Going To Buy Tomorrow...is Stock Ok?

rebrn · Dec 20, 2009

OK so I have was at a smaller LFS I found recently, and discovered that they regularly stock all the fish I was planning to stock. So I wanted to confirm that my stock plan is good before I go tomorrow to purchase (if I get double zeros in the 55 gallon then cycle will be finished).

55 Gallon Tank with Marineland Emperor 400 Filter:

16 Zebra Danio
12 Cherry Barbs
2 Pearl Gourmais
5 skunk Cory cats
5 Olive Nerite Snails

12 Gallon Tanks (MarineLand Eclipse System 12) - this is a temporary home for the cherry Barbs they will be moved to the 55 gallon tomorrow.

10 Harlequin Rasbora
2 olive Nerite snails

So is the stock OK for both those tanks ... can should I add anything else to the 12 gallon tank, i.e. some sort of bottom feeder other then the snails? Is 2 Pearl Gourmais OK or should I get 3 (2 female 1 male or just stick with 1 female and 1 male)?

Thanks in advance for your help.

OldMan47 · Dec 20, 2009

As a first stocking, that is plenty of fish. You might want to hold off on the skunk cories for a few weeks just to let the tank mature a little. Many cories are more sensitive to minor bobbles in chemistry than other fish are.

rebrn · Dec 20, 2009

Good to know thanks. Everything else looks OK though? Also the cories are going into the tank that has the used filter, I believe it was up an running for about a year (maybe longer) before I got it, then took some of the media (well actually rinsed the bio wheels off in the new tanks) to seed my other tanks, the mini cycle on that tank took 40 days ... should I still wait on the skunk cories, or do you think it will be OK? The only reason I ask is because while the store does routinely stock the skunk cories they say they can be difficult to get in, and I know they are getting some in on Tuesday, so I will be getting everything except the cories tomorrow, was going to get the cories on Tues, but if you think I should wait then I will, don't want to upset the "apple cart".

OldMan47 · Dec 21, 2009

I would wait at least a week or two. The nitrogen cycle is one of the more important ones that we can monitor but there are other processes also developing in a new tank. After you put fish in the tank, the tank starts to move toward a more nature setting with everything in balance and the more sensitive fish really need that to happen before they go into the tank. Cories in general are not a good pioneering genus for that process.