55 Gallon Stocking

[mancin]

I'm playing around with stocking ideas while my other 55 Gallon is cycling. I know for sure I want to get 4 Angels. I'm torn between Super Red Angels and Smokey Leopard Veil Tail. The Leopards I'd have to get online. The Super Reds my LFS has, but the Angels are a bit larger than babies (I think around silver dollar size?), so if I got those I'd have to get 4 of those and not mix and match as the rest of the Angels the LFS has are about quarter size.

How would this stocking work? Hoping Davo86 responds as he always has great stocking ideas.

4 Angels
12 Emerald Eye Rasbora
2 Bolivian Ram (a little undecided on these as my bf isn't too keen on them)
2 Keyhole
4 Pitbull Plecos or 1 unique Pleco (perhaps a Gold Nugget?)

Any other ideas? For sure I want the Angels and the Rasboras. I'm up for suggestions for the rest of it. I already have GBRs in my other tank, so I'm not looking at those for this one. I considered maybe adding Gold Rams to this tank, but TBH I haven't had the greatest luck with the GBRs, so I may ditch the Gold idea. I also already have BN Plecos in 2 of my other tanks, so I wanted a different type of Pleco in there. Pitbulls seem nice, but I wouldn't be opposed to 1 or 2 of a smaller sized that I don't already have.

Edit: I went back and reviewed stocking ideas from when I stocked my other tank, and Curviceps were recommended. Would those work with the above stocking, obviously swapping out some other type of fish to have those instead? They are beautiful! Dicrossus Sp. look nice too. Not sure how many of each I would stock though?

 

[Davo86]

Hi Mancin,

My main concern with your current stocking is that one day the Angels may start considering the dwarf rasboras as food. Although getting very young Angels may reduce the risk of this happening.

Curviceps and Dicrossus sp. are indeed nice alternatives to the more common dwarf cichlid species,
Curviceps should be kept in pairs and Dicrossus can be kept in trios or even larger groups with just one Male.
Both species appreciate a densely setup aquarium.

As for plecos you would be fine with 4 pitbulls and then one smaller exotic pleco like one of the peckoltia sp. that get to around 4"

If the rasboras stay then i would look at a few more small groups of dithers, such as 4 or so glass cats or a group of hatchetfish for the upper level.

If you decide against the rasboras then you could look at a pair of Aplocheilus lineatus for the upper level, IME these look great when kept with Angels in a planted tank. and then a nice shoal of larger tetras like widows or Columbians

 

[mancin]

Thanks for helping.

My main concern with your current stocking is that one day the Angels may start considering the dwarf rasboras as food. Although getting very young Angels may reduce the risk of this happening.

I didn't realize they were too small. I think they get to 1.5" when full grown. I know the Angels do snack on small fish (i.e. Neons) because of their size, but I guess I thought if they were almost double the size of Neons (less than 1"), that it would work. Oops! What is the minimum size dither that I should have with them, if 1.5" is too small? That's kind of a shame because they were such beautiful fish that schooled nicely, but not the end of the world if I can't have them. Maybe I'll add a small group to my other 55 Gallon instead of this one.

Curviceps and Dicrossus sp. are indeed nice alternatives to the more common dwarf cichlid species,
Curviceps should be kept in pairs and Dicrossus can be kept in trios or even larger groups with just one Male.
Both species appreciate a densely setup aquarium.

Doesn't look like my LFS have Curviceps in stock and I wasn't able to find them online either where I'm thinking of getting the Angels from. I'll have to run down there and see if he's able to get them in. They do have some wild "Checkerboard" Discrossus based on their website. I'm always worried about getting wild fish.

As for plecos you would be fine with 4 pitbulls and then one smaller exotic pleco like one of the peckoltia sp. that get to around 4"

So I'd be able to have both, not one or the other? I do like the Peckoltia genus. There are some pretty ones, so I'll just have to do a bit of research and see which one would work best and which one I can find.

If you decide against the rasboras then you could look at a pair of Aplocheilus lineatus for the upper level, IME these look great when kept with Angels in a planted tank. and then a nice shoal of larger tetras like widows or Columbians

Would black or red phantom tetras work?

OK here are 2 options for stocking then:

Option 1
4 Angels
12 Emerald Eye Rasbora
5 Hatchetfish
2 Bolivian Ram or 2 Curviceps
2 Keyhole or 3 Dicrossus
4 Pitbull Plecos and 1 Peckoltia Pleco

Option 2
4 Angels
9 Larger Tetras
2 Aplocheilus Lineatus
2 Bolivian Ram or 2 Curviceps or 2 Keyhole or 3 Dicrossus
4 Pitbull Plecos and 1 Peckoltia Pleco

I feel like I'm overstocking too much. I may have to play around a bit more and do some more research tonight. I do literally have a spreadsheet where I track all this and compare pH, adult size, temperature, etc. I'll have to add both options and see how it looks. I'm a very visual learner!

 

[Davo86]

I didn't realize they were too small. I think they get to 1.5" when full grown. I know the Angels do snack on small fish (i.e. Neons) because of their size, but I guess I thought if they were almost double the size of Neons (less than 1"), that it would work. Oops! What is the minimum size dither that I should have with them, if 1.5" is too small? That's kind of a shame because they were such beautiful fish that schooled nicely, but not the end of the world if I can't have them. Maybe I'll add a small group to my other 55 Gallon instead of this one.

Angels aren't the quickest growers so may be fine with the rasboras for some time, but I wouldn't like to keep them together when the Angels are fully grown thats for sure.

Doesn't look like my LFS have Curviceps in stock and I wasn't able to find them online either where I'm thinking of getting the Angels from. I'll have to run down there and see if he's able to get them in. They do have some wild "Checkerboard" Discrossus based on their website. I'm always worried about getting wild fish.

IMO it is better to keep wild caught fish, provided you have seen them in a tank environment for a couple of weeks, wild fish have good genes and are generally much stronger fish that are seemingly more immune to disease, maybe you could pay for a trio and then ask if you can pick them up in a weeks time so you could see how they settle in

so I'd be able to have both, not one or the other? I do like the Peckoltia genus. There are some pretty ones, so I'll just have to do a bit of research and see which one would work best and which one I can find.

You don't have any other real bottom feeders so IMO you would definitely be ok with 1 peckoltia and 3 pitbulls if not the full 4

Would black or red phantom tetras work?

yes

OK here are 2 options for stocking then:

Option 1
4 Angels
12 Emerald Eye Rasbora
5 Hatchetfish
2 Bolivian Ram or 2 Curviceps
2 Keyhole or 3 Dicrossus
4 Pitbull Plecos and 1 Peckoltia Pleco

Option 2
4 Angels
9 Larger Tetras
2 Aplocheilus Lineatus
2 Bolivian Ram or 2 Curviceps or 2 Keyhole or 3 Dicrossus
4 Pitbull Plecos and 1 Peckoltia Pleco

Either would work well IMO

I feel like I'm overstocking too much. I may have to play around a bit more and do some more research tonight. I do literally have a spreadsheet where I track all this and compare pH, adult size, temperature, etc. I'll have to add both options and see how it looks. I'm a very visual learner!

 

[mancin]

Great!! Thanks again for your help.