Stocking Ideas For 54 Gallon - With Honey Gouramis

[eduller]

So, I have been tossing around ideas of stocking my 54 gallon tank. I had part of the decision handed to me when a friend said he had a few honey gouramis that needed a new home. (Is the plural of gourami gouramis or gourami?)
 
He keeps them with endlers and...some kind of rasbora whose name escapes me right now (not the harlequin variety) as well as cories.
 
So what was tentatively going to become a betta sorority has become some honey gouramis plus some others.
 

• Definitely 4 honey gouramis (friend is offering as many as I want up to 10, but 4 seems to be a good number from reading around).
• 6 panda cories
• 6-10 harlequin rasboras

 
Then from here I like so many different things! I don't really want to deal with a crapton of fry, so livebearers are out - though I was considering a school of male guppies. I'd like something that makes a really nice tight school perhaps. I have a lot of good LFSs nearby, so I have a lot of choices, including a lot of rarer fish which seems like fun. I could probably get my hands on just about anything. I like cardinal tetras. I like peacock gudgeons. Any ideas?
 
 
 
 

 

[attibones]

Increase both the schools to about fifteen-twenty. That would be pretty impressive I see, I would think. Maybe you could also add a killifish? Their temp requirements might be a bit low though. Or maybe a few rams? I would do one or two pairs if you have enough hiding places along the lower substrate.

Cherry barbs would be a great color addition, but if you want to have two schools of fish, the barbs would need to be in higher numbers because, though less boisterous than most barbs, they do get nippy if under stocked.

I don't know much about peacock gudgeons, but if they work with the tank mates you should get one because they are very pretty.

 

[eduller]

I could definitely increase the rasboras to 15-20. As for the cories, I've never kept them before. I have a sand substrate, but a lot of it is planted or has driftwood, plus I have a corner tank that is tall and has less bottom surface area. Will increasing the cory numbers be ok with more limited scavenging area for them? I love watching the cories at the fish store and would be happy with more
 
I like the cherry barbs! Pretty fish! I could get a school of those and then maybe do a different color rasbora for some better color contrast.
 
I'll have to do some more research. What I've found says gudgeons keep to the mid-bottom part of the tank and it seems people have kept them well with honey gouaramis. I'm pretty excited to stock this tank!
 
I may, however, end up stocking more along with what my best LFS has in stock. They have huge community tanks, and if I got schools of a couple different fish from the same tank, I wouldn't have to worry about quarantine. This is going to be fun!

 

[attibones]

Maybe ten panda cories would work. Forgot you have a corner. Pandas are smaller than most, so you could have a larger school than six.

I really enjoyed my cherry barbs. They were hilarious to watch. The males and females would split up so that the males patrolled the left half of the tank and the females would hang out in the right half. The males each developed their own "bachelor pads" as I called them and occasionally a female would come visit. I saw mine breeding, but they never produced any eggs from what I could see. I did have a lot of fish happy to eat eggs though. These are also fairly hardy fish, which makes them great for new set-ups. Eventually I'm going to get another four-footer and get a large school of these guys. They are some of my favorites.

 

[Meeresstille]

Have you considered Kuhli Loaches? I have 7 in my 40 gallon with 3 honey gouramies and 13 Harlequin Rasboras. Kuhli Loaches are quirky and fun to watch, they like to be in groups but they're not schooling fish! 

 

[eduller]

Ooh how neat! Can I have them with cories or will they just compete for the same space/food?

 

[Meeresstille]

They would occupy the same space in the tank, but in a 54 gallon I think there is enough room for the two groups. Maybe someone else with more experience can give a more educated answer on that.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I have cories and khuli loaches in my 55 and they seem to get along just fine If the food I feed is big enough, like zucchini or an algae wafer, the cories will be on top and the khulis on the bottom..it's funny to watch.
They mainly get shrimp pellets of course but like to nibble at the veggies that I put in for the snails and plec.
 
I think a pair of peacock gudgeons would be a lovely addition. They are very pretty and will come to the front of the tank to greet you/beg for food.

 

[eduller]

Some great suggestions!

So, what if I did:

• 3-4 honey gourami
• 10 galaxy rasbora
• 10 cherry barbs
• 5 panda cories
• 5 kuhli loaches
• 2 peacock gudgeons - or open to suggestions 

 

[Meeresstille]

The galaxy rasbora are quite small and shy fish, they are better in a species only tank, if I remember that right. How about lamb chop rasboras or the harlequin rasboras instead? I don't know about the gudgeons, maybe someone else can help you out about those.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I agree with Meeresstille's suggestion. The cories and loaches also prefer groups of 6+.

 

[Colonel Dibble]

Ooh, some of these are really similar to my Asian Community. I have 12 Kuhli loaches, 6 Black, 6 Striped. 10 Harlequin Rasbora. 4 Honey Gourami, 2 Pearl Gourami. 1 Red Tail Black Shark. 3 Peacock Eels.

 

[eduller]

So my tank is officially completely cycled. It's eating through 3ppm of ammonia in 24 hours consistently for 4 days now. I'm going to stock this weekend.
 
The plan:

• 3 or 4 honey gourami (1 male and the rest female or should i do all females)
• 15 pygmy OR 10ish panda cories, depending on what LFS guy comes up with
• 10 harlequin OR mosquito rasboras, again depending on how much of what LFS guy comes up with
• 10 neon tetras because my daughter really wants them. I had been set on cherry barbs, but she really wants neons so why not.
• Going to put my ramshorn snails in there too - have a pea puffer that needs some snails to eat anyway.
• Room for something else. Looking for a pair or trio of something that will do well with such a small group. German Blue Rams? Something that won't bother the gouramis for top space. My LFS is very, very good and they get some interesting things in. I'd just like to get an idea of what I should ask them about.

Oh wait, will the rams eat the snails??

Recent rescape!

 

[Ninjouzata]

That looks lovely!
 
I'd do 1:2 M:F for the honey gourami.
 
The others sound good! Not sure if mosquito rasbora are small enough to be eaten by the others or not..they're so teeny.
 
For another centerpiece you could do rams like you said, or apistogrammas, or peacock gudgeons. I'd personally get the peacock gudgeons

 

[eduller]

I really do want to do peacock gudgeons, but this store rarely has them. I suppose I don't HAVE to stock all my fish from one store, but I now feel a sense of loyalty since the guy puts up with me coming in there 2-3 times a week to just look. His fault for building his store 3 miles from my house, never mind that the store has been there longer than I've been alive. I make it a point to buy something every time I go in - water conditioner, whatever - but I'm sure every time he sees me he wants to die since I haven't bought any fish yet. Maybe I just won't tell him I'm getting the gudgeons from somewhere else...
 
Now I just need to make an OCD spreadsheet of which fish eats what and figure out what foods I have and what I need to buy and make a feeding schedule. I'm also working on moving a couple of my bettas from two 10 gallon tanks to one 20 gallon long so I have one less tank to worry about maintaining, but naturally I'm also considering dividing it 3 ways and putting another betta in there. I have a problem, people.