THE question of all questions (Stocking)

Byron

There are three species of "rummynose," Hemigrammus rhodostomus is one but not so often seen now. H. bleheri (sometimes called the brilliant rummynose) is brighter coloured in that the red extends onto the gill covers whereas it does not in H. rhodostomus. The third, Petitella georgiae, is rarely seen and by comparison to the other two rather washed out in appearance. There are other slight differences as well. I believe H. bleheri is more common in stores. Nice fish. Do better if introduced into an established aquarium, by which I mean, not a newer tank. After 3 months or so is best; cardinals are similar. I have always found that both these species colour up and rarely have problems if they are introduced to a tank that is past its early stages. Rummynose tetras also tend to swim in the lower reaches of the aquarium, and love to glide in and out of plants, as do cardinals. The latter is always found amongst plants in their native waters.

Byron.

Angel079

I was really wondering which troop I best put in first.
You know let it cycle few weeks with the plants now and then add 1 troop and then after Xmas the "rest" or something along these lines (all pending test readings of cause). Cause really no one on my list strikes me as "hardy" to add in at the beginning......

Byron

Two different types of "hardy" here. My comment has to do with the fish's sensitivity to water parameters, not cycling issues. Once a tank is cycled, it goes through a bit of fluctuation as the pH settles (will drop in your case as in mine) and the plants get going and so forth. Cardinals and rummynose are more sensitive to this than many other fish; some corys are as well. These fish should be added after the tank is basically established, which I find is usually 2-3 months. They just do better.

With respect to the initial "cycling" I don't worry about this if the tank is well planted from the start. There is no need to let it "cycle" for a few weeks, as that will actually be of no benefit. It would be better to have some fish from day one (provided there are plants) so the biological processes between fish, plants and bacteria get started right off. Having no fish for several weeks means when you do add fish, the biological processes in the tank are basically starting from scratch, as there will be a different set of effects from the introduction of the fish, if this makes any sense. I always put in the first fish with the plants or the day following. If it is a new tank and new fish are being purchased, I would avoid the cardinals and rummynose but the honey gouramis, Glass Catfish, emperor tetras, any of these would be OK, not all at once, but over a few days. The corys maybe in December, then in January the cardinals and rummynose.

fighttest

dose the tank with baking soda to raise the ph to around 8 and add a school of boesemani rainbow fish and some cichlids. look up boesemani rainbowfish and you will be totaly amazed i think their scales look like pixels and they have a gecko complex thing where they change color depending on their mood.

Angel079

LOL yea I had them in one of the 55g I had to give up. But like you said unless I mess with my water, they ain't gonna thrive here.
Mine however didn't have no "gecko complex". However these are some VERY nice fish, I had a school of I believe it was 12.

Angel079

Ok so uhm, not that I really narrowed it down more BUT LOL after some more research, I think I'll keep the Gourami & Glasfish idea for the other tank sooo...

I def want Silver Hachetfish & Cory & Emperorin the 55g I'd also LIKE Cardinal, Blue Tetra, Rummy Nose, Dawn Tetra.

Now obviously that's a BIT too many schooling fish for a single 55g...so HELP please, I recall seeing all of them available at the store here except the Dawn, so as far as where to get them at also doesn't narrow it much down for me now.

Byron

Only you can decide what fish to have; I don't like suggesting fish, I will comment on suitability, etc., but that's about it. A group of 7 (or more of some species) of each of the tetras and corys would manage fine in a well-planted 55g with good maintenance, which I believe you would provide.

B.

Angel079

Really ALL tetra's listed wouldn't that be too much? (which I doubt I could find ALL these HERE!) in school of ~8 wouldn't that be too much (I seriously need help Byron cause I never actually had a large community tank, it was always like 2 species for the 55's and all smaller tanks where ONLY Killi or ONLY frog etc, just never experienced with a bunch small fish before, so really really I need your help)

Byron

Some time back I did a lengthy post on stocking, might try to dig it out. But to summarize, several things affect how many fish can be in a tank, and these are variable. The specific fish species--their size, temperament, behaviour, activity level, water parameter requirements, maybe others--have to be compatible in each of these areas. I have over 130 fish in my 115g Amazonian riverscape. But they are all relatively small as adults, they are not aggressive (except the Bolivian Ram and he is not especially so), they have identical requirements for water parameters, they have near-identical environmental requirements (fairly quiet streams, plants, bogwood, dim light), they have similar behaviours and temperaments (all are shoaling fish, peaceful, compatible) and they inhabit all levels in the tank which means no one level is "crowded out." Then there is my maintenance schedule; 50% pwc every week, heavily-planted tank. Minimal feeding (prepared foods once a day, frozen 3 evenings a week).

Having said that, I would not suggest too many at first. Build up to it, as you gain experience. I didn't keep 100 fish in my 55g in the 1980's, but a group of 100 cardinals would do well in a well-maintained planted 55g with the correct water parameters. The aquarist has to know what she/he is doing. If I were seriously considering a 55g with the species you mentioned, I would work around 11 cardinals, 11 rummynose, 9 corys, 5-6 emperors, 11-13 hatchets if they are one of the Carnegiella species that are smaller forest fish; the other two genera are larger, plain silver, and 6-7 or so. As for the Blue Tetra, if this is Boehlkea fredcochui a caution, they can be "chasers." In a group this may not materialize, but it's worth knowing. And I would forget the Dawn Tetra if this is Aphyocharax paraguayensis as these are terrors; I didn't twig onto this fish before, sorry. I had a group of 9 and had to move them to a separate tank; they would not leave the other fish alone, any of them. Two days after they were introduced to my former 90g, all I could see in the tank were the nine A. paraguayensis; all the other fish were cowering in the plants and most wouldn't even venture out at feeding time. The A. paraguayensis came out fast I can tell you. If you want a good similar-patterned fish, consider Hemigrammus hyanuary or Pristella maxillaris 5-7 of either; both have black & white fin markings, silvery body, and very peaceful--I have both in my 115g.

Make sense? B.

Angel079

Yea I do know the general ideas about stocking tanks as far as parameters, compatibility, tank maintenance, that is all pretty clear to me.
Like I said I just used to have large fish species before and so those tanks were all set up souly for 1-2 speciesnot as community tanks and same for the small tanks. That's the soul reason it just appears as "many fish" to me looking at this list....I mean in comparison 50 Rainbow's wouldn't work in 55g simply cause of the behavior.
I'll start with 1 school and some bottom fish and go from there piece by piece, gotta do that anyway and I'll go from there, cause I also don't want it 'too crowded'.