Stocking?

G

goldentiff

AC Members
Feb 3, 2006
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Ok, first HORAYYYY my 55 is finally cycled!!!!

I currently have 55 gallon w/a Cascade 300 filter system plus UGF. PH is at 7.8 and water temp is usually at about 74 to 77 w/o a heater.

4 Blue gourami, 2 african cichlids (don't know if malawi or tang), 2 black convicts, 1 common pleco (6-7 inches), one apple snail, two mystery snails.
I don't know the sex of any of the fish except I do know the convicts are both males. Believe it or not the african cichlids are the calm ones in the group.

I saw a turquoise discus and fell in love. Is my tank large enough to get at least one? Or am I fully stocked.
 
the 55 is kind of small for a common pleco..

I would only keep discus in either a species tank or a SA tank.
 
i dont know how big your convicts are but if they are both males your gouramis probably wont last long once the convicts start to grow as they are very aggressive. i would suggest ditching either the gouramis or the convicts or possibly splitting the two up in seperate tanks. plus not to mention common plecos get HUGE!!!! like 20+ inches. which is way more than a 55 gallon can handle.
 
I am planning on getting a 150 or 200 gallon by the time the pleco gets bigger or worse case scenerio trade him in (I hope not though).

At this time the gouramis are actually the most aggressive in the tank.
I really love the convicts. Everything I read about them is that they become aggressive when they lay eggs, which is why I decided to keep both males.

I also did not plan on having two males. I originally had one convict but I thought he had died when I did not see him for 2 months. I cleaned the tank but found no sight of him and figured the other fish had eaten him. I went out and got another convict (and it just happen to be another male). All of the sudden about a week after putting new one in the tank the other one appeared. They sometimes play w/eachother and other times chase eachother to opposite ends of the tank.

If I feel the gouramis are in any danger I will definitely move them to another tank.

Well, per your answers I guess I cannot buy the discus. Jeez that is one beautiful fish though.

Thanks guys
 
Sorry to say, but you've got a pretty incompatible mix of fish there. The blue gouramis will get big, and when they do there'se a good possibility that they will turn aggresive. Add that to the fact that most gouramis sold in LFS are male, and you could have a blood bath.

As mentioned, the africans will have to go (or else keep them and ditch everyone else, then add 50lbs of limestone and another 6-8 africans). These fish are usually fine when young, but if the wrong species, or number of fish are mixed in a tank without sufficient rockwork, then people usually end up with a bunch of corpses and one big mean fish.

The convicts can probably hang with the mbuna (africans) except that mbuna require a diet high in veggies, and convicts need more protein. Feed all regular food to the mbuna and they could get "bloat". Feed only spirulina, and your convicts will suffer from protien deficiency.

Both the mbuna and the convicts will dig. Without even coverage of the UGF plate, the water will take the path of least resistance and will not flow through the rest of the gravel bed.

Pick one:
African Rift Lake Tank (mbuna)
Central American Cichlid Tank (convicts, firemouths....)
Mixed Community Tank (gouramis, tetras, dwarf cichlids)

Then we can offer some suggestions as to what elso to stock. :)
 
Just read your reply. I've never seen a tank with convicts and gouramis set up long term, but it might actually work. If the convicts are content to split up the bottom, and don't mind the gouramis taking the top of the tank you might be ok. Only problem is that the individual temperament of fish can be vastly different even within a single species. This ususally doesn't become apparent untill the fish reach sexual maturity. Just keep you eyes open and be ready to yank fish if problems arise.

Ohh, and get those mbuna out of there.
 
2 of the gouramis are turning really vibrant blue almost similar to a snakeskin and are aprox 3 to 3.5 inches, the other 2 are smaller aprox 2 inches (males?).

The convicts are aprox 3 inches and are starting to get this beautiful iridescent (spelling?) bluish tint to fins and under face.

Africans are also about 3 inches.

Gouramis stay in middle to top, convicts generally stay at opposite ends of tank. and the cichlids usually stay in the bottom or in their respective caves.

As soon as I can I will attach a pic of tank.
 
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