New to planted community tanks— Need stocking help. . .

7 posts

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.

Which goes best with Discus and a large school of Rummy Nose Tetras?

Dwarf Gouramis
0
No votes
Bolivian Rams
0
No votes
German Rams
2
100%
 
Total votes : 2



jasonchickerson
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:14 pm

New to planted community tanks— Need stocking help. . .

by jasonchickerson

I've been lurking here for a while but this is my first post. I've kept medium and large cichlids in the past, so am experienced with cycling and stocking these fish. However, my wife is requesting a planted community tank with discus and I could use some stocking help.

I have a 65 gallon "tall" glass tank, 36x25x18" with glass covers, an AquaClear 500 (now called 110) filter, heater, thermometer and all that good stuff. No air bubblers or jets yet (not sure if these are needed here). I'm still considering substrate and plant varieties. Anyway, here are my early ideas for fish:

3 discus which I will get small
6-9 dwarf gouramis (alternately I am considering a group of 5 bolivian rams)
25-30 rummy nose tetras
undecided variety catfish/pleco (gold nugget pleco?)

FIRST QUESTION: is this too many fish for my tall 65? i am used to overstocking my cichlids to limit aggression which is something i know i don't need to worry about here. what changes would you make to the numbers?

SECOND QUESTION: what is the best way to stock these? any suggestions for ordering/timing additions? my early plan is to do the following:

wk 0-2: fishless cycle
wk 3: plant and add 6 rummy nose
wk 4: add 6 more rummy nose
wk 5: add 6 more rummy nose
wk 6: add 6 more rummy nose
wk 7: add up to 6 more rummy nose
wk 8: add 5 dwarf gouramis (alternately 3 rams)
wk 9: add up to 4 more dwarf gouramis (alternately 3 rams)
wk 10: add 1-3 discus
wk 24: add 1 pleco

And LAST QUESTION: any way I can get a group of 6-10 glass catfish in there eventually?

Thanks in advance for your help. I enjoy and get a lot of inspiration by viewing your tanks here. So much great info! I'll post some pics as soon as I get started. . .


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

I'd skip the pleco. They look so cute when small, but get so huge you'll eventually have to get rid of it.

Discus are great with tetras, but I'm not sure about gouramis.

Otocinclus (ottos) are great for algae and stay very small. They're allways a good addition to a planted tank, and they're totally non- aggressive.

Diskus need to have lots of vegitation, and or other hiding places to feel safe, and wil actually show themselves more if they know they can hide if they want to.

Discus are also much happier in numbers, so I'd suggest at least 3.

Also, any fish that swims with erratic or with too much speed can upset the diskus.

read up on water perams for diskus, and I suggest taking your time. Stock with a nice school of tetras and see how things are going as diskus get up to 6 inches or more, and a 60 galion tank is about the smallest for 3 diskus IMO, esp with some other fish too.

You need to keep the water warm, like 85 F or thereabouts, I think, and many plants don't do well with such high temps. I'd say go with anubias bartari or nana, java moss on wood (or anubias on wood, and start with a low light planted as these plants will grow well in and you'll have so much less hassel with water perams and algae.

Look at other tanks with diskus and get an idea of what they use for tankmates and foliage. These are expensive fish, and if you create the right environment will lay eggs, and if you're lucky they'll hatch. Unfortunately, the eggs usually end up getting bacterial infections and the parents will eat them, but hey......do it right and you may be able to make some $$$ selling the fry.

The water for cichlids needs to be more alkaline and harder. Water for diskus the opposite, soft and somewhat acidic.

Good luck! PK


mro2you2
 
Posts: 625
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:37 pm

by mro2you2

Ive had gouramis there hell


Tmercier834747
 
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

by Tmercier834747

If I'm not mistaken glass cats get very large eventually, so given the stock you're looking at as a certainty, I wouldn't bother including them.

I'd also consider doubling up on your filtration. The 110 has good water flow but would honestly probably serve better as a supplemental filter to a canister filter or you could even get another 110. Discus need very pristine water, as do rams.

I think you'd be more pleased with the rams honestly. The difficulty with them is sexing. I had a pair of male GBRs (god its hard to sex these things) for over a year. I wanted an actual pair but the LFS owner gave me his best guess and turned out wrong. They stress easily so I made the plants more dense and they more or less ignored each other. Seemed a better option than transporting it back to the LFS.


jasonchickerson
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:14 pm

by jasonchickerson

It seems the consensus of just about everyone I've talked to is that the bolivian rams are a better idea than the gouramis. so i'm not planning to go that route. i do find the gouramis very beautiful but i guess they're not worth the trouble for this tank. . . mro2you2, what about them was hell?

Tmercier83, are you suggesting another 500/110 because it will be a planted tank? At 500 gallons per hour this thing seems to move some water. Are the discus up to the water flow of two filters this size? Adding another won't be a problem.

Also, I was thinking about Amazon Frogbit as a floating plant for the gouramis but if I'm going with the Bolivians now, can I forego the floating plants? Or will the discus and rams appreciate the top cover as well? I'm leaning toward a lower light setup with the following at the moment: anubias, cryptocoryn, perhaps a red tiger lotus (Nymphaea spp.) and again perhaps the Frogbit for cover. What is a good wattage for these plants and fish in my 65 tall tank?

Thanks again for the help!


mro2you2
 
Posts: 625
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:37 pm

by mro2you2

I had 4 gourimas when they became muture the biggist one beat the you know what of of all of them. Then died of dwarf gouramis disiese THE END


Tmercier834747
 
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

by Tmercier834747

Provided they're given the cover PK suggested that cover will create dead spots where water doesn't move fast regardless of the quantity of filtration and where the discus may rest at night. Doubling up will ensure that your water is pristine as possible. :)
I filter 450gph in my 16gal believe it or not.

65@2wpg - 130w 65@2.5wpg - 162.5w 65@3wpg - 195w

Perhaps shoot for the middle, I don't know a great deal about some of those plants, though I love the tiger lotus.

I'm pretty sure most fish enjoy top cover, but without something to hold it off to the side at the surface the additional filtration I'm recommending, it may be swept underwater before it really takes hold if you get my meaning. Then again a 65 has much more surface area than my 16.

I've never lost more fish than gouramis. I can't exactly explain why. They never made it over a week in my 30gal hex tank. I went through about 8 before I gave up..

Oh and unless I'm seeing a glitch (must be voting on Bush!) the German Blues have more votes. ;)

New to planted community tanks— Need stocking help. . .

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