Stocking

[ashlerbam]

So far in my 46g bow front I have:

3x cory cats
5x angles
2x festivum
1x clown pleco
2x german blue ram
5x dwarf neon rainbowfish

Its pretty well filtered. I have a hydro sponge 4 powered with a penguin powerhead 156gph. Marineland Emporer 280, and a cascade 500 canister. I do 50% water changes 2 times a week. Its also 50% planted right now. With Co2 injected with a nice set of t5 lights. More plants to come!

I want my tank to have more rams. I'm thinking more like 6 if I can get away with it. I'm thinking of a stock like this:

6x cory cats
4x angles
1x festivum
1x clown pleco
6x german rams
10x dwarf neon rainbowfish

Is this stocking a good idea? Any suggestions?

 

[Curiosity101]

I think bioload wise it looks ok but you may find the angels get a bit territorial with that many cichlids. I'd imagine that for it to be tall enough for angels its prob only jus over 3ft? It may be worth a go so long as you're ready and willing to rehome them if the angels get funny. Personally I would maybe get a trio of rams and a couple more cories. However technically gbrs shouldn't be kept below 28C.. so if it were me id have bolivians instead.

Edit: oops jus seen its a 3fter, definitely be careful mixing that many cichlids in such a short space.

 

[Wills]

Due to it being only 3 foot I would probably do

2x Angels
2x Festivum
4x Bolivian Rams
1x Clown Pleco
10x Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish
10x Cory Catfish (all one species)

in a 3 foot long tank there is not enough room for a group of angels and the festivum/s You would probs get a pair in the angels which would harass the other angels and then the festivum. You would be better off with the festivums in a pair as they are a naturally shy cichlid so do better in pairs and then the pair of angels to inhabit the other side of the tank. As curiosity said Blue rams need high temperatures and low ph for long term success ie in the years not months or weeks. Then a big school of the rainbows and the cories would fill out the tank nicely.

Wills

 

[ashlerbam]

thanks for the input guys.

My tank currently sits at 84 degrees F. I was thinking of rehoming one of the festivum's already because the 2 really dont get along as is. The angels we have now. We were waiting on a pair to form so those will be at 2 total at somepoint. They are still quite small. The rams are my center piece. We have not had them for to long but at least 4 months and they seem to be doing ok. A bacteria/parasite was brought in with one of the rainbow fish I think and one ram caught that but everything else has been good. how about something like this:

1x festivum
2x angles
6x cory
10x rainbows
4-6x rams
1x clown pleco

 

[Wills]

That looks good, but you could still add more cories or something else though no more cichlids. If the two festivums dont get along good idea to split them but watch out that the lone one does not get interfered with by the angels.

What about a trio of spotted headstanders?

With the rams, blue rams are commonly sold but very few make it past about 12-18 months old when they should reach about 7 there are various other species that have a similar situation but none are as common in the hobby as these rams. The more line bred the rams are though the less vital they are but this is only really true with the luminous orange gold rams that are available now. The more natural blue strains however do really need high temperatures and low ph so its just something to be aware of really. If you ever want to separate them into an other tank a good way to lower your ph is using almond leaves that sit in the tank and lower the ph naturally its a good way of doing it as it means no chemicals and no peat to put in the filter which also means that a low ph is possible with clear water.

Should be a nice tank though!

 

[ashlerbam]

I could add more cories. I sure dont mind those little guys. And they are very fun to watch in the sand. Thanks for all the help. Just did not want to push my limits of filtration to hard.

My tank sits at about 84 all the time. Maybe a little warmer since the room I have my tank in has computers and tv in it. The ph since adding the co2 is around 7.6 and steady. The tank has had fish in it for about 4 months now. Now since everything looks like its settled. Changing aquascape etc all the time. I'm now looking for a final stocking and I think thats what you guys helped me land on. Thanks!

10x cories
10x dwarf neon rainbow
2x angles
1x festivum
1x clown pleco
4-6x GBR

 

[Wills]

Cool looks good, to be fair the issues with the cichlids were not based on the bio load but the territory that the cichlids require. Normally 7 cichlids of those sizes would not work in that tank but because angels and festivums are open water cichlids and rams are bottom dweller cichlids so the two dont clash unless one specific fish or pair decides they want the full tank lol.

If you drop the cories and or rainbows to 6s or 8s you might even be able to get an other species in maybe like a whiptail catfish like the red lizard or some half beaks maybe?

Wills

 

[ashlerbam]

Cool looks good, to be fair the issues with the cichlids were not based on the bio load but the territory that the cichlids require. Normally 7 cichlids of those sizes would not work in that tank but because angels and festivums are open water cichlids and rams are bottom dweller cichlids so the two dont clash unless one specific fish or pair decides they want the full tank lol.

If you drop the cories and or rainbows to 6s or 8s you might even be able to get an other species in maybe like a whiptail catfish like the red lizard or some half beaks maybe?

Wills

Oh ya I understood. I just meant I wanted to ok my filtration as well as my stocking levels with more experienced fish keepers like yourself wills

Actually I kinda like the species I have now. But I never know. I always find something new that catches my eye at the LFS!