Tank temperature+ stocking

[Meg0000]

Hi, I would like to make sure the temperature of my tank is ok and if I can lower it a bit because I would like to get another school of corys in the futur (probably not so soon as I have other fish I want to get in that tank before) and the temperature that my tank is at now limits my options.
-Pearl gourami
-Rasboras Hengeli and harlequin
-aeneus cory
-soon probably a red lizard whiptail (A guy told me my LFS could probably get one for me!)
-soon maybe amano shrimp
The tank temperature is now at 26°c
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I think this would be my final stocking so would my tank be overstocked or ok and is 30% water change enough for that stocking (I have a lot of plants):
(55 gallon 4ft long)
-3 pearl gourami
-8 hengeli rasboras
-6 harlequin rasboras
-6 bronze cory
-4 or 5 of another cory specie
-red lizard whiptail
-2 amano shrimp, a nerite and possibly a mystery snail
When we plan stocking, is the volume the hardscape important? I have quite a lot of it

 

[FishGuest5123]

You will need to lower your temp for cories. They are cool water fish. I wouldn’t push them past 75F or 23/24C.

 

[Meg0000]

You will need to lower your temp for cories. They are cool water fish. I wouldn’t push them past 75F or 23/24C.

Will the pearl gourami be ok at 24C?

 

[Byron]

Temperature. With reliable sites, the range usually involves the lowest and highest temporary temps with the optimum roughly in between.

Trichopodus leerii (Pearl Gourami) has a range of 24-30C/75-86F. Corydoras generally are best around 24-25C/75-77F. Some species do seem to manage better with slightly warmer temperatures, but these should never be 80F/27C or higher permanently. C. aeneus has a range of 21.0-27.0°C/69.8-80.6°F so I would consider 77-78F/25-26C as suitable for the gourami and this cory.

To the rasboras, Trigonostigma heteromorpha has a range of 21-28C/70-82F, T. hengeli is 23-28C/73-82F. These are OK here. Personally I would not mix species in this genus, I think you will find them better settled individually. I would up the T. hengeli to 12-15.

As for other cory species, fine, but avoid C.panda which prefers it a tad cooler than what is being suggested above. C. sterbai does well in this range, and many if not most other species the same for that matter. My group of 40+ have been housed at 24.5C for over a decade now, and below you can see them going wild for Bug Bites yesterday. There are I think 7 fry (now near-mature) in this menagerie.

 

[Meg0000]

Temperature. With reliable sites, the range usually involves the lowest and highest temporary temps with the optimum roughly in between.

Trichopodus leerii (Pearl Gourami) has a range of 24-30C/75-86F. Corydoras generally are best around 24-25C/75-77F. Some species do seem to manage better with slightly warmer temperatures, but these should never be 80F/27C or higher permanently. C. aeneus has a range of 21.0-27.0°C/69.8-80.6°F so I would consider 77-78F/25-26C as suitable for the gourami and this cory.

To the rasboras, Trigonostigma heteromorpha has a range of 21-28C/70-82F, T. hengeli is 23-28C/73-82F. These are OK here. Personally I would not mix species in this genus, I think you will find them better settled individually. I would up the T. hengeli to 12-15.

As for other cory species, fine, but avoid C.panda which prefers it a tad cooler than what is being suggested above. C. sterbai does well in this range, and many if not most other species the same for that matter. My group of 40+ have been housed at 24.5C for over a decade now, and below you can see them going wild for Bug Bites yesterday. There are I think 7 fry (now near-mature) in this menagerie.

Ok so basically I could lower to 25 and get another specie of corydoras exept panda. I want to get more harlequin rasboras because the petstore made a mistake and sold me 8 hengeli and 2 harlequins instead of 10 hengeli rasboras. I will probably get 4 more harlequin rasboras exept if you tell me that they will be ok with the hengeli rasboras.

 

[Meg0000]

Oh and that's so amazing all the cories that you have! What specie are the fry?

 

[Byron]

Ok so basically I could lower to 25 and get another specie of corydoras exept panda. I want to get more harlequin rasboras because the petstore made a mistake and sold me 8 hengeli and 2 harlequins instead of 10 hengeli rasboras. I will probably get 4 more harlequin rasboras exept if you tell me that they will be ok with the hengeli rasboras.

I would try to return the two Harlequin, and get another 6-8 hengeli. I'm partial to this species, but it does like more of its own.

Mixing species of some cyprinid genera that are as closely related as they are here is usually not advisable.

 

[Meg0000]

I would try to return the two Harlequin, and get another 6-8 hengeli. I'm partial to this species, but it does like more of its own.

Mixing species of some cyprinid genera that are as closely related as they are here is usually not advisable.

oh ok, the petstore won't take them back

 

[Byron]

oh ok, the petstore won't take them back

If a store treated me like this, they would never see me again, and I would make sure the head office knew it (assuming this is a chain store, independently owned stores wold never behave like this, hopefully).

There is another option. Acquire more of the hengeli, leave the two Harlequins. At least they are not likely to cause trouble for the hengeli, like some mixed species can, which of course would mean euthanizing them. I've regretably had to do this a couple times.

 

[Meg0000]

If a store treated me like this, they would never see me again, and I would make sure the head office knew it (assuming this is a chain store, independently owned stores wold never behave like this, hopefully).

There is another option. Acquire more of the hengeli, leave the two Harlequins. At least they are not likely to cause trouble for the hengeli, like some mixed species can, which of course would mean euthanizing them. I've regretably had to do this a couple times.

I am never comming back there for sure, when I bought my cories I got initially 4 aeneus and 2 of another specie that was very sick and died (I asked for 6 aeneus corys) and like I said there is the thing with the harlequins rasboras. I went at this place because my LFS didn't have the fish species that I wanted but I should probably have waited so I would not have to deal with all of that. I will get more hengeli rasboras from my LFS if they have them, I really like how they school, look and swim very calmly.

 

[Byron]

T. hengeli is a tight shoaling species. I have 11 in my 20g tank, along with my three elderly dwarf chain loaches that are living out their final days in (I hope) comfort. The hengeli I got last June to provide some upper level activity to make the loaches feel more relaxed. I've had them for 11 years, lost the two females in January/February I assume to age, they are said to have a normal life expectancy of 8-12 years, with reports of some living 15 years.

 

[Meg0000]

T. hengeli is a tight shoaling species. I have 11 in my 20g tank, along with my three elderly dwarf chain loaches that are living out their final days in (I hope) comfort. The hengeli I got last June to provide some upper level activity to make the loaches feel more relaxed. I've had them for 11 years, lost the two females in January/February I assume to age, they are said to have a normal life expectancy of 8-12 years, with reports of some living 15 years.

I really like dwarf chain loach, I didn't know they lived for that long!

 

[Byron]

I really like dwarf chain loach, I didn't know they lived for that long!

Had I known then what I know now, I would have acquired more than just five. For some of this time, I had them in with my five Botia kubotai in a 90g river tank. These two species occur in the same river naturally. I gave the B. kubotai away prior to my move last May as I downsized and knew they need a 4-foot tank, but I couldn't part with my five dwarfs.