55 gallon community planted lace Rock aquarium.

[Tony blazer]

24 fish
4 Rams 2 German 2 gold
2 angelfish 1 gold 1 marble
4 dwarf gouramis 2 flame red 2 powder blue
4 Tetris 2 red eye 2 serpae
4 fancy tail guppies (all males)
2 Panda Cory cats
2 synodontis petricola cats
1 Chinese algae eater -hybrid golden standard
1 King tiger pleco

8 plants
Kleiner bar sword (reddish brown leaves)
Amazon sword
Anubias Nana
Java fern
Tall hairgrass
Sagittaria subulata
Anacharis
Water Sprite
One area with hair algae on the highest elevation point of the tank I think it looks cool.

Possibility of adding two more electric blue Rams or blue frost Rams and or shrimp.

 

[Tony blazer]

24 fish
4 Rams 2 German 2 gold
2 angelfish 1 gold 1 marble
4 dwarf gouramis 2 flame red 2 powder blue
4 Tetris 2 red eye 2 serpae
4 fancy tail guppies (all males)
2 Panda Cory cats
2 synodontis petricola cats
1 Chinese algae eater -hybrid golden standard
1 King tiger pleco

8 plants
Kleiner bar sword (reddish brown leaves)
Amazon sword
Anubias Nana
Java fern
Tall hairgrass
Sagittaria subulata
Anacharis
Water Sprite
One area with hair algae on the highest elevation point of the tank I think it looks cool.

Possibility of adding two more electric blue Rams or blue frost Rams and or shrimp.

I forgot to mention I'm trying to do a little hydroponics coming out of my filters

 

[FallenPepper]

Looks great

 

[CryptFan]

There are a few Problems with your stocking:
tetras need to be in groups of 6+ for EACH variety
corrys need a group of 6+ for EACH variety
Chineese algae eaters need at lest 100 gallons
are your dwarf gourami okay? You really should only keep 1 per tank

 

[FallenPepper]

Wat

 

[Retired Viking]

Outside of the stocking issue noted by @CryptFan I like the look of your tank and the many plants and hiding spots. I also have plants growing out of the backside of my 30 gallon tank. I tried it with my 55 gallon tank but it is not on the sunny side of the house so I moved those plants.

 

[Tony blazer]

my father always told me agree to disagree and there is no right way of doing things only a wrong way. And that thinking my tanks would only have Tetris and Cory cats plus a few other other fish until I hit my bio load threshold. My red eye serpae tetras school together as well as a good interaction with my guppies. My dwarf gouramis get along perfectly it's pretty funny the male of the red flame gourami usually hangs out with the female powder blue one. I don't have any aggression issues in my tank at all including the Rams and angels. Now the Chinese algae eater that will be a work in progress. They are the most active working suckers in my opinion I do have a King tiger pleco but I see him twice a year if that. If the Chinese algae eater in a year or two gets too big for the tank and becomes aggressive I can always swap them out at my local fish store for a smaller one I've done that in the past. I've actually had some algae eaters that are fine and do not get aggressive but only time will tell on that.

I totally disagree having a 55 gallon tank with three different species only that is not enjoyable to me. Remember agree to disagree and there's no right way there's only a wrong way. For example I would not put guppies with African cichlids. I would not put small neon tetras with my synodontis petricola catfish there is definitely wrong things to do but a ton of right things to do with different viewpoints and opinions. Thank you for yours I am not being a dick just being myself

 

[Tony blazer]

There are a few Problems with your stocking:
tetras need to be in groups of 6+ for EACH variety
corrys need a group of 6+ for EACH variety
Chineese algae eaters need at lest 100 gallons
are your dwarf gourami okay? You really should only keep 1 per tank

I respectfully disagree with you sir.
the minimum tank size that is recommended for Chinese algae eaters is a 30 gallon but the tank housing this fish should be larger.

with your thinking I would only have two variations of tetras and koi cats equal 18 fish of my 24 bioload that I have right now. That would not be an enjoyable tank for me to watch. Agree to disagree thank you for your input.

 

[CryptFan]

I respectfully disagree with you sir.
the minimum tank size that is recommended for Chinese algae eaters is a 30 gallon but the tank housing this fish should be larger.

with your thinking I would only have two variations of tetras and koi cats equal 18 fish of my 24 bioload that I have right now. That would not be an enjoyable tank for me to watch. Agree to disagree thank you for your input.

Actually CAE’s get 11 in long, Corys NEED a group, and tetras need 6 of their own variety in a school. If you cannot provide a habitat and enough fish to create a school you should not be keeping said fish.

 

[Retired Viking]

I wish more people in this world would agree to disagree and not take it personal and attack each other. I do not see you as being a dick, everyone has a right to their opinion. It is good to be able to exchange views. I wish I could do that with some of my neighbors when it comes to politics Right now I am into having schools of different types of tetras. Experimenting with having ghost shrimp (no babies yet) and guppies (too many babies) I know you have years of experience and I respect that. To be honest I still like to do some things the way I did many years ago.

my father always told me agree to disagree and there is no right way of doing things only a wrong way. And that thinking my tanks would only have Tetris and Cory cats plus a few other other fish until I hit my bio load threshold. My red eye serpae tetras school together as well as a good interaction with my guppies. My dwarf gouramis get along perfectly it's pretty funny the male of the red flame gourami usually hangs out with the female powder blue one. I don't have any aggression issues in my tank at all including the Rams and angels. Now the Chinese algae eater that will be a work in progress. They are the most active working suckers in my opinion I do have a King tiger pleco but I see him twice a year if that. If the Chinese algae eater in a year or two gets too big for the tank and becomes aggressive I can always swap them out at my local fish store for a smaller one I've done that in the past. I've actually had some algae eaters that are fine and do not get aggressive but only time will tell on that.

