Help On Stocking An Established Tank

[tommy1fm]

hey,
i have a tank that has been running seucessfully for about 4 weeks and i want to add some fish to liven up the top or middle section of my tank, since i have alot of bottom feeder already. the tank is planted and i am going to continue to plant it.
my tank is a 44 gallon and the dimensions are 39inx 12 x 24. its stocked with
2 angelfish (nickel sized bodys)
1 red tail black shark
3 cory cats
1 pleco
1 featherfin squeker catfish
1 upside down catfish

can i add some more fish? and if i can what kind are compatiable and recommended to liven and brighten up the upper levels of my tank?i was thinking maybe a school of rainbows??? not sure? thanks alot

 

[tommy1fm]

any suggestionnnnnsss?

 

[Weaver]

Hi and welcome
Agree that you seem to have a lot of fish at the bottom and not much going on elsewhere.
Could you say
Is your tank fully cycled yet?
What sort of filteration are you running?
What type of plec is it as some of them get huge?

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

any suggestionnnnnsss?

You would have to check if these little guys would be eaten by anything in your tank, but I think a shoal of neon tetras would look nice.

 

[tommy1fm]

yes my tank is fully cycled and i have an penguin 350 filter and its just a common pleco... i know it gets huge so i will either move it to a bigger tank or give it to one of my friends that has a much larger tank... he is extremely tiny right now..

and i think my angels might eat neonssss

 

[fishboytoo]

any suggestionnnnnsss?

You would have to check if these little guys would be eaten by anything in your tank, but I think a shoal of neon tetras would look nice.

I think neon tetras would not go too well in there as angelfish will try eat them. Perhaps a gourami would be suitable as a colorful top dweller. There are a few varieties to choose from. I personally like the dwarves.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

O yeah I have heard of that when they get older. Sorry, I do marine but did FW for a while and just like to help beginners.

 

[tommy1fm]

no problem thanks for your advice any thiing else

 

[fishboytoo]

I think SA dwarf cichlids would also work in this tank. German or Bolivian rams for example. Also larger tetras may work.
Good call on the pleco. I have found that as they get larger they are not suitable for planted tanks. I use flying fox, ottos, zebra snails, and algae shrimp.

 

[tommy1fm]

a pair of rams sound nice but i don't have any lfs around where i live that sells rams.. do you have a site that sells them.. what does every1 else think about rams in my tank

 

[fishboytoo]

I get mine from the LFS. Have you tried looking for a breeder in your area who might be selling? I did a quick google search and found some for sale from breeders. Or maybe your LFS would order them in?

 

[Luanda Pym]

if you want top dwellers i can highly recommend golden panchax. They are beautiful and watching them feed is amazing. Would need a minimum of 6 though.
Gourami's are lovely too, i have 3 and they bring a lot of colour to the tank.
Some colourful male guppies would probably get eaten i guess.
Could go for the staple Mollies and sword tails, they're big enough to hold their own and some interesting varieties out there.
Any help?

 

[fishboytoo]

"Some colourful male guppies would probably get eaten i guess."

 

[Luanda Pym]

glad to amuse!! but not sure why that was funny?
go easy on me i'm new to this!! haha

 

[diademhill]

hey,
i have a tank that has been running seucessfully for about 4 weeks and i want to add some fish to liven up the top or middle section of my tank, since i have alot of bottom feeder already. the tank is planted and i am going to continue to plant it.
my tank is a 44 gallon and the dimensions are 39inx 12 x 24. its stocked with
2 angelfish (nickel sized bodys)
1 red tail black shark
3 cory cats
1 pleco
1 featherfin squeker catfish
1 upside down catfish

can i add some more fish? and if i can what kind are compatiable and recommended to liven and brighten up the upper levels of my tank?i was thinking maybe a school of rainbows??? not sure? thanks alot

Forget the angels only being tiny at the moment -you have to consider their adult size.
I wouldn't have put this many fish in such an immature tank and the Plec and the S eupterus are going to get too big. What species is the upside down catfish? If it is brown it needs companions, if it is black it needs returning to the shop pronto or all your fish will be eaten.
IIWY I'd return the plec & swop it for a bristlenose, take back the eupterus & swap for two USD catfish (if yours is brown) then in a months time get a group of six Odessa barbs. In another few months you could add a small shoal of mid sized tetras - Congos, Buenos Aries or Bleeding hearts which will take you up to full stocking.

BTW How did you cycle this tank?