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Ok......... I never thought I would ask for this cause I knew what I wanted & I THOUGHT I knew how many of each fish I wanted........... but after reading all the posts I knew that 3 of each fish did not constitute a school, so I upped the no's..

I know the compatibility issues with the choice of fish I chose, such as the angels & tiger barbs & neons & glolights. So far everybody is getting along & weather or not angels will end up eating the smaller fish they grow up with............ remains to be seen.

Right now it's the numbers I'm wondering about. I feel I'm on the verge of being overstocked, yet I want decent sized schools............ according to you guys anyway, .......cause if there's anything I've learned from this site it's that you guys DO have a method to your madness! ha ha

In my opinion I think I only need to add to the two cory groups. How many more of each do you guys think I should add? Also, if you want to comment on anything else, feel free.......... such as does anyone think I should add to the other schools of fish? I really don't want to overstock. And I thank you in advance, as I know you must get tired of doing "stocking reports" for all us newbies.

55 gal.

3 angel fish
3 guppies
6 tiger barbs
5 red eyed tetras
2 zebra danios (getting 4 more )
9 neon tetras
6 glo lights
3 bronze cories
3 emarld cories
2 upside down catfish
1 pleco ( leaving when it reaches 7 " )
...............
Oops.........sorry.......I don't think I made it too plain that this list IS the fish that I have now, NOT what I am just planning on getting.

I'm afraid you are a bit overstocked with that many fish. I would not keep the Tiger barbs with the Angelfish, as when the angels get larger the barbs will nip their fins.

5 schools of fish along with 3 angels in that size tank is too much IMO. I'd pick 2-3 schools and stick with them. Definitely find another home for the barbs...a 29g would work for them. And you could put the danios in there too. I'd keep the glowlights, neons, and red eyes (although i think they can sometimes be nippy).

So, you are looking at:
3 angels
3 guppies
9 neons
6 glowlights
5 red eyes
6 cories (emerald and bronze)
2 USD cats
1 pleco

That is a much better stocking...maybe still overstocked, but much better. You could add about 4 more cories (2 more of each type) and a couple more USD cats. Then I'd leave it alone. Once the angels grow up, the tank will be quite full looking.

Now, is there anyway you can get a 29g tank? It could be a semi-aggressive type tank with the barbs and danios (which can be nippy).

*Kristin*

Ohhhhhh I knew this would happen if I put my tank on here!

First of all let me mention that I do appreciate your concern & advice. Your list does look a lot more sensible than mine. BUT let me also mention that sometimes I can be a little "thickheaded". I have read that sometimes angels & tiger barbs can be kept together depending on the amount of room & no. & disposition of that particular group of barbs. I really love both of these species of fish & would like to try to keep them both in the same tank. I DID have trouble with just one particular tiger barb. I removed him & the others still don't bother the angelfish. Now in the future......... granted, I may have problems. IF that does occur, then of course I will rehouse the barbs. But until then I would really like to give this a try. I also had a male gold gourami that didn't like my gold pearl angel, so I gave him away too.

So we're agreed I should not add to any of the schools except maybe to the cories. And you think I should have less schools. If I was to part with anything, I believe my choice would be the red eyes, as I find them rather boring cause they are usually hid. I don't see them much anyway......... so I wouldn't miss them too much.

I really don't want to add anymore upside down catfish. Those things are getting big & there seems to be debate as weather they are schooling or not. I never see them anyway except at feeding time at night when I drop the pellets. AND I do believe I have a male & female, according to the description that the females are fatter & lighter colored & the males are skinnier & dark. They fit that description to a T. So I don't feel bad about not getting anymore.

I love the zebra danios & they never bother anything. (so far)

Basically from what I've read about all these fish except the bottom dwellers, they are all capable of being the nippers or the nippies or the eaten. But these are the fish I like & I have to have SOMETHING. I would like to give it all a go & see what happens.

Your list had a pleco in it. My list is getting rid of the pleco.

No, the option of a 29 gal. is out. Not enough room, money or interest. I would like to have just one tank to sit & look at & take care of. I am trying really hard not to get the MTS.

So if my tank looked like this would it still be overstocked, assuming no problems develop? OR should I say until problems develop? :

55 gal.

