First "big" tank

[Lupin]

And then I'm still trying to decide between Angels or Gouramis. I really like the Koi Angels and Opaline, Pearl and Gold Gouramis. I just have to decide which ones I like best.

Pearls are your best option. The rest will likely bully your other fish.

 

[weldon]

Pearls are your best option. The rest will likely bully your other fish.

I went to my LFS today, and the guy there thought I'd be OK with 4-6 Angels AND some gouramis, maybe 1 male and 2-3 females.

My son is in love with the clown loaches in the store and they seem like great fish. They have one in there that's 15 years old and about 6-8" long. I might need to rethink what I'm doing to incorporate 4-5 of these into the tank.

So here's the latest idea...

4-6 Angels
3-4 Pearl Gouramis
8 Long-finned Leopard Danios
8 Red Wag Platies
8 Sunset Platies
20 Cardinal Tetras
8 Spotted Cories
4-5 Clown Loaches
4 Kuhli Loaches
3 Otos
1 Bushymouth Pleco
1 Synodontis Petricola

 

[Digital]

I thought Angels would eat the small tetras like cardinals or neons. And I would like to do a planted tank.

How about Platys? Some of those have nice red coloring. I don't know much about them though.

I looked at barbs too, but I've heard they're a bit aggressive towards other fish.

My son really wants a Black Ghost Knife, which I understand get quite large. I guess the tank is big enough for a knife, but will a knife eat smaller fish?

I have a 90G community, with the largest fish being 2 pearl gouramis. I am adding 20 neons, 5 lemon tetras and 3 angels. The angels are small. As long as you have really good water filtration, you can put a lot of small fish into a tank like that w/o overstocking. Having it heavily planted helps alot too, cause it gives fish to hide.

Post up some pics!

 

[Digital]

You could get some Densonii barbs aka roseline sharks aka torpedo barbs. The are a bit pricey but absoluetly stunning. They look great in planted tanks, they get to about 6". I have 6, and they school.

WOW, if I saw some of those, I'd definately get some... but 6", I'd be worried about the fish that stay small, and them eating them. :T

 

[Digital]

Stay away from those gold and silver / blue gouramis, they pick a lot. The pearls are cool though. I have some cherry barbs and they are very peaceful. Serpae tetras might pick at fish, same with those black tetras. But if your tank is heavily planted, they should be ok!

 

[weldon]

I have a 90G community, with the largest fish being 2 pearl gouramis. I am adding 20 neons, 5 lemon tetras and 3 angels. The angels are small. As long as you have really good water filtration, you can put a lot of small fish into a tank like that w/o overstocking. Having it heavily planted helps alot too, cause it gives fish to hide.

I'm planning on buying small angels and I've been told they do pretty well when they grow up with their tankmates. It'll take a while for the plants to grow in, and to buy all the fish. I'll have to figure out who to add first and then in what order to add the rest.

Stay away from those gold and silver / blue gouramis, they pick a lot. The pearls are cool though. I have some cherry barbs and they are very peaceful. Serpae tetras might pick at fish, same with those black tetras. But if your tank is heavily planted, they should be ok!

My son likes the Pearls too, so we'll probably go that direction. Too bad about the Gold Gouramis though. There's an absolutely stunning Gold at my LFS that I would love to have in my tank. I think I'm going to drop the Black Skirt tetras completely and let the Angels, platies and danios take the middle layer. I'll have plenty going on the bottom layer too with the cories, loaches, the bushymouth and the petricola.

Post up some pics!

I'll take some "before" pictures on Friday when I start sanding down the stand before refinishing it. I'm going to try painting the wood trim on the tank with Krylon Fusion too. I'm refinishing the stand in an antiqued black with some red burnishing coming through. Should match the room better than the medium oak finish on there now.

I need to find the glass canopy pieces to close the top, decide on the substrate and then get everything moved in after the stand is finished so I can start setting up.

 

[Carla G]

My son is in love with the clown loaches in the store and they seem like great fish. They have one in there that's 15 years old and about 6-8" long. I might need to rethink what I'm doing to incorporate 4-5 of these into the tank.

So here's the latest idea...

4-6 Angels
3-4 Pearl Gouramis
8 Long-finned Leopard Danios
8 Red Wag Platies
8 Sunset Platies
20 Cardinal Tetras
8 Spotted Cories
4-5 Clown Loaches
4 Kuhli Loaches
3 Otos
1 Bushymouth Pleco
1 Synodontis Petricola

Your son has good taste! Clown loaches are very lovable, but they need a big tank like yours, and they should be kept in groups of minimum 5 fish. They are very social. And they don't hurt any other fish.

For schooling fish in a tank that size, have you thought of rainbows? They develop beautiful colours when they mature.

http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/

The M. praecox is only 2" long. Other melantotaenia species are 4". The red glossolepis incisus can get to 4 1/2" Rainbowfish should be kept in schools of 6 or more of a kind and like similar conditions to loaches. They are very peaceful fish.

And you thought things were all settled, didn't you?

I've been going round in circles on stocking a 52g. It's hard to decide. I wish I had the space you have to fill with all the things I want! Have fun with it.

