I'm Requesting Criticism And Advice

[Matt Winter]

Hi - I've a 55 gallon tank. It isn't set up completely yet, as some of my equipment doesn't arrive until tomorrow. I've An aquaclear 200 and a tetra whisper 60, and also a Fluval 2+ to provide some cross current. I'm heating with two Jager Heaters (1 at 100, 1 at 150 watts.)

It will be lightly planted at first and I expect I'll order and try out various plants (and various mail-order suppliers) until it is heavily planted or I decide I hate plants. At some point soon I'll probably make a DIY CO2 thingy.

I will definitely be having (from other tanks of mine) a 6" weather loach, 1 green cory, 1 stick catfish ("sticky"), 4 fancy guppies and 1 3" rainbow shark.

I have some slate which I like to make into odd plateaus, and I think I'm going to cut up some old vacuum tube to make tunnels and caves.

Now what I'd like, to add: A gold algae eater, a royal farlowella cat, some kind of bichir, african butterfly fish, some kind of botia that stays smaller than a clown loach. Maybe: some panda cory's, glass catfish, glass shrimp.

So, if you please, hit me - criticism and advice. I promise not to get defensive.

Thanks - Matt

 

[MessyMan]

Make sure you clean out the vacuum tube really good. Better yet, use those tunnels for hamsters.

 

[Tolak]

I would use pvc for the tunnels, it comes in various sizes & has different elbow & T fittings. I would also add more green corys, they like to be in a group.

 

[Matt Winter]

I will indeed clean the tube vey well.

And I'd like my green cory to be happy, but 2 questions:

Would he school with panda corys?

If I got more green's and they were younger and thus smaller, would that be a problem?

Thanks very much,

Matt Winter

 

[Tolak]

Corys are more happy with fish of their own species. I've kept groups of different species, and they do seem to shoal with members of their own species.

Adding younger green corys in with older ones won't be a problem, I've been doing this for a while with fry from my breeding colony of green aeneus.

 

[Matt Winter]

Ok, scratch panda cory's, make it more green's. I don't think I want to make it ten, which I read would make them very happy. Has anyone experienced them happily shoaling in a smaller group?

Also, I still welcome any different comments/suggestions on the rest of my tank.

Thanks.

 

[Tolak]

I put 4 or 5 in a 20 or 29, they are fry & growout tank cleaning crews. They do really well, get fat fast, then get sold & replaced by more fry.

 

[vinylman]

Matt, if you're just starting a tank, it's probably best to go for a plant collection from somewhere like Greenline; that way you'll get a decent selection for not much dosh and you'll find out which plants suit your water conditions best. It'll be better than buying a lot of one certain plant, have them die then have to bin the lot.

 

[Matt Winter]

Thanks - I am just starting a new tank - I've had a 20 gallon long and a couple of 10's, but I feel that with my 55 I'm graduating. I've had the odd plant that I picked up from the LFS, but I've never really tried anything ambitious so far.

I ordered a sampler from Pagoda Koi n Pond, it comes with 5 Anacharis, 5 Cabomba, 5 Hornwort, 5 Red Ludwigia, and 5 Vallisneria. It's a start, and I hope some of them do well. I also plan on getting a moss ball, as they look so cool.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Now what I'd like, to add: A gold algae eater, a royal farlowella cat, some kind of bichir, african butterfly fish, some kind of botia that stays smaller than a clown loach. Maybe: some panda cory's, glass catfish, glass shrimp.

