# 55 gallon stocking question



## flojan (Mar 10, 2008)

Glad to have found this great site....and reasonably close to home. I live In Mitchell....Does anyone live nearby?
I have 4 tanks.....1 20 gallon, 2 29 gallons, 1 55 gallon tank
My question is in regards to the 55 gallon tank..
I have a 55 gallon tank set up for about 7 months now...numbers are great
0 amonia...0 nitrite...and 5 nitrate.. 50 % water changes weekly

My question is my stocking...how is it for numbers, can I add more fish or am I stocked

6 brilliant rasboras
8 harlequin rasboras
6 tourquoise rainbow 
2 angel fish
7 peppered cories...
6 otos (would like to add more)


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

flojan said:


> Glad to have found this great site....and reasonably close to home. I live In Mitchell....Does anyone live nearby?
> I have 4 tanks.....1 20 gallon, 2 29 gallons, 1 55 gallon tank
> My question is in regards to the 55 gallon tank..
> I have a 55 gallon tank set up for about 7 months now...numbers are great
> ...


You would be wise to switch for, say 25% each wednesday and sunday.

50% water changes are often not a great idea because of the sharp differences in the waters.

You are lightly stocked. I dont know your filtration planting etc so I wont tell you what you can add without more info- but generally, no you arent overstocked at this point. You can defiintely add some more ottos if you want to.


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## flojan (Mar 10, 2008)

We were originally thinking we could have up to 12 otos in this tank, but what about other kinds of fish? any ideas I know the fish aren't fullgrown yet, and maybe that is why it looks emptier...any ideas


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

flojan said:


> We were originally thinking we could have up to 12 otos in this tank, but what about other kinds of fish? any ideas I know the fish aren't fullgrown yet, and maybe that is why it looks emptier...any ideas


You could add a pair of bolivian rams or blue rams. That'd look nice.

12 otos might be overkill unless you're heavily planted just in terms of them feeling like they actually have something to do.

Maybe a bushynose pleco instead?

If you're just deadset on it the 12 is plausable. make sure you feed everything appropriately and enough

also you know if those angels are not male/female or if they ARE and one of them is just fish-ugly (we can't tell they can) you're gonna have a bad time.


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## flojan (Mar 10, 2008)

So far Our angelfish get along fine, but we do watch for any misbehaviour, and so far nothing....
Our tank is not heavely planted yet but we do have plants on order from aquariumplants.com but it has been so cold they have not mailed them yet. hopefully in April....but until then we will likely wait to add more otos..
The rams or pleco sound interesting.....Thanks.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

flojan said:


> So far Our angelfish get along fine, but we do watch for any misbehaviour, and so far nothing....
> Our tank is not heavely planted yet but we do have plants on order from aquariumplants.com but it has been so cold they have not mailed them yet. hopefully in April....but until then we will likely wait to add more otos..
> The rams or pleco sound interesting.....Thanks.


So you've got the co2 system ready to go and the high end lighting then?

Do you know what to look for in terms of angel behaviour? Can you tell courting from fighting?


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## flojan (Mar 10, 2008)

Thanks for the replies...No we don't have a Co2 system, we find them very expensive, and the plants we do have are doing good, since we added glass tops and the high energy lighting.. plus we use Big Als fertilizer at the moment, when this is done though we want to try Flourish and see if there is a differnce....
The pleco and the rams are beautiful fish, so a pair of bolivian rams and 1?busynose pleco... sounds real cool for our tank....
As far as angelfish behaviour they don't seem them fight at all, no scars or wounds to speak of either..and no we can't tell if they are courting either, but we do know they like to hang out together, and always hungry, actually they are all hungry fish in the 55 gallon..


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## flojan (Mar 10, 2008)

I have one more question regarding the plecos ..are they ok on their own or do they need a buddy? 
Will my tank handle 2 or should I stick with one pleco? Thanks


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

one will be fine.


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Plecos can be kept in groups, however they can be agressive when they are in season. I would recomend that you research the type of pleco you are buying prior to getting one as different species of pleco has different dietary needs. They are not a one food fits all type of fish. The best site I have found on the net is www.planetcatfish.com


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## flojan (Mar 10, 2008)

Cool, thanks for the replies, we hope to go to Big Als tomorrow and see what we can find for our tanks.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

flojan said:


> the plants we do have are doing good, since we added glass tops and the high energy lighting.. plus we use Big Als fertilizer at the moment, when this is done though we want to try Flourish and see if there is a differnce....


Just to let you know (not sure about the Big Als fertilizer), but Seachem Flourish only provides trace and micro elements for plants, which are important, but I highly doubt adding it on its own makes a huge difference.

You need to look after: Lighting, CO2, Potassium, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Micros for good plant growth


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

I would stick with the Seachem product line for fertilizing your plants. Somehow I can't trust the no-name brands as being up to the same quality. As for the Flourish it is supposedly a one stop plant fert mix. However I have found that it just quite isn't doing it for my tanks and went over to buying them as separate bottles, i.e. Flourish Trace, Flourish Potassium, Flourish Iron, Flourish Nitrogen and Flourish Phosphate.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Hey Knave,

I really really really still think Flourish on its own is really meant for micro nutrients and trace elements. I'm pretty sure it is not intended to be the one stop plant fert. Seachem recommends using their macro's in conjunction (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and I guess I might throw in Excel to the mix too...just wait until they figure out how to bottle light!).

I agree though, Seachem is probably the best brand-name fert out there. Pricey, but you know what you are getting!


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Chris Stewart said:


> Hey Knave,
> 
> I really really really still think Flourish on its own is really meant for micro nutrients and trace elements. I'm pretty sure it is not intended to be the one stop plant fert. Seachem recommends using their macro's in conjunction (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and I guess I might throw in Excel to the mix too...just wait until they figure out how to bottle light!).
> 
> I agree though, Seachem is probably the best brand-name fert out there. Pricey, but you know what you are getting!


Yes you're getting over priced fertilizer


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

I noticed that... but if you look at the ingredient mix of Seachem's Flourish it pretty much has all you need in terms of Ferts... however a tad on the light side.

Nitrogen (N) 0.07%
Phosphate (P2O5) 0.37%
Potassium (K2O) 0.14%
Magnesium (Mg) 0.11%
Sulphur (S) 0.27773%
Boron (B) 0.009%
Chlorine (Cl) 1.15%
Cobalt (Co) 0.0004%
Copper (Cu) 0.0001%
Iron (Fe) 0.32%
Manganese (Mn) 0.0118%
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.0009%
Sodium (Na) 0.13%
Zinc (Zn) 0.0007%
Bromine (Br) 0.001%
Iodine (I) 0.0001%
Nickel (Ni) 0.00036%
Rubidium (Rb) 0.0001%
Tin (Sn) 0.000030%
Vanadium (V) 0.000030%
Arginine 0.016%
Gutamate 0.09%
Lysine 0.03%
Tyrosine 0.019%
Choline 0.0004%
Inositol 0.0011%
Biotin 0.0004%
Niacin 0.025%
Pantothenate 0.0070%
Riboflavin 0.0020%
Thiamine 0.0020%
Vtamin B12 0.00009%
Vitamin C 1.0%


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