Compatibility Issues

Kejiiraa

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So I'm thinking of starting a 55 Gallon Tank. So far I have two possible stocking plans, a peaceful and a semi-aggressive.
For the Peaceful I'm thinking of:
8 German Blue Rams
6 Peppered Corydoras Catfish
4 Sparkling Gouramis
1 Gold Nugget Pleco OR 1 Clown Pleco OR 1 Bristlenose Pleco
3-6 Otocinclus or Snails for cleanup crew

For the Semi-Aggressive I'm thinking of:
10 Serpae Tetras
5 Khuli Loaches
2 Opaline Gouramis
3 Pictus Catfish
1 Rainbow Shark
1 Gold Nugget Pleco OR 1 Clown Pleco OR 1 Bristlenose Pleco

So which plan would be better for my planted 55 gallon tank? It will be a low tech, low light (1-2 Watts per gallon) and heavily planted. I'm a bit worried about the Pictus uprooting my plants and not sure how many Rainbow sharks you are supposed to have in a tank (some sources say they are shoaling, some say just have one). Also are either of them overstocked or just right? Can I add more fish to either? I understand the cycling process as well and my plan is to set up the tank with Eco Complete substrate and water for 24 hours (to check for leaks, make sure lights work), drain it, plant heavily with water sprite, anarchis, java fern, anubias etc. fill it back up, cycle it and add the fish gradually after that.
 
The pictus cats will most likely eat the tetras at some point. Wouldn't some other loaches (from botia genus) be more semi-aggressive than the kuhlis too?

For the first group, I'd have 5-7 otos, 8-12 corys and lower the rams to 4-6. Then add a shoal of tetras or rainbows (rainbows are very active so might not fit your peaceful theme).

Rainbow sharks are usually kept singularly but some people have success with keeping 3-4 in densely planted large tanks. I'd stick to just 1 for your size tank.
 
Ah ok I didn't know Pictus eat other fish :(
I also had someone tell me that 8 rams would be a problem on a different site, so I've revised that to four rams, 2 males and 2 females. They also told me that the rams might attack the sparkling gouramis too :( Do you think I could still have the gold nugget pleco? :blush:
So maybe this:
4 German Blue Rams
2 Opaline Gouramis
8-12 Peppered Corydoras Catfish
1 Gold Nugget Pleco
Maybe 1 Rainbow Shark? :drool:

I'm also wanting to avoid Otos for the most part, I only really included them because they are great algae eaters but they are just too delicate I think and I've read that other people have a really hard time feeding them. I'm not really expecting the Gold Nugget to eat a whole lot of algae so do you suggest some other fish/shrimp/snails for that job?
As for loaches, I really only like Khulis lol!
And am I fully stocked at this point, or could I add like 10 small tetras? (Black Phantom or Serpae maybe?)

EDIT - Maybe it will be helpful if you know what fish I really like...I understand I probably can't keep all these species but I really love:
Sparkling Gouramis
Opaline Gouramis
German Blue Rams
Gold Nugget Plecos
Pictus Catfish

So a plan that could include all those would be awesome but I'm guessing probably not :( I also still have to test my water to see how hard/soft it is and revise my list from there.
 
The rams won't touch the gourami, so you could go with the 4 sparkling gourami if you wanted (or a combination). There is enough space for some shoaling fish but I would definitely avoid the serpae tetras as they are very nippy fish.

edit: a single rainbow shark will be fine too
 
Oh they won't? LOL someone on a different site said the rams would eat my Corydoras Catfish eyes' out and kill my sparkling gouramis. Ok so taking that advice into account, hows this?

10 Sparkling Gouramis
10 Peppered Corydoras Catfish
4 German Blue Rams (2 Males 2 Females)
2 Opaline Gouramis (Will they kill my sparkling gouramis?)
1 Gold Nugget Pleco
1 Rainbow Shark (Hopefully they are peaceful too?)
 

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