Hi Matt,

few comments on fish selection,

re the cories, get 4 as a minimum, 6 is a nice comfortable group
gold algae eater? do you mean chinese algae eater? please don't get one of these, they are lovely little community fish..... until they hit about 10cm when they get incredibly aggressive and can't really be kept with much, they have a nasty tendancy to suck off the slime coating on other fish and kill them, they eventually get to 30cm's long. bad idea for a community tank
birchir you should be careful with too, i think these may get a bit big to be kept with something like cories, i'm not 100% certain but it flags up warning bells so do some more research
glass cats can be pretty shy, so make sure you get a nice big group of those two.
in general you're very bottom heavy with your stocking, most of the fish you're after are bottom dwellers, you must make sure there is enough room at the bottom of the tank for all of them, in all honesty i'd decide on a couple of fish you want for the bottom and then get some more mid water swimmers instead of the rest
hope that helps a bit

 

[dwarfgourami]

I would not get the royal farlowella if you are planning lots of boisterous active bottom fish as they can easily be outcompeted for food.

 

[Matt Winter]

Okay, the royal farlowella I guess I'll save for another tank. (one day)

I had thought that golden algae eaters were a different species than the CAE , but a quick search proved me wrong - maybe a siamese algae eater instead?

Bichir's might go after cory's I'll do some more reasearch.

I do have a fondness for bottom dweller's - they've got character, they're often weird looking, some look like snakes - I could go on. Sooo, does anyone have any suggestions for cool, mid-sized, mid-water swimmers? I do like glass cats, so maybe I could get a bunch of them, but does anyone else have a favorite, or a good practical choice that can deal with a boisterous aquarium? Also, is there something like the bichir's? A small eel perhaps? Should I just get another weather loach?

Thanks to everyone for your input so far.

 

[Tessla]

Bottom dwellers are fantastic, really can't blame you for going bottom heavy. Corydoras and loaches are much more fun in groups than kept singly, they display much more personality when they feel secure in a group. Rather than getting one of each species that catches your eye, keep a couple of small groups of the same species, you won't be disappointed.

For bottom dwellers, I'd go with a group of cories, a couple more weather loaches (I really can't think of a loach that should be kept alone) and leave it at that. I'd be very careful adding algae eating fish to your tank if you're going planted as most of them also love to eat plants as well, you already have the twig catfish which may very well go after your plants. The rainbow shark would likely be better off rehomed, they get territorial with age and size and wouldn't be a good idea with timid fish like corydoras or glass catfish, only similar sized fish that can hold their own.

The african butterfly fish will often nip other surface dwellers and eat smaller fish, so I'd be careful of other mid and top level stocking choices with these guys. You could easily keep a pair of them in your tank, I'd get more information about them in the oddballs forum first though. Glass cats are very delicate and shy, I wouldn't keep them with weather loaches and your stocking options would be very limited if you went with them. There are all sorts of barbs, tetras, rasboras and danios that would make good colorful schooling fish in your tank.

I'd be very careful with tankmate choices as the weather loaches are a subtropical species and the corydoras appreciate cooler temperatures as well. Twig catfish prefer higher temperatures, as do gouramis, angelfish and butterfly fish. You may want to rehome either the weather loach or the twig catfish so that you can go with a cooler or warmer tank.

The plants you've ordered are great to start out with, moss balls are very easy as well. Good luck with your planting, sounds like you'll have a nice setup once you're all done.

 

[dc3]

I'd stay away from the Algae Eater - they tend to get quite agressive as they get larger and generally make a nuissance of themselves.

 

[Matt Winter]

Hmmm... I'm rethinking my tank now...

I may just put the Rainbow shark in the 55 with the stick catfish ( I'm hoping he'd dodge aggression with Camouflage,) get a bichir and a couple of african butterfly fish and call it a day. I could always look into some feisty schooling mid-water fish to add. (some kind of barb maybe? I haven't done all my homework yet )

The loach and the cory can go in a smaller tank and get some tank mates, and the guppies go into yet another tank, where I can always put the stick catfish if he seems to be in any danger or isn't getting food.

I've a question though about the temperature preferences you mentioned. I read that the dojo loach prefers 65-75 F, the corys 72-78 F and "Sticky" 72-80 F. Couldn't they all be happy at 74 F ?

Thank you thank you thank you for all your advice and help so far.