Stocking delimma. Please help!

[Marinemom]

:rolleyes: O. K. here is the deal. I have a 125 gallon aquarium that has been up and running for about four years. Of course the tank is completely cycled. The filters are two eheim classic's 2215's canister filters, one on each side and an aquaclear 110/500 as well. There is also a powerhead on each side of the aquarium to help move and aggitate the surface of the water. I also have a bubblewand in this tank to help oxeganate the water.This is my question. I took all of the south american cichlids that had been in there for just four years out and replaced them with two bosamoni rainbows. a small school of diamond tetras and a small school of dwarf neon rainbows.. All of the dwarf neon rainbows died except for the female because I think that she killed the males. I only have two large bosamoni rainbows and the diamond tetras along with two pictus cats and a common pleco and a striped rapheal that were in this tank from the beginning. The tank looks bare and I need some ideas for stocking this big tank that will be compatible with the current residents.

Ideas anyone?

Marinemom

[Marinemom]

Come on guys. No one has any ideas for me? I have at the moment a really boring tank. Please help.

Marinemom

[GirlieGirl8521]

Increase the school of Bosemanis. They are a schooling fish, so I'd get 4 more atleast. The tank is big enough for a nice size school of them. Also, you say your Diamond Tetra school is small, so increase that as well. Then you could look at adding more bottom feeders, like some loaches. They are very fun and active fish. I love my Yoyos. I'd get atleast 6. They are more entertaining in large groups.

If you want a third school of fish, you should have room for that too. Any other schooling fish you like? Go with atleast 8. I'd go for something with different colors than you already have....maybe a school of Rummynose tetras. They are really tight schoolers and look awesome in huge schools. :)

[Marinemom]

That is not a bad idea. Thank-you for the reply. The bosamonis are quite large. They came in special to our store and they are just beautiful. They were expensive though. If I add smaller bosamoni rainbows will they be O.K. with the larger ones or will it be a case of big fish eats little fish or harrasses little fish? The Diamond are nice and sparkley and they can grow to be some of the bigger tetras but I think I want something else with a little more color. I like the idea of the rummynose tetras but again I do not want the bigger bosamonis to eat them or give them a hard time. I know that these rainbows have big mouths but little throuts so they may attempt to eat smaller fish. What about congo tetras or go in a completely different direction and get some angels.

I was also thinking of changing out this ugly blue gravel in favor of something more natural. I was also thinking of planting up this aquarium with some nice swordplants and other beautiful plants but then I will need to change the lighting on this aquarium. At the moment it just has the lights that came with the whole set up four years ago. They were fine for the cichlids I had in there all this time since they would just destroy any plant I even tried to put in there before. If I change the lighting on this tank for a planted tank, I will probably get a t-5 set up like I do on my other two planted tanks. The tank is six feet long and eighteen inches wide and twenty four inches deep I believe. I have not measured it recently. How much t-5 lighting would I need?

So what do you all think? Congo tetras and angels? T-5 lighting on a planted tank?

Marinemom

[Star_Rider]

angels would look great in the tank..but I don't know how well they get along with rainbows.

I have them with discus,keyholes,bolivian rams with no issues..I hear they do okay with larger tetras.(angels) but I don't use tetras with angels any longer.(too many breeding pairs)

[sillytonto]

I have a school of 8 Giant Danios in my 125. They are super active fish and exciting to watch. They stick together in a school and just FLY around the tank!

[Marinemom]

So what about the lighting if I want to do a planted tank? T-5 lighting? How much?

Marinemom

[jm1212]

you should up the diamond school alot. if you think they look cool now, just wait until theyre in a school of 24.

a bigger group of bosemanis rainbows would help show really good colors.

unfortunately, angels wouldnt do well in your tank because the rainbows get so big and are so hyperactive it could stress them out.

[GirlieGirl8521]

unfortunately, angels wouldnt do well in your tank because the rainbows get so big and are so hyperactive it could stress them out.

I agree...I was going to suggest Angels in my post before, but the Rainbows would most likely stress them out.

I've never heard of rainbows (even the larger ones) eating tetras, but I suppose they might. Rummynose tetras get about 2 inches though...but they'd probably be smaller when you bought them.

I'm not sure how much light you'd need...I'd say atleast 250 watts...more would be better of course. I'm guessing it will be pretty expensive to get decent lighting on that big of a tank, but you can search around. Check out T-5 and PC lighting. 2 96w fixtures would give you low-medium light...but you wouldn't have a ton of plant choices. It might be expensive too. See if you can find some T-5 fixtures that will give you somewhere around 250 watts or a little more. That would give you a good range of plant choices.

Congo tetras get around 3 inches, so they'd be good size-wise. If I'm not mistaken though, they can be skittish. You'd have to get a good sized school of them to make them feel comfortable though. I've never kept them, so I can't say for sure, but thats just what I've read. They are beautiful tetras. :)

[Marinemom]

I work at a LFS and I get a decent discount on the things I do buy there. I think I will check out the lighting when I go to work tonight. T-5 lighting has a very strong spectrum so I think you do not need as much of it. It is also very good lighting for planted tanks. I have them on two of my planted aquariums that are also supplemented with another t-8 light. The t-5 lights also have thier own reflector which will also help with the plants. I am just confused on how to figure out the watts per gallon with t-5 lighting since the spectrum is so strong with this kind of lighting. Does anyone know how to figure this out?

Thanks for all of the help.

Marinemom