question about schools in a 55 gal.

[MoparORnoCAR]

I am clueless :huh: as to the whole "bioload" situation, I know what it is, but as far as what or how many fish is alright for a given size of tank, I have no clue.so I ask you all this.....


for a 55 gal. community tank, would it be wise to have two schools of medium sized tetras, a small school (5-6) of corys, and my three dwarf gouramis? if I went this route would I be maxed out? I really wanted to go with some sort of centerpiece fish but with so many options I have been back and forth :argue: in my mind with what I may want to go with.

some of my ideas :idea:
a pair of rams
an angel fish
a small school of rainbows


so many options and I am so worried about making a wrong decision of tankmates down the road. Any thought or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would love to hear what you all would do with my given situation.

[Roan Art]

Need to know what kind of rainbows, since they vary in size so much. Also most sites don't have the proper sizes listed either :rolleyes:

Roan

[Bosemani Fan]

Well, you could use the 1" per gallon thought with small fish like tetras, When you start getting into the bigger fish i.e Oscars, Cichlids, Sharkes, angels, the 1" per gallon thought gets a little ticky. Your idea sound pretty good, and as far as the centerpeice fish, I would opt for the Blue Rams

[MoparORnoCAR]

Roan, I was thinking of a red rainbow or perhaps Boesmani.

[EcoPit]

I don't know what you mean by a school, but 2 or 3 might be okay. Personally, I would probably go with the rams. I am setting up a very similar tank though, and I am going with the angelfish (because that is what my wife wants).

[beviking]

It also depends on how much maintenance you want to do. You can have more fish if you want to do more water changes. Nitrate being the basis on what most use as a water change indicator, a higher bio-load gets you closer to that target number quicker.
Personal preference comes in to play also. Some like a tank crammed with fish, some don't. Personally, I would go with one school (9-12) of tetras, the corys, and gouramis.
Maybe a pair of rams, but the rainbows (having 4 or more) would be too much imo.

[MoparORnoCAR]

It also depends on how much maintenance you want to do. You can have more fish if you want to do more water changes. Nitrate being the basis on what most use as a water change indicator, a higher bio-load gets you closer to that target number quicker.
Personal preference comes in to play also. Some like a tank crammed with fish, some don't. Personally, I would go with one school (9-12) of tetras, the corys, and gouramis.
Maybe a pair of rams, but the rainbows (having 4 or more) would be too much imo.

ah, very good!! I understand. I think I will keep the number of fish fairly low. I don't want a crowded tank.

Is it true that rams have a fairly low life span? would a pair of angels work as well or would I just be creating a bullying situation?

[joeyg2100]

Yes the rams have a short life span. They say that they live 2-3 years, but I have heard of some living to 5 years. It really depends on the quality you get and the care that you give them. Also angels will go with your tank, your garamie's might mess with the angels though. It is just hit and miss with the attitued of them

[MoparORnoCAR]

I am afraid it will be the other way around! My dwarf gouramis are little wimps and get chased by my bleeding hearts from time to time!

I figure if I introduce a few small angels it will be alright as long as the school of tetras don't pick on them to bad.....they are vicious little guys! I'm just afraid of the angels growing up and taking over the tank.

[Star_Rider]

I have angels in my 55..as they get older and hopefully pair off..I will move them to other tanks.
currently I have 8 angels with a few danios.
the angels are small..I hope to move some of them by march to another tank.
generally speaking the ratio of angels to tank is 1 per 10 gallons..of course you can have more if you change your water.
I actually will try to keep it to 4 for the 55.
the angels should do okay with the dwarf gourami's..but they can get agressive at feeding time.

and angels will get relatively large.
good luck

[MoparORnoCAR]

whats the best way to introduce them? 2 at a time, 3 maybe. If you end up with 2 males are they going to fight all the time? will two males fight over a female......OOOOOooooohhhh so many questions?!?!?!?

[TetraFreak]

Get a couplpe breeding pair of Discus!

That way you can breed them and give me some free and sell the rest to make Bank!


:-)

[Kissofthegorami]

I would do angels with rams or just a school of rainbows. Rainbows like to have at least six members of the same species and they can get quite large depending on the kind. Angels do fine in a 55 gallon even full grown and I have never had trouble with angels seriously fighting. A large school of one kind of tetra is always best but try to have at least 6 members of each if you have two schools.

[Roan Art]

Red rainbows (Irian) grow to 6", so a proper school is gonna eat up a lot of your tank space.

Boesemani grow to 3.5-4". Mine aren't a year old and two of my females are ~3" and they aren't showing their adult colors yet -- still greenish. I'm estimating their size on the low side, too. Three of my males are full colored, but need to darken, they're definitely close to 3". Another male is more yellow, and that could be a strain difference as he wasn't with my original school and I bought him separately along with my biggest female.

Both of those rainbows get very deep bodied, especially the Irian, so there's a fair amount of biomass there.

They'll be fine in a 55g, so long as you don't put any more mid-dwellers in there and don't go more than 6 Irians. With boes you could probably go 8 or so, I'd say 10 max if you keep the rest of the watercolum lightly stocked. Just remember that they are very active fish. Not hyper like danios, but always on the move and love to constantly swim in the current.

You also need to keep their water fresh. They'll do well with *no less than* 50% water changes weekly, and will do best with two or more 50% water changes per week. If you let the water get out of hand, they will fungus up very fast and can get very very sick.

Roan

[ljse]

I think the fish you listed should be fine. My tank is pretty overstocked and I have not had any problems with disease. Just be sure to get a large filter. People I have talked with agree that the biggest problem with rams is getting good quality fish so try to watch them at the store for a few days.