I totally disagree having a 55 gallon tank with three different species only that is not enjoyable to me. Remember agree to disagree and there's no right way there's only a wrong way. For example I would not put guppies with African cichlids. I would not put small neon tetras with my synodontis petricola catfish there is definitely wrong things to do but a ton of right things to do with different viewpoints and opinions. Thank you for yours I am not being a dick just being myself

 

[Tony blazer]

Actually CAE’s get 11 in long, Corys NEED a group, and tetras need 6 of their own variety in a school. If you cannot provide a habitat and enough fish to create a school you should not be keeping said fish.

You my friend are very opinionated but it's all good.

Chinese Algae Eaters are large fish, growing to lengths of 11 inches (28 cm) in the wild, though captive specimens are usually much smaller. They are mature at about 4 1/2 inches (12 cm) and seldom exceed 5 1/4 inches (13 cm) in the aquarium. They have an average lifespan of 5 to 10 years in captivity with proper care.

Who says you have to keep tetras in large groups for them to thrive in an aquarium. Sorry to tell you you don't have to and the fish can still thrive as long as they have compatible tank mates and a good clean healthy environment. I would not be happy with a 55 gallon tank with 12 tetras and 6 Panda Cory cats to almost max out my bioload for the tank. Who told you you can't keep less than 6 tetras in a tank?

Listen it was up to me I would have a 150-200 gallon tank and would have all the different of species of fish in large numbers but my wife vetoed that dream lol. I can see that you will never agree to disagree on this. Thank you for your input but no thank you with that tank setup you have in mind for me. I would love to hear your specs of your tanks.

 

[Essjay]

Please keep replies civil or the thread will have to be locked.

 

[Byron]

One of the purposes of this forum is to educate. Many new aquarists come here looking for help with problems, or just looking for general advice. For those of us who do have considerable experience--and much more importantly, knowledge--it is not going to help anyone if we ignore something that is patently inaccurate, misleading, or detrimental to the fish.

Most of us--but I would hope all of us--care for the fish we decide to acquire. We bring them home to provide them a home for the rest of their life, and it should be what they require and expect. Otherwise, we are in the wrong hobby. I am reminded of a comment by Nathan Hill when he was editor of Practical Fishkeeping:

"Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space."​

The other aspect of this that annoys me is when members disagree on the science. There is no "opinion" when it comes to science, it is fact, and one either accepts it or not. The numbers needed for a shoal of a species, the amount of space they require, the appropriateness or not of this or that combination, the water parameters and aquascape...all this is based on established scientific research into the habitats and fish biology. Educated biologists, ichthyologists and botanists spend years learning their subject. To ignore their concensus of advice is irresponsible and certainly not in the best interests of the fish.

And that should be the aim of every hobbyist, to provide what the fish require and expect, not something we may prefer. It is the fish's home and it determines the quality of their life until they die.

 

[CryptFan]

One of the purposes of this forum is to educate. Many new aquarists come here looking for help with problems, or just looking for general advice. For those of us who do have considerable experience--and much more importantly, knowledge--it is not going to help anyone if we ignore something that is patently inaccurate, misleading, or detrimental to the fish.

Most of us--but I would hope all of us--care for the fish we decide to acquire. We bring them home to provide them a home for the rest of their life, and it should be what they require and expect. Otherwise, we are in the wrong hobby. I am reminded of a comment by Nathan Hill when he was editor of Practical Fishkeeping:

"Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space."​

The other aspect of this that annoys me is when members disagree on the science. There is no "opinion" when it comes to science, it is fact, and one either accepts it or not. The numbers needed for a shoal of a species, the amount of space they require, the appropriateness or not of this or that combination, the water parameters and aquascape...all this is based on established scientific research into the habitats and fish biology. Educated biologists, ichthyologists and botanists spend years learning their subject. To ignore their concensus of advice is irresponsible and certainly not in the best interests of the fish.

And that should be the aim of every hobbyist, to provide what the fish require and expect, not something we may prefer. It is the fish's home and it determines the quality of their life until they die.

Perfectly put!

 

[Tony blazer]

First I am the first person to to respect other people's views and I have stated multiple times my motto is agree to disagree. Yes science is science but understanding science and recommendations change all the time. I never asked for opinions on my tank setup I just wanted to enter into the tank of the month competition since I'm new to this forum but not new to the hobby. This was I re-establish cichlid tank that run its course for 7 years. People have different experiences with different species sharing tanks and some of the same experiences. For example I'm not going to put two angelfish in a 5 gallon tank. I'm not going to put fancy tail guppies with African cichlids ECT but when it comes to how many tetras you keeping a school or if you have multiple dwarf gouramis in a tank together as long as the tank has adequate size for the bioload it's really personal preference no science. Just because I have only two red eye tetras in my tank does not mean the red eye tetras will not thrive in the tank there is no science behind that sorry to say and as we all no science is constantly changing. For example when I started in the hobby with my father in the 70s the science was that you needed to change activated carbon end ammonia chips every 4 weeks and now the science recommends you not put activating carbon in your tank unless you have water issues or following medication treatment or add ammonia chips if you have a planted aquarium so science and recommendations change all the time.

The bottom line I did not ask for recommendations on stocking my fish tank but I'm not opposed to hearing what other people say or think but I will respectfully agree to disagree based on my own personal experiences with stocking an aquarium and tank mates for my fish.

I am truly here to interact with people who enjoy the hobby but I don't have to agree and I will voice my opinions. Yours truly Tony.