Stocking help with my 46 Gallon

bluetik

bluetik

AC Members
Dec 10, 2008
64
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Sunny Florida
Hi there . . . this is my 1st post here, so go easy on me ;).

Back sometime in the early fall, I purchased a 46 Gallon bowfront, with the intention of running a fishless cycle and putting 2 comet goldfish in there and letting them get as big as they want.

Along about October, my neighbor tells me she wants to get rid of her 20 Gallon -- do I want it? "No, I don't want it". Then, do I want the fish from it? "Let me get back to you on that".

Long story short -- I now have a tropical community tank with 6 cherry barbs, 4 gold barbs, and 2 gold Gourami. Heavily planted -- I just added the plants last weekend -- probably put in around 60 or so plants.

I have 350 gph HOB filtration with Bio-wheel when my QT tank is operating -- otherwise I have 450 gph HOB with Bio-wheel. I do 25% H2O change weekly.

I have 3 Otos in QT currently, who will be joining the main tank in a couple of weeks.

What would you add in this situation? My "wish list" includes a pair of German Blue Rams, but I'm interested in hearing your suggestions about what, and how much, I can add in this situation.

Thanks!

Char
 
Well, they are not best buds, and just stay away from each other most of the time. I have a male and a female, I think, and the male is definitely dominant and wants all the "window space" for himself. If the female gets too near the front and center of the glass, he'll chase her away, but otherwise, he leaves her alone for the most part. The male loves to pose and preen and is probably the most personable fish in the tank, in terms of interaction with me.

Will the rams need a cave of some sort? If so, I may have to shift some of these plants around. Right now I have a medium sized piece of driftwood and a large vertical piece of petrified wood, but no slate or anything that really has an interior space.

Thanks!

Char
 
They will like cover. A snag of driftwood works for them it does not need to be a rock cave, though they will use that too. They love a densely planted tank, so they will be at home in your tank. The gold barbs slightly concern me. Are they nippy?
 
Rich,
No, the Gold Barbs keep pretty much to themselves and are very docile. I've seen them "showing off" to one another, but they never come to blows over it.

Jon -- yeah, maybe I should've taken the tank, but I didn't really have any place to store it, and with two young kids, one tank is all I can handle right now. I never got the goldfish. I was stuck in a 6-week Nitrite spike (yes, 6 weeks) on my fishless cycle when my neighbor showed up on my doorstep with the Barbs and Gourami in a bucket -- she sold her tank on CraigsList and needed to rehome the fish immediately.

A bottle of SafeStart and 4 days later I was through the Nitrite spike and cycled. No casualties.

Char
 
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