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Hello

Can anyone provide me with some sensible stocking suggestions from the following tank:

48" x 15" x 18" (212 Litre Volume / 191 Litre Probable Volume) - Volume estimates obtained from PracticalFishKeeping.

My fiance has her heart set on Angelfish, would Angelfish be okay in this tank?

Regards



Anthony

Welcome to FishProfiles!

Sounds like dimensions for the 55 US gallon.

Angelfish will do fine in that tank, you could have multiple specimens in fact. A pair would be nice.

Other than a community tank, your request is quite open-ended. For a South American sort of deal, though, you might want to consider 2 Angelfish (centerpiece), a school (6+) or two schools of tetras (mid-dwellers), a school of hatchetfish (surface dwellers), and a school of Corydoras catfish (bottom dwellers). Hatchetfish are jumpers, so keep the tank lid covered and try to reduce the number of holes in the top. You can also get a few Otocinclus catfish or one or two bristlenose plecs for algae eating. Add the Otocinclus after the tank has settled because they are a little more delicate. Bristlenose plecs, on the other hand, are rather tough. Remember with bottom feeders and algae eaters that they need to be fed sinking foods directly, not just leftover flakes. Such a set-up would be about middle stocked, and you would have room for other fish you might find attractive.

If you do not care about representing nature and keeping only fish that come fro the same habitat/continent, then your options become greater. Danios and rainbowfish are other alternative surface dwelling species, while barbs and rasboras make good middle dwellers; all of these fish types school. It is important for schooling fish to be kept in at least groups of 5, and I like to say at least groups of 6. For some fish that can be kept alone, consider gourami as a surface dweller. Certain types of smaller cichlid species such as Rams or Kribensis make good mid-bottom dwellers; watch out for the bigger cichlids such as Oscars, Jack Dempseys, etc. that can be aggressive and bully or consume little fish. And then of course there are the livebearers such as swordtails, platies, and guppies which are good community fish.

You've got tons of options. My suggestion would be to go to the fish store and scope out what they have, see what you like, then go back home and research those species to see if they are appropriate. Alternatively, you can research a bunch of species, such as online or from a book from the library and find what you like and plan it out, then see if you can get them at your LFS.

You're going to be piled on with a lot of info. If you are totally new to keeping fish, please research Cycling for an understanding of one of the most important factors in the success of a new aquarium; the failure is often known as "New Tank Syndrome", but it can be easily prevented with knowledge of the nitrogen cycle.

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

Hi Anthony

I see that just having a single small tank didn't last long... welcome to the world of MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome)

As Shinigami mentions a tank the size you listed provides so many stocking options - A pair of angelfish would work as the centrepiece fish in that tank

What else you put in the tank would need to work around the angelfish - have a look through the profiles on this site, there are lots of things that would work. You will need to choose tankmates with similar water parameter requirements and of an appropriate size and temperament.

Good luck and have fun

G_T


Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Thanks for the advice. I can see you put a lot of effort into your replies, believe me it is definately appreciated.

At the moment I am cycling the tank with five white clouds who seem to be doing well (has been three days so far). The only strange thing I have noticed is their colours (especially red tail) have become much brighter since leaving my LFS. Anyone know if this is a good or bad thing?

I will certainly be doing a lot of research.

Thanks again guys!



Anthony

A good thing. That just goes to show how much they appreciate the larger swimming area.
When stressed a fish will turn pale and tend not to be as active.

WCMM are nice hardy fish that handle a huge temp range, and are likely used to the cycling process. Which is one reason they're suggested for cycling. Even so, make it as easy as possible on them, and increase surface movement as much as you can, and don't overfeed while cycling. You may notice a bit of loss in color as they cycle the tank, but they should be fine. I had picked up 20 or so at an auction about a year ago and didn't have a cycled tank for them, they did fine.

^_^

i have the same size tank and have a couple of angels (that just spawned for the first time!!!) 4 bolivian rams, 12 or 13 rummynose tetra (my favourite fish- they are always really active and school really tightly- also if theres a problem with your water parameters or if you introduce a disease into your tank their noses turn pinky instead of red and you know you have to do something fast to help your fish), a bristle nose plec, a clown plec and 3 corys oh and a mystery snail.

i would say choose your favourite fish as your centre peice (ie angels) and then work your way around the tank to make sure each layer will have a bit of activity, ie you may choose a school of tetra to liven up the upper layer of the tank and a few corys to snuffle around the bottom and then maybe a coulple of rams or apistogramma who roam around every where and add a bit of character with their territorys.

introduce the fish slowly and be vigourous with your water change schedule and good luck! oh yeah and live plants are great too!

I have ended up stocking with the following:

3 x Angelfish
1 x Mystus Vittatus
2 x Keyhole Cichlid's
14 x Tiger Barb's
2 x White Cloud Mountain Minnow's
5 x Rummynose Tetra's

Am I overstocked?

What is this "sucker fish" you mentioned.

There are a lot of plecos that get much too large for most tanks and could easily put you into the overstocked range based on their huge waste production especially for a mid sized tank like you have.

Otherwise seems alright, I would not suggest adding anything more at this point though. Let the tank mature for a year or so.

^_^

the tiger barbs and the angels might have some problems...

te tiger barbs will be nippy og the long flowing fins of the angels and the angels will retaliate eventually if they dont get picked on to death...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"