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I'm in the process of setting up a new 55-gallon tank. Figuring out stocking rates is the bane of my existence.

It will definitely house the following:

five pearl gouramis
a half-dozen platies
seven emerald cories
a dwarf pleco.


Am I then at my stocking limit? (Keep in mind that I like to stay just a little understocked.) If not, how many more fish-inches can I add?

I have three red irian rainbows (full grown at a shade under four inches each) that I'm thinking of transferring from another tank, but don't know if that would be pushing it.

Depends on filtration really,if you have enough then maybe but my instinct says no as pearls grow to about 5 inches and the platy's may result in a fry explosion.


Gibson SG you know you want one!!

Also, it depends on what species of dwarf pleco we're talking about. Some "dwarf" plecos stay at two or three inches long, while others hit around six.

If you have (or plan to get) one of the smaller dwarfs, and you plan to move the platy fry out of the tank, I'd say that you could add about six of a small schooling fish. They don't add much to the bioload, and would balance out the tank by hanging around the middle layer.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

the platy's may result in a fry explosion

True, but the gouramis may take care of that

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Am I the only one that doesn't see any problem? :%) IMO, all those fish will fit in with room to spare for a good school of middle-dwellers. An Angelfish will help reduce problems with excess fry as well.

Last edited by Shinigami at 01-Apr-2005 10:18

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Tank has both an Emperor 400 and a Penguin 330. Platy fry won't be a problem, since all of the platys in the tank at the moment are female. (A couple were pregnant when I got them more than a year ago, but only one of the fry managed to escape the gouramis and make it to adulthood.)

Last edited by lmuha at 01-Apr-2005 13:25

I don't know if the gouramis would eat it, depends how big and fast thye are, I put 4 babys in and they only got 1 of them!:%)

Last edited by labrakitty at 15-Apr-2005 17:02

I actually saw them doing it once. One of the platys went into labor, and the gouramis obviously knew what was going on, because they gathered around her in a circle (poor thing!) and every time she popped one out, they snarfed it up. It was dreadful! The only reason I didn't intervene is because I didn't have anywhere to put any more fry, so I figured that if they were fast enough and strong enough to survive under such conditions, they deserved it, and otherwise ... well, I'd let Mother Nature have her way!

Oops ... just found a fry in the tank. I guess all the platys in there aren't female.

How embarassing!

If you aren't sure, check for gonopodiums on those platies. [link=This]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Livebearers%20Lane/51550.html" style="COLOR: #808080[/link] should tell you all you need to know about that.

If you don't see any males, it is entirely possible that you've got a female that just stored male sperm. They can take the sperm from one mating session, and use it to produce fry for months afterwards. If that is what happened, you'll have to just wait it out.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Nah, it was just that the one male that's in the tank is kind of hard to pick out -- his fins are a weird light color, and he's also an unusually small fish. So it's kind of hard to get a good glimpse to tell whether he has a gonopodium or a fan-shaped anal fin.

I will say I got a little suspicous last week when I noticed the smallest platy very aggressively chasing the others around the tank ... what's weird, though, is that those fish have been together for nearly a year with nary a sign of fry ... but they were in a much smaller tank, so maybe the babies just all got eaten more easily.

Oops!

I have to agree with Shinigami. You have room. And with the filtration you describe, you definitely have room for more -- especially when you don't overfeed and keep on top of your maintenance!