Anybody have any ideas on what a good cetnerpeice fish would be for a 55 gallon tank with 10 black neon tetras, 10 halequin rasboras, 8 black kuhli loaches and 10 oto cats?
Centerpeice Fish
- Thread starter beckham0237
- Start date
Gosh, it's just my opinion here....but I think you are overstocked. I'm pushing it with 25 fish in my 55 gal.
what filtration do you have? what is your water change schedule? without this we cant say whether you can add anything or not. one or two ottos can usually clean a 55, why so many?
Because they are so small that only one or two doesnt get much algae eating done, I do weekly water changes and I have a TetraTec PF300 filter, plus the tank is platned, adding biological filtration.
i would hope you dont have that much algae in a planted tank. Actually I hope you do b/c alot of ottos won't eat fish food, so when the algae is gone, they may starve to death. A well balanced (fertilizer) planted tank should take care of the algae problem itself.
reptileguy2727 said:
I disagree, one or two will never be able to stay on top of a 55g. Ten sounds alright, especially for a planted tank. If you are noticing sunken-in bellies you could supplement them with cucumber or another veggi, (which is always a good idea) mine love cucumber.
As for your center piece fish, I would have to recommend a pair or trio of rams, possibly bolivian because they get a bit bigger (beautiful colors too.) Personally, if it was me I would look into Apistos. The last thing I can think of at the moment would be a gourami, but Im not going to recommend that because the one I've had for a while keeps eating leaves off my crypts and it really erks me.
Besides all the livestock recommendations, I might as well throw in the filter one too. A 55g can support the life you have but I would recommend a bigger filter. Yours is good from 30-60 gallons, so its more like the minimal for your tank. I think if you got a better one you may run in to less problems down the road, ultimately leading to a better, more enjoyable time; less meds, less headache, less stress, more fun.
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Is it really the minimal, The thing is HUGE, how big should I go? Thanks for all the advice guys.
the size of your filter is ultimately up to you, but if you ask around you will find that many hobbyists "over" filter their tanks. Some to a redundancy. A larger filter will be more able to help when unexpected problems arise. Also, there are tricks to maximize your filters "cleaning" ability, as well as tricks that allow you to hold more water in a tank such as a sump.
On my 55g, I use an AquaClear 110, which is recommended for up to a 110g tank. For media I use one sponge, one large bag of bio media, and a fairly large bag of crushed coral (primarily to raise my Kh,) but it also works great for biological filtration. I definately am not saying this is the best filter and combination of media but it has worked well for me for the past year and a half. Personally, I would like to change this out for a canister filter in the future for a few reasons: 1) they are argueably better filters 2) they make less surface aggitation which is good for holding in CO2 for my plants and 3) more freedom of media.
When you feel like you have a lot of fish in a tank or are possibly getting overstocked a good filter is almost a necessity (coupled with good, frequent water changes)
hope this helps a bit more
On my 55g, I use an AquaClear 110, which is recommended for up to a 110g tank. For media I use one sponge, one large bag of bio media, and a fairly large bag of crushed coral (primarily to raise my Kh,) but it also works great for biological filtration. I definately am not saying this is the best filter and combination of media but it has worked well for me for the past year and a half. Personally, I would like to change this out for a canister filter in the future for a few reasons: 1) they are argueably better filters 2) they make less surface aggitation which is good for holding in CO2 for my plants and 3) more freedom of media.
When you feel like you have a lot of fish in a tank or are possibly getting overstocked a good filter is almost a necessity (coupled with good, frequent water changes)
hope this helps a bit more
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Why don't you just add another smaller filter on there instead of ditching the one you have and paying for an even bigger one ? You might save some money. Also, you'll have the benefit of being able to alternate cleanings and media changes between the two.
I have two filters running on my 29....a penguin 170 and one of those walmart filter rated for up to 20 gallons....I had an extra sitting around and thought I'd stick it on there... :huh:
I have two filters running on my 29....a penguin 170 and one of those walmart filter rated for up to 20 gallons....I had an extra sitting around and thought I'd stick it on there... :huh: