Good Stock ?

[jcabs100]

I would like to know if this is a good stock for a 55 gallon tank long dimensions are 48 x 13 x 21

15-20 neon tetra
10 Cory cats same breed most likely pandas
6 banded kuhli loaches
4 Bolivian rams of course paired

If I can get more fish I would be open to any suggestions and if not that's also okay to but over all I would like to know if this is a good stock...I was thinking dwarf gourmis but only one but again I don't know if that would be a good idea thanks in advance

 

[Man of fish]

You'll need sand substrate for the corys and kuhlis. Forget about a gourami if you want neons. Gouramis will love your neons.......



As a nice snack.
It sounds understocked to me but I'd wait for a second opinion.

 

[jcabs100]

Yeah i currently use sand substrate for my 20 gallon so I'm okay with that

 

[fidjet2]

You'll need sand substrate for the corys and kuhlis. Forget about a gourami if you want neons. Gouramis will love your neons.......



As a nice snack.
It sounds understocked to me but I'd wait for a second opinion.

if he was thinking about a dwarf gourami then they would be fine together, i have kept 15 neons and a flame dwarf grouami in a 90 Litre tank for awhile now.

I would go for the panda's, they are beautiful and entertaining especially in a large group

 

[jcabs100]

Yeah I currently have 8 pandas and they're are the funniest creatures I love them unfortunately I lost one over the weekend but I figured it was about time as it was a nemo fish meaning it had a small fin I actually named it nemo cause of that

 

[fidjet2]

Yeah I currently have 8 pandas and they're are the funniest creatures I love them unfortunately I lost one over the weekend but I figured it was about time as it was a nemo fish meaning it had a small fin I actually named it nemo cause of that

naww poor little thing love the name

 

[mrscullen5373]

I would like to know if this is a good stock for a 55 gallon tank long dimensions are 48 x 13 x 21

15-20 neon tetra
10 Cory cats same breed most likely pandas
6 banded kuhli loaches
4 Bolivian rams of course paired

If I can get more fish I would be open to any suggestions and if not that's also okay to but over all I would like to know if this is a good stock...I was thinking dwarf gourmis but only one but again I don't know if that would be a good idea thanks in advance

If it were up to me I would up the kuhlis to about 8 at least. I know it means more bottom dwellers which you many not be ok with but I find Kuhlis are rarely seen in groups below 8, especially in that size tank aswell. But that's just my opinion.

The smaller gouramis are fine with most fish except maybe other males of the same breed (unless in a big tank).
A lot of people recommend the Dwarf gourami (Colisa laila)to me when I was first choosing. Their beautiful blue colouring was what persuaded me to get them in the end.
I got 1 male and 2 females in a 15gallon and at first I was SO pleased with them. The females were really inquisitive of me, whenever I walked into the room they would both swim to the front and follow my movements. Whenever I cleaned they would curl around my gloved fingers and follow my hand around the tank sometimes!
However after a few times of doing this the male decided that my hand was a rival. He would get quite agitated when I cleaned anywhere near his 'girls', usually trying to intimidate me and 'chase' my hand away. A few days later I saw him attacking one of my females, I noticed she was reasonably plump, he would constantly chase her and when she tried to hide he would nip at her fins and barbels.
Within 2 days she was dead, she looked batttered to death. The second female died about 2 days later, she became so stressed with the males harrasment that she would repeatedly rocket herself into the glass until it killed her. After both the females died he started to get nippy and alittle aggressive with my other tank mates (Otocinclus, platys) after he killed two of my otos I finally removed him and placed him in a breeding trap I managed to buy. The shop refused to take him back and because I was a beginner I had no other tanks. After a few weeks in the net he developed ich and died. I have never had dwarf gouramis again but this is my experience and my friend had similar.
I have since then owned only small gouramis. I have had atleast 6-7 different trios of Honey gourami because I still am and will probably always be besotted with them they are some of my favourite fish. The males have never been aggressive to their females or other tank mates even during breeding. Both the males and females are exactly like the females dwarfs I had in every way and always come to see me at the front of the tank. I have even trained two of my male (seperate tanks) to eat out of my hand and jump out of the water for food to. So I will always always massively recommend this fish!! I have had almost all the colour varieties at some point but always have a soft spot for the true colouration. For some reason they are rarely sold now due to the demand of 'more colourful fish' varieties. This makes me very sad.
I am currently keeping my first ever group of sparkling gouramis aswell. They were tough to find but so far (a week in) they are more than worth it! Such lovely personalities
I am sure at some point I will own some of the bigger gouramis but for the moment I am sticking to the little guys.

Sorry for so much info hope it helps. Feel free to pm me for any more info or anything else you want to know! xxx

 

[mrscullen5373]

IMHO you shouldn't have small gouramis like Honeys on their own. When I have done so they are usually too scared to come out unless its food time. Many people dont get a 1male:2female ratio because they don't want them to breed. In my experience Honeys dont breed in community setups unless you take certain special measures to get them 'in the mood' and even then its unpredictable as to whether they will or not! In all my years I have bred Honeys a good 10 times or so, once maybe twice has that been in a community and it took a lot of patience, pristine water conditions, LOADS of floating plants and live food/frozen food repeatedly fed to do so ..... and it still took about a month with few fry surviving.
If you were to get sparkling gouramis then due to their small size its best to keep a group of a minimum of 5. In my experience 2 males:3females works best. As with the Honeys they wouldn't likely breed in a community either.

In my opinion either of the above is possible for you. I am not going tell you which I'd pick, though you have probably guessed already! It's up to you! Feel free to ask any more questions x

 

[jcabs100]

Well I don't know which gourami to get and if I do I would like to see my options first obviously I'd be looking at the dwarf ones but also I gotta keep in mind that I'm going to have 4 bolivians and I don't want them to go at it I just don't want any aggression in my tank I had to get rid of a betta because it kept throwing little b**ch fits so I wanna keep the agression to a minimum almost to none I know the rams can get alittle aggressive but then they're all together in a shoal so I don't mind that I don't want my rams to start getting into little aggressive fights with the gouramis ultimately I just don't want altercation

 

[mrscullen5373]

Well I don't know which gourami to get and if I do I would like to see my options first obviously I'd be looking at the dwarf ones but also I gotta keep in mind that I'm going to have 4 bolivians and I don't want them to go at it I just don't want any aggression in my tank I had to get rid of a betta because it kept throwing little b**ch fits so I wanna keep the agression to a minimum almost to none I know the rams can get alittle aggressive but then they're all together in a shoal so I don't mind that I don't want my rams to start getting into little aggressive fights with the gouramis ultimately I just don't want altercation

Completely understood!
If you don't want any compatibility problems with your rams then I think you should definatly stay away from Dwarf gourami (Colisa laila) a friend of mine had one neon blue dwarf in with some German blue rams once and the dwarf destroyed the males fins before starting on the female. Don't know why but our guess was that the blue 'sheen' on the GBR made it think it was another neon blue male gourami. But.still unsure. So IMO I wouldn't risk that.
The only problem with Sparkling gouramis and Rams would be size difference. I have never seen or heard of Bolivians eating them or other fish that size but I guess it could happen plus the fact that with such a size difference the Sparkling gouramis might be too scared to venture out. But again not sure about that. Personally thinking about it I probably wouldn't mix Rams with Sparkling gouramis, due to.risk more than anything

On the bright side I have had Honey Gouramis together with German blue and Bolivian rams numerous times before and never had a single squabble. Probably because gouramis are mostly top dwelling fish whereas rams are mostly bottom dwellers.
Even when, on the odd occasion, they meet in the middle there are no problems. They are almost perfect for eachother. Both are shy to begin with and need dither fish to be comfortable, and they are both the type of fish that doesn't fight for food.

Again that's just my opinion. Any more queries? x

 

[jcabs100]

Let's just say I do get honey Gouramis would I be able to put it in my 55 gallon tank with the fish that I plan on getting ? The list is the first post I have

 

[mrscullen5373]

Well ......
15-20 neon tetra
10 Panda cory
8 Kuhli Loaches
4 Bolivian Ram
3 Honey gourami

Sounds like a great tank
Have you got the tank already? Is it setup?

 

[soybean]

I don't recommend mixing gouramis and bolivian rams, it was carnage in my tank and they had to be housed apart.

Try to stick with fish that come from the same areas (as near a possible) and you're less likely to have problems. Honey gouramis and kuhlis are Asian fish. Rams, neons and corys are South American. You couldn't get much further apart.

 

[mrscullen5373]

I don't recommend mixing gouramis and bolivian rams, it was carnage in my tank and they had to be housed apart.

Try to stick with fish that come from the same areas (as near a possible) and you're less likely to have problems. Honey gouramis and kuhlis are Asian fish. Rams, neons and corys are South American. You couldn't get much further apart.

Wow really!? I have NEVER heard of that!
What happened? What gourami and ram types did you have?

 

[jcabs100]

So the Kuhlis wouldn't be good in my tank then