Cheers,

Carla

 

[Lupin]

I went to my LFS today, and the guy there thought I'd be OK with 4-6 Angels AND some gouramis, maybe 1 male and 2-3 females.

My son is in love with the clown loaches in the store and they seem like great fish. They have one in there that's 15 years old and about 6-8" long. I might need to rethink what I'm doing to incorporate 4-5 of these into the tank.

So here's the latest idea...

4-6 Angels
3-4 Pearl Gouramis
8 Long-finned Leopard Danios
8 Red Wag Platies
8 Sunset Platies
20 Cardinal Tetras
8 Spotted Cories
4-5 Clown Loaches
4 Kuhli Loaches
3 Otos
1 Bushymouth Pleco
1 Synodontis Petricola

What sizes are these clown loaches you are going to start with? I would never try to suggest placing kuhli loaches with clown loaches. Clown loaches are pretty active and the kuhlis wil not appreciate the level of activity done by botiine loaches. Your choice is either you scrap the kuhlis or the clowns off your list.

Your platies are bound to reproduce quickly. Save some of your cash and start with a few number instead. If this tank is going to be planted heavily, you have a chance to grow some of these fry. If you want to stick with purely one color of the platy only, then choose only one strain you wish to keep. Red wagtails are much more appealing in my opinion.

Be careful with your angelfish and cardinal tetras. Angelfish are cichlids and therefore will behave differently from each other. Some will try to ambush the cardinal tetras sooner or later, some will not.

 

[weldon]

Your son has good taste! Clown loaches are very lovable, but they need a big tank like yours, and they should be kept in groups of minimum 5 fish. They are very social. And they don't hurt any other fish.

OK. 5-6 Clown Loaches then. They look like fun and my wife will be happy that the tank isn't just full of "little" fish.

For schooling fish in a tank that size, have you thought of rainbows? They develop beautiful colours when they mature.

I hadn't thought too much of the ones I've seen recently, but the splendida varieties on the web site you pointed out are very pretty.

And you thought things were all settled, didn't you?

Honestly, half the fun for me is doing the planning.

What sizes are these clown loaches you are going to start with? I would never try to suggest placing kuhli loaches with clown loaches. Clown loaches are pretty active and the kuhlis wil not appreciate the level of activity done by botiine loaches. Your choice is either you scrap the kuhlis or the clowns off your list.

The clowns are like 3-4" or so. I'll probably scratch the kuhlis. I just thought it would be a good alternative to the bichir and knife fish that my son likes. Kinda the same shape without the big mouth. I suppose it's a catch-22 of sorts - the kuhlis would be fine if there were plenty of hiding spaces and cover from plants, but then I'd never see them so what's the point of having them in the first place?

Your platies are bound to reproduce quickly. Save some of your cash and start with a few number instead. If this tank is going to be planted heavily, you have a chance to grow some of these fry. If you want to stick with purely one color of the platy only, then choose only one strain you wish to keep. Red wagtails are much more appealing in my opinion.

That's something I hadn't considered. Is there any problem with cross-breeding the varieties, or is it just an aesthetic choice to keep the color variety "pure" in my tank?

Be careful with your angelfish and cardinal tetras. Angelfish are cichlids and therefore will behave differently from each other. Some will try to ambush the cardinal tetras sooner or later, some will not.

I'm hoping that rasing the small angels in a tank that already has a school of cardinals will help them feel less aggressive towards the tetras. The LFS says that large angels will just go right after them, but the babies that grow up with tankmates are much more peaceful towards others. They may still pair off and defend a section of the tank though. I'm hoping that 6' is enough room to still allow a pair to coexist with everyone else.

 

[Lupin]

The clowns are like 3-4" or so. I'll probably scratch the kuhlis. I just thought it would be a good alternative to the bichir and knife fish that my son likes. Kinda the same shape without the big mouth. I suppose it's a catch-22 of sorts - the kuhlis would be fine if there were plenty of hiding spaces and cover from plants, but then I'd never see them so what's the point of having them in the first place?

Actually, kuhlis can adapt. People can tell me they are nocturnal but they will readily show up if there is not too much boisterous activity in their environment. There should always be plenty of hiding places, subdued lighting and some dither fish to add sense of security. I kept my kuhlis with my gouramis and the tank has plenty of hiding places and moderately stained with tannic acids and they still show up in the middle of the day.

That's something I hadn't considered. Is there any problem with cross-breeding the varieties, or is it just an aesthetic choice to keep the color variety "pure" in my tank?

The resulting fry often have horrible mix of colors. There is no problem with mixing both colors but it's your choice although I prefer not to. Pure strains are far prettier than those with horribly mismatched colors. I admittedly tried the blue and red platies and the resulting fry look half-blue and half-red. I wasn't impressed by the outcome.:lipssealedsmilie:

I'm hoping that rasing the small angels in a tank that already has a school of cardinals will help them feel less aggressive towards the tetras. The LFS says that large angels will just go right after them, but the babies that grow up with tankmates are much more peaceful towards others. They may still pair off and defend a section of the tank though. I'm hoping that 6' is enough room to still allow a pair to coexist with everyone else.

All I'm saying is just keep a watch on them. There are some cases where the angels would suddenly eat the tetras even when they were raised with the tetras since their younger days.