Fishes possible in 50 gal tank?

[DKiM128]

I was thinking in putting a couple neon tetras, danios, swordtail, and coryies. And some discus eventually, but I was wondering will there be enough space. How many of each fish should I keep, i wanted around 6 tetras, 6 danios, and 5 swordtail with 2-3 coryies at the bottom and two pairs of discus, will that be enough space for them or no?

[DanL]

I have always been told 1inch per gallon... but that can be a bit crowded..

I try to stay better than 1inch per two gallons..


1 inch per gallon meaning a fish 1 inch long would require 1 gallon of water. A fish 2 inches long would require 2 gallons of water.

[Wippit Guud]

By that logic, you can put a 10 inch fish in a 10 gallon tank, that wouldn't work...

Looking at what you want... you can maybe double the cories, and drop the discus, and you got a decent 55. Discus get big... (compared the rest, anyways)

[Casper]

I just switched my 46 gallon cichlid tank over to a community tank
and currently have

5 clown loach
5 albino cory
1 flying fox
1 tiger botia
2 scissor tail tetra
6 neon tetra
5 cherry barbs
1 gold barb
2 head & tail light tetra
1 rasbora hex
2 dwarf frogs

everyone is getting along fine, all have claimed their own space
:)

[Slappy*McFish]

I see no problem with keeping tetras and corys with Discus, but swordtails will not do well in the water parameters that Discus require.

[PumaWard]

Because of the extensive breeding discus have gone through, they are now much, much more versitle fish than their wild cousins. Many strains can be breed in slightly hard water with a pH of 8... (I have read a few breeders write about this), so keeping them at levels swordtails require would not be a problem. Discus have come a long way, so IMO, if they can breed in these conditions, then they most certainly will thrive as well.

However, I would lower your number of swordtails to a trio, one male and two females... I would also consider cardinals over neons as neons prefer colder temperatures than discus... and eventually, the discus may see them as a tempting snack.

Just my 2 cents ;)

[OrionGirl]

Always look at the adult size of the fish when stocking your tank. Having 5 10-15 inch clown loaches in a 46 is going to be packed. Think long term! The fish may be 'fine' for a week, or a month, but in the long run, they will be cramped and stressed.

The mix of fish--neons, swords, cories, danios, discus--isn't very useful without numbers for each. A couple neons won't be happy, while 100 of them will be too much. Aside from the different water preferences, you may have problems with the danios disturbing the discus, which prefer calm tankmates.

[Slappy*McFish]

If I were to keep Discus and Swordtails together, I would much rather keep the swords in "Discus water parameters" than the other way around. Especially considering the cost of Discus. They "will" do better in water that more closely matches that of their wild counterparts. Also, Discus need very warm water(80+F) and swords do much better in cooler water(70-75F). I just wouldn't mix the two...but if you do, cater more towards the discus' needs.

[dethjam316]

i agree with a lot of what's been said. i have frequently kept swordtails over the years, and, for me, swordtails always did best in higher ph (~7.2-7.5) and at cooler temps. even with a ph around that level, i could not keep healthy swords in my last community tank, because we kept the temp around 79 degrees. i have been most successful with swords around 74, and to top it all off, i've had the best success breeding them consistently at *room temperature* which basically means ~70 at night and a couple degrees warmer during the day. i'm not sure why this is, but this has been my experience with all live-bearers! in any case, if you really want swords, they definitely *can* be kept at higher temps and lower ph, just don't be surprised if they don't flourish as they would in more ideal conditions.

i would, however, heed the advice of keeping swords in discus parameters and not the other way around. discus are a much more sensitive (and expensive!) species; i don't think there's a question of that.