55 Gallon Stocking

[Bobby2415]

Im in the process of setting up my first tank. It’s a 55 gallon. As far as stocking the tank goes, i am thinking;

(6) Striped Danio
(6) Cherry Barb
(2) Dwarf Gourami
(2) Angelfish
(2) Black Molly
(2) Smaller breed Pleco
(1) Striped Raphael Catfish

Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be found on your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help then take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and ask them to test the GH & pH for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the test, and ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm or dGH).

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Livebearers (mollies, platies, swordtails, guppies) naturally occur in water with a GH above 200ppm (250ppm for mollies) and a pH above 7.0. If your water is too soft (lacking minerals) and has a GH below 200ppm or pH below 7.0, the fish won't do that well.

The other fishes you listed all come from soft water with a GH below 150ppm and a pH below 7.0.

If you want to keep livebearers, then keep them in a separate tank where you can give them hard water, and keep the other fishes in soft water.

Livebearers naturally occur in large groups of females with 1 or 2 males hanging around the group trying to breed with them. In an aquarium I recommend keeping all males or all females so the males don't pester and harass the females.

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Try not to buy dwarf gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) or any of their colour forms because they can carry two nasty diseases, the Iridovirus and Tuberculosis (TB), neither of which can be treated and once the diseases are in your tank, they are there until you scrap the tank and disinfect everything with bleach.

If you can get locally bred dwarf gouramis they are usually fine, but anything that is imported from Asia could have either or both of these diseases.

 

[Bobby2415]

Thanks for the information, I will pass on the Mollies. Not sure about water hardeness or pH yet, I don’t have water in the tank yet. Do you think the fish I have listed is overstocking or could I choose some more? Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

I have no idea how big the tank is (dimensions). In Australia we sell tanks by the foot (eg: 2ft, 3ft, 4ft, 6ft) so 55 gallon means nothing to me. However, I reckon the fish you listed should be fine in a 4ft tank, but I would watch the Raphael catfish because it might eat the cherry barbs.

 

[Bobby2415]

Forgot about tank dimensions. It is 48” x 13” x 21”.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I have no idea how big the tank is (dimensions). In Australia we sell tanks by the foot (eg: 2ft, 3ft, 4ft, 6ft) so 55 gallon means nothing to me. However, I reckon the fish you listed should be fine in a 4ft tank, but I would watch the Raphael catfish because it might eat the cherry barbs.

A standard 55 gallon is normally 4 feet long, about 12 inches wide and about 21 inches high.
For reference Colin... though, obviously, there are oddball tanks in the industry as well.
http://www.alysta.com/books/fishtank.htm

 

[Essjay]

Not sure about water hardeness or pH yet, I don’t have water in the tank yet.

Look on your water supplier's website, see if they give hardness and pH. If they do, you need the number and the unit.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Look on your water supplier's website, see if they give hardness and pH. If they do, you need the number and the unit.

And... if they don't, you can just take a sample of your tap water to the local fish store, and they should test it for you. Again, you need the number and the unit.

 

[Bobby2415]

According to the website;

pH: 7.76
Hardness, Carbonate: 97.8 MG/L

 

[Essjay]

Do they give the general hardness? Carbonate hardness is useful to know but it is not as important as general hardness.

General hardness is the amount of divalent metal ions in the water, and these are mainly calcium and magnesium with other trace metals. We need to chose fish which have evolved in water with a similar hardness to our tap water.
Carbonate hardness is the amount of buffer tap water contains. A buffer is a substance which stabilises pH and the higher the KH the more difficult it is to change the pH.

 

[Bobby2415]

I don’t see a general hardeness but;

Calcium: 14.1 MG/L
Magnesium: 15.2 MG/L

 

[Essjay]

You can't just add calcium and magnesium unfortunately. General hardness is not the two added together; it is the number the total amount of all the divalent metal ions would be if it was all calcium carbonate or all calcium (a unit commonly used in the UK). It took me a while to get my head round that concept, but one of my sons used to work as an analyst for a water testing company and he explained it to me.
You would be better taking a sample of your tap water to an LFS and asking them to test for GH. Make sure they give you the number and the unit.

 

[Bobby2415]

Ok I will do that, I appreciate it. Also, this is what I’m going off of if it helps at all.

 

[Essjay]

That's the water quality report. In the UK at least, they give hardness in a different section of the website. But not all providers give general hardness on their websites; they may be able to tell you if you contact them, or use an LFS.


But your image shows they also give alkalinity and this is the term used by water companies for carbonate hardness. I wonder if "hardness, carbonate" really is what you need. Does it mean your hardness expressed as calcium carbonate? It would be safer to check with an LFS.

 

[Bobby2415]

Yah when I get the water in there and up and running and what not I’ll get a water sample and have it checked. Before I put fish in of course. Thanks for the help!