Stocking 55 gallon

[ArkyLady]

Right now I have in my 55 gallon:

1 4" pleco
8 neon tetras
8 glowlight tetras
1 panda cory

I have on the way to add to this tank:

7 panda cories
6 yoyo loaches
8 harlequin rasboras
4 strawberry tetras
4 blueberry tetras

This will be a total of 46 small fish + the pleco. Will this be too overcrowded for a well maintained tank? I do a 20% water change weekly rather religiously on all my tanks. If necessary I could do two water changes a week?

[OrionGirl]

That's going to pack that tank really tight. Always look at the adult size of the fish, never at the size at sale. Most LFS sell fish as juveniles. The 55 has a very small surface area compared to the vertical depth, which counts against sucha high stocking level as well.

The yo-yo's might not appreciate the cories, and may beat up on them. They can be territorial.

Mixing schooling groups usually results in a mish-mash, instead of distinct separate groups. The strawberry and blueberry tetras are dyed fish--not advisable to support this activity.

With enough maintenance, you can probably keep the tank from crashing. However, just keeping ammonia and nitrites at 0 and nitrates low isn't even the tip of the iceberg for having a succesful tank. I would add just the cories, and then select 2 larger fish to add as a contrast for the smaller tetras, like a pair of gouramies.

[ArkyLady]

Ack, I didn't know those tetras were dyed too, that's so disturbing! Until I bought some painted glass fish (posted about that in another thread), I had no idea this was even done to fish. I have NO desire to promote this practice, so I did some changing around with my order and this is what I'll have in my 55 gal:

16 neon tetras
16 glowlight tetras
6 painted glass fish
8 panda cories
1 pleco

Still may be a bit much, but better than the first plan and will definitely keep my extra 10gallon open for another project. Do you think a male betta would get along ok in here once things are settled? I think he would add a nice contrast to the tank if he wouldn't bully the others and they wouldn't fin nip him.

Thanks for the tips OrionGirl!

[OrionGirl]

Still an awful lot of groups that will just mingle around, instead of forming tight schools, but that's a choice, nothing else. I'd eliminate one group, and go with just the neons and the glowlights for a group. I'd keep the glass fish seperate--they tend to be mildly brackish, and will also be prone to ailments. Treating a 10 is easier and cheaper than treating a 55.

FW fish don't come in pastels. Any tetra with a berry in it's name is probably dyed in some manner. If you see a FW fish that looks fake, it probably is--or it's not really a FW fish.

[GEV83]

What kind of pleco do you have some plecos get to big for 55gal. Just to let you know most bright colored fish that come in light blue, pink, bright green, purple and are all the same type of fish are normally dyed. Let me know what type of pleco you have.

[ChilDawg]

Not quite true...there are many, many fish which have been dyed by now. Among the most popular are Oscars, Indian or Wolff's Glassfish, Black Skirt Tetras, Severums, Blood Parrots and many more.

[GEV83]

Yes I know like the blueberry oscar but what im saying is people find bright colored teras facinating for a community tank and the ones that normally get bought are the bright dyed ones. Ive even hear tem dyeing plecoh but trying to stay in the subject which shes talking about which is her buying tetras not oscars and blood parrots.

[ArkyLady]

He's just a plain ole pleco:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0208&view_records=1

He will outgrow this tank. Right now he's around 4". I've talked with my LFS about trading him for another smaller pleco, but I've had him for 8 months and have grown so attached to him. He's nearly tamed, not sure I could get rid of him :)

[Heady]

Well, that is far more fish than I would put in that tank.

Oriongirl is right, you need to consider adult size when deciding how to stock your tank. You should also decide whether you would be willing to deal with potentially substantial losses if the power goes out for a significant length of time. I.e. if the power goes out, your filter and heater will turn off - but more importantly, there will be virtually no surface disturbance, which is what dissolves the oxygen your fish breathe. You will also need to decide if you want to give the fish a decent chance at a healthy life, or if you just want to see more fish in your tank.

The number of fish means nothing without considering adult size. For example, my full-grown 12" pleco produces a lot more waste than a school of 8 1-1/2" cardinals, even though they are technically both 12 inches of fish.

Sometimes, stocking is more of an art than a science. You will hear people say one inch of fish per gallon of water, one inch of fish per 10-12 square inches of surface area, or some other formula. Those are good guidelines, but you can fool yourself into thinking you're not overstocked even though you go beyond these limits, if your fish survive because you have good filtration and the power doesn't go off for long. You may have a lot of fish in there that you can keep alive, but they will probably never be able to reach their adult size when they're crammed in so tight.

Max size x number of fish = Inches of fish. Find the adult sizes of your fish through books or internet searches (for the internet, find at least 2-3 sources that give the same info before using it) and stick them in that formula. This will give you an approximation you can fit into one or more of the scenarios above (using gallons or surface area as a guide).

IMO it is better to understock than overstock. You will see much more natural behavior from your fish, you don't have to worry so much about equipment failure, and your fish will be healthier. But it's your tank, and you can (and will) do whatever you choose with it.

[ArkyLady]

Thanks for all the great tips! I'm going to go with the neons and glowlights (16 each) and the 8 panda cories for this tank. I'm setting up another 55gal that will be a planted tank to move these to once it's ready (which will be awhile, I'm a plant newbie so going to take my time to hopefully get it setup right the first time). Any recommendations for small algae eaters I could use in here? I know they aren't necessary, but I'd like to have some help in fighting the algae if possible.

The pleco and glass fish will have to stay in this tank for now until I figure out what to do with them. I have been considering setting up a 10gal for my mom, but I don't think the 6 glass fish will be comfortable in that small of a tank for long (info I found says they get up to 4"?). Wish my LFS was better at trading fish with me. I'm overrun with guppies along with a few fish I'm having a hard time finding homes for. Guess I can start selling them out of my computer store :D

[tricksterpup]

OK well for alage eaters I recommend the following.
Amano Shrimp
Siamese Alage Eaters (SAEs)
American Flag Fish
Otocinclus
Malaysian Trumpet Snails.
Mystery Snail ( I just love the look of these guys, specially the yellow ones.)
The largest Alage eater listed is the SAE at almost 4 inches. All others are very small.
jim