pretty likely once mature right?

As for plants, I really like how the lucky bamboo looks, so I'm going to keep it until it starts showing any signs of turning yellow. Once that happens, I will be getting some wysteria, java fern, and or african fern to replace it.. I do want some plants in my tank, but personally I don't like the look of a tank so full of plants you cant see the bottom lol. (Just my preference, I know a lot of you keep many plants and enjoy that as a hobby/challenge as well... I would just prefer not to dabble in it too much lol)

SOO.. with what I NOW have, and my current plans.. what do you think!?

 

[aakaakaak]

Aqadvisor says the following:

# Suggestion: If you want to keep more than 1 Guppy, minimum recommend male to female ratio is 1:2 (M:F). You will be less likely to experience problem if you get even more females.
# Suggestion: If you want to keep more than 1 Platy, minimum recommend male to female ratio is 1:2 (M:F). You will be less likely to experience problem if you get even more females.
# Warning: At least 4 x Emerald Green Cory are recommended in a group.
# Note: Rainbow Shark may jump - lids are recommended.
# Warning: At least 4 x Albino Cory are recommended in a group.
# Warning: At least 4 x Peppered Cory are recommended in a group.


Recommended temperature range: 71.6 - 75.2 F. [Display in Celsius]
Recommended pH range: 6 - 7.8.
Recommended hardness range: 5 - 15 dH.


Warning: You NEED to add more aquarium filtration capacity!!!

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 59%.Help on Filtration capacity
Recommended water change schedule: 37% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 118%. [Generate Image]Help on Generate Image

I wasn't sure what filter you have, so I guessed at a HoB Tetra Whisper 60. And I used these numbers for fish, as you stated you have, or will have shortly:

14 guppies
9 glofish
6 platys
2 emerald green cory (Aqadvisor didn't have both types, so I used this kind)
1 albino cory
1 peppered cory
1 rainbow shark

The math says you're slightly overstocked at this number and highly underfiltered if all you're using is a HoB 60 gallon.

I showed some lady at the LFS who wanted to mix and match cories like you did what happens in a tank. They had their albino, green and peppered cories in the tank together. All three different groups stayed separate from one another. Albinos at the front, peppered in the back, and green under a rock. There's a good chance yours will do the same. My suggestion would be to pick one.

 

[Newman]

i think it is a sound plan.

there was supposed to be another HOB filter...

 

[aakaakaak]

Ah, doubling them up would cover things nicely. Forget about needing more filtration if you have two HoBs.

 

[AquaticTim]

I've been using that site as well, and as of late- I got

"# Warning: At least 4 x Emerald Green Cory are recommended in a group.
# Suggestion: If you want to keep more than 1 Guppy, minimum recommend male to female ratio is 1:2 (M:F). You will be less likely to experience problem if you get even more females.
# Suggestion: If you want to keep more than 1 Sunburst Platy, minimum recommend male to female ratio is 1:2 (M:F). You will be less likely to experience problem if you get even more females.
# Note: Rainbow Shark may jump - lids are recommended.
# Warning: At least 4 x Albino Cory are recommended in a group.

# Warning: At least 4 x Peppered Cory are recommended in a group.


Recommended temperature range:71.6 - 75.2 F.
Recommended pH range: 6 - 7.8.
Recommended hardness range: 5 - 15 dH.


Your aquarium filtration capacity is satisfactory."




I do actually have a top fin 60 and an Aqueon queit flow 30..
It still says

"Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 112%.
Recommended water change schedule: 34% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 111%."

I'm looking to get a large canister and replacing the 30 with that at some point if I can find one on craigslist.. but I think I'm ok for now. Also, I've been told by a couple people that different varieties of cories would school together... Will have to wait and find out I guess. As for temp.. should I set my heater down to 74?

 

[aakaakaak]

You could drop the temp that low, but that's just for the glofish. They're basically coldwater fish, but can survive just fine in somewhat higher temps. At least all of mine are. I keep everything at around 78-80. I'd suggest 76 maybe?

 

[Newman]

my panda cories school nicely, but mostly in trios or duos. sometimes they get the whole 7-member squad together and patrol the tank lol. always fun to see.

 

[AquaticTim]

It's been about 6 hours or so and so far they ignore each other.. Maybe once they get settled in and get to each other they will school together.. Or I could try keeping them in a 5 gallon together for a couple days and they might become friends? I guess I really don't mind if they don't school, this way there is always at least a couple of them visible, they're not all hiding together. lol. I guess for the temp, as it is set at 78, it does drop to 76.. I think danios seem to be a pretty hardy fish either way and this setting should work for most tropical fish, so I'm thinking I'll just leave it and go by the motto 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' lol

 

[Newman]

my cories stopped hiding the day after i got them. now at least 2 are visible all the time and theyre always moving around. I also feed them tons of food.
I like how some cories like to swim in the water column and some like to perch on plant leaves, sometimes even in groups. very nice social fishes!

your daily temp range sound fine. thats acceptable even by SW reef conditions ;P

 

[AquaticTim]

I know that danios can be know for nipping at bettas, but with a 55 gallon tank, do you think having one pretty betta floating around would be out of the question.. or even one male, one female? thoughts?

 

[bassbonediva]

A betta (male or female) with a rainbow shark is definitely out of the question. I have an albino rainbow shark in my 29gal (admittedly, the tank is not ideal, but he's going to be moving to a friend's 55gal in Florida soon) and he is an absolute terror. My tiger barbs are terrified of him. If one 4" rainbow shark can terrorize NINE tiger barbs (I had nine at one time, but now I only have 6 left because the rainbow shark stressed them out so much), I don't even want to think what one could do to a slow-moving betta. *shudder* With the rainbow shark in there, I'd say you're completely stocked.

As for the cories...I have four albinos and three peppereds in my 55gal. They completely ignore each other. The albinos stick with the albinos, the peppereds stick with the peppereds. They've been in the tank together almost a month and they're still this way.