Decisions, Decisions

[MithrilRider]

My tank is cycling right now and should probably be done in about a week and a half or so. For the past month or so I have been researching the fish I'd like to put in my tank and am finally very close to a final decision(even though I probably end up changing my mind a bit as I go. My tank is semi-planted 45 gallon at 3' x 1' x 2'. The GH, and KH are 6 and the PH is 7.2

The type of fish and quanity I'd like to have are as follows: 2 Powder Blue Dwarf Gouramis(1 male, 1 female), 3 Platies(1 Male, 2 Females), 6 Glowlight Tetras, 5 Penguin Tetras, 3 Otos, and 4 Albino Corys.

My calulations say that is 48" of fish which is 3 more than the amount of gallons in my tank so it doesn't quite follow the 1" per gallon guideline but it is close. Would that really cause a problem? Since most of those fish are happiest with multiples of their species for me to get at it below 45" would mean getting rid of a whole species of fish but these are the ones I really want. I have an Emperor 400 as the filtration for the tank which is rated for up to 80 gallons so I will have plenty of filtration and all. I also have a lot of surface agitation with a Aquaclear 402 powerhead an older one that's I'd say about 1/4 as powerful. Taking into account the dimensions of my tank, water parameters, fish temperments, etc, do you foresee any problems with my selections? I a flexible but am hoping there is no need for me to be.

Thanks in advance if you made it out of there alive.

 

[paulioo]

The 1 inch per gallon thing is only a guide. So long as you keep up regular water changes and make sure everything is in order, that amount of fish should be fine.

I cant comment on whether those fish would live happily together as i dont know myself

Paul

 

[clutterydrawer]

That looks perfect to me, although theere might be summat I've missed... Peaceful fish on all levels of the tank. congrats on working out such a nice plan . I don't think the 3" extra will be an issue because neither cories nor tetras produce much waste and are shoal fish so their "swimming space" requirements are slightly less.

I just have two questions - is it 1' wide and 2' deep or 2' wide and 1' deep? (i'm no good with measurements!). Also platies are prolific breeders so you might want to think about what you'll do with any potential fry.

(Edited for piss poor spelling)

 

[K-Holed]

The 1" per gallon rule is almost useless. There are so many other factors to take into consideration. How active the fish is, the ph of the water, how bulky the fish is, how much it eats, the temprature of the water, the suface area of the tank etc. etc. Your husbandary of the tank is the main thing. As a rule, if your tank looks over crowded ... it probably is!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I think the other fish will eat the platie fry, so unless you want them I don't think you have to worry about getting over run.

 

[gadazobe]

I concur with all the above - good husbandary will let you keep the fish you want.

 

[MithrilRider]

Thanks everyone. To clarify, the tank is 1' wide and 2' deep

 

[Nina7777]

Hi there!

i calculated all those fish to equal 42 inches. So even if you were to go by the 1" per gallon rule you'd be fine.

Of course you don't want to add all those fish at once.

The only problems I foresee, would be as someone already stated the platy fry. But I have a male and female platy in my 55 gallon and forgive me if this sounds mean but i always see her pregnant but i never see any fry. So i am assuming my other fish get a treat.

The only other ones i would be concerned of would be the powder blues. They are extremely difficult to distinguish the males from the females, and if you end up with two males you could have problems.

Congrats on the new tank and good luck!

 

[gadazobe]

The only other ones i would be concerned of would be the powder blues. They are extremely difficult to distinguish the males from the females, and if you end up with two males you could have problems

I have a pair male and female - the difference is that a lot of the males have a very slight red edging to threir fins whereas the female is all blue (they're morphs of the original dwarf gourami in which the male has some red in him). The red rim appears from quite an early age, so there should be no difficultly in distinguishing between them.
Also the male dorsal fin is much more pointed that the round fins of the female.