3 angel fish
3 guppies
6 tiger barbs
6 zebra danios
9 neon tetras
6 glo lights
5 bronze cories
5 emarld cories
2 upside down catfish

Oh,........... I also gave up my serpae tetras ( they were a little nippy) & a rainbow shark. So believe it or not............ I AM coming along.

Yes you will still be overstocked and quite overcrowded IMO.

The barbs will get 3 inches, the angels will get 6-7 inches tall (times 3), and there are too many schools...but its your tank. I'd do twice weekly water changes to keep the nitrates down. And just hope your barbs don't tear up the angels beautiful fins.

A school of 8-10 barbs would better cut down on their aggression, but I wouldn't add any more with your current stocking list (with 4 schools).

I have a tendency to overstock my tanks as well...but IMO 4 full schools is a little too much in a 55g along with 3 angels which will get large. Not to mention the barbs will get 3 inches. When all the fish get to their max size, you may want to think about upgrading the tank...but you'll have a while to think about that.

*Kristin*

I think your stocking is perfectly fine,
with the addition of the Danios and upping
the corys each to 5 minimum.
I would remove the T-Barbs though.
They are way too nippy to be kept with Angels,
imho.
Red Eye tetras - way way less nippy.

I agree with you Fish Patty - theres really no need
to add any more USD Cats. These fish are not very social,
rarely interact with each other, and when they do its
usually fighting over food or territory. Id say yes, larger groups would look nice, but it is totally not required, as these are not schooling nor shoaling fish.
2 seems to be the perfect number with these guys.
I have 2 myself. They grow to about 4 inches,
assuming they are species Synodontis Nigriventis,
and not the asian USD Cat.

Also, keep in mind that your neons may not last forever.
Angels are predators of neons in the wild, and often
eat them in a tank situation, so that may clear
space for you in the long run anyway.
The glowlights should be fine, they are significantly
larger in the body than neons, and in my experience, Angels show them no notice.




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Hmmmm 2 votes to get rid of my tiger barbs.

I knew that would happen. I appreciate the advice.............. BUT I would really like to go ahead & experience this mistake for myself. I watch my fish interactions pretty well...... so I will be able to catch them if they start to pick on the angels. I DID sort out one trouble maker at the beginning............ & with tiger barbs, it took a lot of watching & a good eye to identify a particular one! AND to catch that particular one was even harder! But I will be the first to admit that it didn't work, if indeed that proves to be the case.

I had already resigned myself to getting rid of the red eyes before I read your post Sneaky, so I believe I will follow through with that. It seems like a lot of fish inches in there for fish I hardly ever see anyway.

I was contemplating getting rid of the glolights if I had to also, but guess I will hang on to them. I have to have SOME little fish if the angels end up eating the neons. If that DOES happen, I will post that on here also.

If I end up getting rid of the barbs & the angels get rid of the neons....... I won't be overstocked anymore.

I think GirlieGirl only suggested the extra USD cats in case I got rid of a lot of other fish. I believe I got the smaller USD cats.......... at least according to the sign at wal-mart, they are.

Well, I appreciate the input guys! I knew no one would agree with the tiger barbs & probably not the neons. I also thought there would be a difference of opinion about the overstocking. But that's what this forum is all about.

If anyone knows of a link to Cali's article about why you should have a lot of bottom feeder's, please let me know. I saw an old post of his where he had that link but it wouldn't work for me. I was originally only going to have about 2 cories, so the idea of having 10 cories is a little unnerving. So I thought Cali's article would make me feel better about it.

Corys are schooling fish, just like
tetras, which is why you should have a bunch
of them.


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http://games.atari.com
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Sneaky- I found this statement on another site:
"In the wild, Synodontis form large groups and, although some species may squabble among themselves little damage is inflicted."

This may just be for the purpose of finding mates though. Weather they ever leave that group after mating, I don't know. But I didn't put that statement on here in order to cause any argument. I did it for two reasons:

1- I found the statement interesting

2- It gave a me a good excuse to list the site below where I got the statement from!


It has sooooooooo much information about a lot of species.............. more than most of us on here want to know about! But interesting & informative non the less.
Please check it out people if you want to know a lot about a certain fish & what it's like where they came from. - Link removed by Adam

Opps! I guess you can't read my mind.......... I was referring to your previous post about the upside down catfish.