Another stocking question....

[Holly9937]

Ok I am finally getting my BIG tank (180 gallons!!!) :dance: :dance: , probably even this weekend if I can figure out how to pick it up! And a great deal might I add :D
So I realize I have no theme, whatever but I am basically combining the inhabitants of the two tanks I have and would like any suggestions, problems, etc.

Here is a list of what I have and the list of what I would like to increase the number to on the right

1 Bristlenose pleco
1 common pleco
1 rainbow shark
4 serpae tetras ~ up to 8
4 blackskirt tetras ~ up to 8
2 fancy male guppys
1 molly
3 platys
12 neons ~ up to 25+?
7 scissortails ~ up to 10+?
3 bala sharks ~ up to 5?
7 corys ~ up to 18 (I currently have 1 albino, who schools with 4 green corys, who will eventually get way bigger than the albino, so I'm assuming I should get even 6 of each kind, and I also have 2 lonely juli corys, so I was going to get 4 more of them).

Do you see any major problems for now with the 2 plecos (both small, about 3-4 inches)?
My balas are very peaceful, and have been with neons for about a year, so I'm going to risk it and see how it goes.
Do I have any room for a couple more large fish (or school, whatever would be necessary for a particular fish)? Silver dollars, or clown loaches, or maybe no room at all? Suggestions for something else?

Thanks much, I appreciate any well informed suggestions or comments :) :bowing:

[Holly9937]

:look:

[phanmc]

the serpaes are notorious fin nippers and may attack your guppies, platies, and mollie.

My general rule of thumb is a fish will eat whatever fits in their mouth. The balas and rainbow shark may eat the smaller fishes when they grow bigger.

[Holly9937]

the serpaes are very well behaved!! I've had them for about a year and they actually get harrassed by the molly!! I haven't seen them bother any of the other tank mates either so (currently with the guppys and platys too), I hope with the bigger tank they will be even better.
I've heard alot of people that have kept balas (especially well fed balas!) with small fish and had no problems, so, I'm going to cross my fingers and see how it goes. The biggest bala is about 4 maybe 5 inches and would have been able to eat neons for most of the time its been with them and no problems yet (knock on wood!)
How does it look numbers wise? And do I have room for any more larger fish(suggestions?) Or am I about topped out?

[phanmc]

If you go with what you have and flesh out the ones that requires schools you should still be ok. The serpaes and blackskirts definately needs a few more buddies and the cories could use some more, though they don't require groups of 6 like most schooling fishes (they're simply non-aggressive and don't have a pecking order that I've seen).

Silver dollars and clown loaches are very large schooling fishes and will add a significant amount of bio-load when they're full grown. You'd definately be overstocked if you go with the recommended numbers for those 2. a couple (2-4) of the larger gouramis (3 spot, pearl, etc) should work and I'm drawing a blank right now as to any other suitable large fish that won't be a danger to your existing fishes.

[Holly9937]

I do like the gouramis, I just thought if I had the room I would like some other large fish. It is going to be such a big tank, and I know the balas will be great once they get bigger, but I would like some more color! Alot of greys in the tank. I guess even a medium-ish sized colorful fish might be nice too...
Any other suggestions?!?!
I think I'll get that many corys just cause they and the plecos will be the only things in the bottom of the tank and they're soooo darn cute! I think I'll skip the clowns, the ich issue worries more now that I think about it and I would prefer more hardy fish.
Tin foil barbs are probably not an option, right? ( :confused: ) such cool looking fish, too bad...

[phanmc]

Tin foil barbs can grow to a ft long. When I had a 180 gallon tank I felt sorry for my barbs because even in the large tank they looked cramped.

One of my favorite fishes are congo tetras, especially the long finned variety. While they aren't very big (3-4 inches), a school of them under white lighting is very beautiful. Get at least 10 of these babies and they'll become the centerpiece of your tank. Heh, now I'm tempted to get them again for my new 50 gallon tank.

[Holly9937]

Thanks for the replies phanmc. I've been suprised more people haven't chimed in on this, usually alot of folks are eager to tell someone how over/understocked they are, or what to put in their tanks!! Maybe I should take out the well informed part at the bottom of my first post!! I was just afraid since its a pretty big tank I might get some replies like " put 20 balas in there...!!"
I guess I'll also have to see how the tank looks with everything set up, I just wish the balas were bigger now, so I had an idea of how much extra space and how they like the tank (its all there fault, I got them without doing any research, then became determined to keep them, good excuse, right?!?!)

[phanmc]

its probably because most people haven't had the opportunity to maintain a 180 gallon tank before.

Now from my experience, that 180 gallon tank looks awfully big with no water in it, but once you start filling it up with decor and fishes it won't look nearly as big. When I looked at the tin foil barbs at the stores, I figured I can fit a school of them easily in the tank. When I got 4 of them in and watched them swim around (they're extremely active), I realized that adding more wasn't such a good idea. So definately put everything in first and see how it looks, you'd be surprised on how little it takes to make the large tank look active.

And I'm positive they'll love the extra swimming space, especially the balas.