How Many Will Fit

[Azaezl]

I posted a little while back asking about stocking a 30g with some cories and otos, well after a few tanks cracked, some fish rehoming and new additions I now have to think about re stocking again.

At the moment I have a 66G(US) with the following in it;

4 bronze cory
2 gold cory( I believe they are melanotaenia but I refer to them as gold because of the gorgeous yellow / gold on their fins)
1 panda(survivor of a holiday horror)
5 false julis
7 otos
2 bn plecs

I'm such a sucker for mistreated fish, I went to my lfs intending to buy a few dwarf frogs to go with the 3 I already have and came home with the 5 false julis instead, they were in a tank that had massive dirty sharp looking gravel(it looked almost like glass) there was no hiding places apart from a tiny rock in the centre, so I just had to rescue them and I'm so glad I did they are just adorable and so active! Have posted some pics & a vid if anyone wants a look;

[topic="218809"]new corys[/topic]

Anyway I'm going to be getting rid of the 55g tank a.s.a.p and changing it for 2 4ft tanks(on a double stand) the top tank is 40G and I'll be running an external filter that is big enough to do up to 75G, I would like to up the numbers of all the fish but would this be adviseable on a stocking level?

I was hoping to get 5 more pandas, if I ever find some 4 more golds(melanotaenia) and maybe 1 or 2 bronze but this isn't as important as the golds & bronze stick together. If possible I'd like to get as many of each type in the tank without it being overcrowded/stocked. What would everyones advice be? I was thinking of splitting the 4 different groups between the two tanks(the bottom tank is 35g) but I'd like to keep the bottom tank for my goldfish, who are in a tank that is just about the right size but it would be nice to give them a 4ft instead of a 3ft. Plus I really need to cut down on the amount of tanks I have.

So I guess my question is in a 4ft 40G tank running an external filter that can filter up to a 75G, 25% weekly water change and many many live plants how many corys could I fit in comfortably(not forgetting the otos & bn plecs, although I may re-home one of them)

Or in simple terms is;

6 bronze, 6 gold, 6 panda, 6 false julis, 7 otos & 2 bn plecs too much for the 40g overfiltered, heavily planted tank and if not how many more of the corys would comfortably fit in?

Thanks for reading

 

[NEONCORY]

Hi Azaezl,

I think your plan is reasonable, you could even add some of the middle or top level fish group like small tetras(Neon, cardinal, hatchet, pencil fish .,etc)or rasbora to the tank.

This is of course, the tank is set and you will give enough time to set and matured. And of course, you do need to watch the BN as they do create lots of waste although I do not know the size of them. If that happen, you could easily up the water change volume or frequency. to 50% or/and twice weekly.

And you might want to move the Panda to their own tank when you get more of them. I found them to be more delicate than many of the other Corys. And need crisp, clean and cooler water and high oxygenate water than most. Also they sometime get out-compete by other more active Corys. Beside they do not require much space, they( 6~8 ) can be in 10G as long as the water is clean. Beside that would be the way to encourage them to breed and expand their families.

Although I do not know how much more hardier the wild caught Panda is compare to the farm raised. I am suppose to receive some F1 Panda(1st generation of wild caught) to day or next week(depends on the mail delivery). And I am sure I will experience the difference if there are any.

Anyway, I think your stocking plan should be fine with time spend to stock and let the tank mature and regular maintenance.

 

[Azaezl]

Thanks for your reply neon

I have no plans to add anything other then corys or maybe otos to the tank, I'm totally in love with cories they are definately my fav fish.

Yes I know I have to let the tank mature, not just for the corys but also the otos(let some algae build up), although they seem to like pigging out on algae wafers rather then the algae on the glass, so I have to clean that off myself lol

BN plecs don't get bigger then 6 inches, mine are about 3/4 inches in size, I may get rid of one of them as they both appear to be male and they chase each other when they see one another, but the tank is big enough for them to be apart 99% of the time so it's not too bad.

I have thought about moving the pandas to a seperate tank, I'll have to sit and think about who's going in what tank and where the tank is going, I have plenty of tanks, just no room for them all, not until I move anyway which might not be for several months. I have a 15g that is currently housing 3 dwarf frogs, but once I get the double tanks in everything will be moved around so hopefully that tank will be empty, I will probably put the pandas in there or maybe in the 30g if I keep it.

Glad to hear the stocking sounds ok, I'm going to the fish shop tomorrow, hopefully they will have some pandas & if I'm really lucky some melanotaenia.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Azaezl

I think it would be a good idea if you did keep the pandas in a tank of their own. I found that they seem to be more comfortable and healthy, either alone, or in a tank with some of the dwarf species of cory. Like NEONCORY said, the larger species seem to overwhelm them.

I've been keeping C. pandas for over four years, and it seems that when I first started they were much more delicate than the ones that seem to be available for sale now. I first moved them to a species only tank to try to help them survive at all. Eventually I got a group of them to mature and spawn, and (except with C. pygmaeus) have never kept them in a mixed community since.

I've never found that corys need a particularly "mature" tank. As long as you have enough beneficial bacteria on the filter material, the fish can be moved right into a newly "cloned" tank and should do fine. Otos are a different story though.

 

[Azaezl]

Ok what I'll do is get some more pandas today, just so the little guy isn't alone, he swims with the others but it's not the same as having others of the same type. They should be ok in that tank for now as I keep it quite cool(usually between 23-24C / 74-76F) & has plenty of oxygen. I've never noticed him being 'overwhelmed' by the others, maybe he's just very outgoing. I'll get another 5 of them today, I think I might cave in the end and keep the double tanks for just the corys. I'll put the pandas in the smaller of the two and get a whole bunch of them(probably about 15 in total) or maybe half panda half one of the small species(probably habrosus as they are the most common around here).