64gal tank stocking

[PygmyPepperJulli]

I LOVE that idea Lcc! It is a bit sad that youtubers can't be bothered to cycle though... I guess when you're ripping down the tank in a month, it'll never really matter

The Gourami dream is indeed alive, that's why I was curious to see if pearls and sparklers could go together. Just imagining a shoal of sparklers swimming along with the neons while the pearls just lazily dirft around... I think I agree, I like things that are different, and also am trying to get away from the 'stereotypical' aquarium (although I can't drop the neons and cories, stereotypical as they are they're just too cute and I LOVE shiny fish).

It is funny about gallons/liters, we usually use liters but to me gallons just makes sense in an aquarium and any tank sizes that are in liters I just automatically convert to gallons in my head. In AUS we usually use liters but we have australian gallons as well... which we never actually use and I don't know the conversion. It's not quite 64 gallons, as I'm not filling it the whole way to the top, would probably be around 54-58 gal. THIS is my opinion about the rest of the US measurements though...

 

[Lcc86]

I LOVE that idea Lcc! It is a bit sad that youtubers can't be bothered to cycle though... I guess when you're ripping down the tank in a month, it'll never really matter

The Gourami dream is indeed alive, that's why I was curious to see if pearls and sparklers could go together. Just imagining a shoal of sparklers swimming along with the neons while the pearls just lazily dirft around... I think I agree, I like things that are different, and also am trying to get away from the 'stereotypical' aquarium (although I can't drop the neons and cories, stereotypical as they are they're just too cute and I LOVE shiny fish).

It is funny about gallons/liters, we usually use liters but to me gallons just makes sense in an aquarium and any tank sizes that are in liters I just automatically convert to gallons in my head. In AUS we usually use liters but we have australian gallons as well... which we never actually use and I don't know the conversion. It's not quite 64 gallons, as I'm not filling it the whole way to the top, would probably be around 54-58 gal. THIS is my opinion about the rest of the US measurements though...

Yeah I guess when you're a youtuber there's not much money making endless videos of tanks cycling I like his videos more for ideas and the terrible jokes tbf.

I'm in the UK and have to Google all these conversions, it makes my head hurt!

 

[Essjay]

You can always use the calculator on here to convert things I use it all the time - US gallons/litres, deg C/deg F, cm/inches etc.

 

[Byron]

I've heard conflicting opinions about cories, but am just going to ask again- While I know more is always (always) better, what is your opinion about mixing them? Could have, say, 7 in each school giving you a total of 21 cories (or more likely 14, as I'm probably going to rehome the one lonely false julii), which will make them more secure than say one school of six, or do you have to religiously have 10+ in each school? Because if so (10+ per school), I might just rehome/sell the peppers as well and end up just having pygmies. And would it be ok to maybe start with 5 each, try to breed them, and if they absolutely refuse to breed then just give up and buy more?

Numbers do matter but with cories it is a bit different than needing "10" of a species or whatever. I always aimed for five minimum, though sometimes never got that many because I might find say two in a store tank. But my group of 60 representing 12 species worked well. The only real issue is on of hybridizing, and so far as the authorities suggest this is only going to happen with species in the same general lineage. Ian Fuller said that if you have male and female of each species, they will not hybridize.

Get as many as you can from the start, of the species you like. We must remember that this issue with numbers is serious, and studies have proven that a group of three and a group of five has significant issues with aggression, feeding, and stress. This study was with characins and cyprinids, not cories. Some of my species spent much more time together than others did. I do believe it is the number in total that matters. There are other issues of course with some of the species, like the aggression with males in Lineage 1.

 

[PygmyPepperJulli]

Thanks byron

I'm going to aim to start with 7+ each for the pygmies and peppers, but I'm not going to re-home the julii just yet. I'll get him another 2 (or more, depending on the budget) friends, which'll cost me AUS $20 (which is 3 times less than the previous store I was going to) which will bring the school to 17, which from what you're saying should be alright. I get that issue is VERY serious, and the cories were actually the reason I got the new tank in the first place (they needed more, but I was overstocked already... long story). They're all 'happy' already, and have a ball together, but I get that they do NEED more.

Was the study around 3 or 5 of the same species or 3 or 5 in a total group? (3 pygmies vs 1 pygmy 2 peppers, for example).

 

[Byron]

Thanks byron

I'm going to aim to start with 7+ each for the pygmies and peppers, but I'm not going to re-home the julii just yet. I'll get him another 2 (or more, depending on the budget) friends, which'll cost me AUS $20 (which is 3 times less than the previous store I was going to) which will bring the school to 17, which from what you're saying should be alright. I get that issue is VERY serious, and the cories were actually the reason I got the new tank in the first place (they needed more, but I was overstocked already... long story). They're all 'happy' already, and have a ball together, but I get that they do NEED more.

Was the study around 3 or 5 of the same species or 3 or 5 in a total group? (3 pygmies vs 1 pygmy 2 peppers, for example).

The study focused on characins, cichlids (angelfish) and cyprinids. No cories were included. There were groups of three, five and ten in the different tanks. The groups of 10 showed no issues, whereas all the others had significant aggression increases and even a latency to feed.

As for the cories here, don't get rid of a fish. The fish will be further stressed by being moved. I had cories as lone individuals for a few species but they were all in the same tank.

Pygmies are different, they must have more and I would not go below 12. I also have never kept them in with the larger cories, for no particular reason other than their size and habits. But this is more of my own aesthetics. Such tiny fish can "get lost" in a 4-foot (or whatever) tank. I could barely seen them in the 30-inch 29g.