Betta_Shark5678
Fish Crazy
Well it seems I'm going to be mostly starting over with my 55 Gallon tank. I want you to know that before I even consider when I'm going to buy new fish I'm going to be doing daily water changes, and tests, and keep a complete journal of all of that, that way I'll know everything that's going on in there, I'm just trying to get some idea of what to do with it when it's ready for more fish.
I posted about my Guppies that were dying in the Livebearers section a few weeks ago, and was told (thank you for the advice Snazy, I wish I had been able to follow it the last few days!) I should start small daily water changes to get the NitrAtes down, and the pH back to normal. For a few days I haven't been around often enough, so I had to stop my daily water changes until today. Since mid-January I've lost 6 guppies, 1 platy, my golden gourami (but he was six, and was being cared for better than ever before when he died, so I'm glad he lived that long! I've had him since July), and my L444 pleco. Most of them showed no signs of being sick except the last 2 guppies, and the platy that died. One of the guppies, and the platy didn't show signs of being sick until yesterday morning when I got up, but I couldn't do anything about it, and they were dead when I got home over 12 hours later.
So with 4 platys, and 3 guppies left I've decided to start over, except I'll be keeping those fish, my sand, and a few plants.
I was thinking about trying a biotope, and I've been doing a lot of research on it. For my 55 gallon tank I want to do a South American biotope. I'm trying for the Rio Meta, and Orinoco rivers area. I'm for sure getting 10 Glowlight tetras (my sister has decided to get rid of her's), and I want another L444 or two. It won't be a complete biotope, because of the platys, guppies, and tetras I'm going to have.
I was wondering what I could do for a center piece fish. So far my ideas for stocking are:
10 Glowlight tetras
6-8 Bandit Cories
1-2 L444 Pleco
1 unknown center piece fish
Also looking into snails. I'm probably going to get Malaysian Trumpet snails, even though they're not
Tank dimensions: 48" long, 12.5" wide, 18" tall (filled 16-17" normally).
Tap water stats: pH - 6.8, Ammonia - 0.25, NitrItes - 0, NitrAtes - 0.
Tank pH is normally 6.6 - 6.8.
I have a Fluval 305 canister filter (for a 70+ gallon tank), set at the fastest flow normally. Output is around 260 gallons per hour.
Is this over-stocked, or could I even add some more. I would like a few more mid-top level fish, but I don't want to be overstocked. I have play sand substrate, and so far for my plants I'm going with:
Red Cabomba
Amazon Swords
Maybe some Duckweed
And possibly a little bit of Christmas moss
I have some wood, but I definitely want more, maybe I'll try to find a little oak log, and hollow it out for them.
Anyways, thanks for any help!
I posted about my Guppies that were dying in the Livebearers section a few weeks ago, and was told (thank you for the advice Snazy, I wish I had been able to follow it the last few days!) I should start small daily water changes to get the NitrAtes down, and the pH back to normal. For a few days I haven't been around often enough, so I had to stop my daily water changes until today. Since mid-January I've lost 6 guppies, 1 platy, my golden gourami (but he was six, and was being cared for better than ever before when he died, so I'm glad he lived that long! I've had him since July), and my L444 pleco. Most of them showed no signs of being sick except the last 2 guppies, and the platy that died. One of the guppies, and the platy didn't show signs of being sick until yesterday morning when I got up, but I couldn't do anything about it, and they were dead when I got home over 12 hours later.
So with 4 platys, and 3 guppies left I've decided to start over, except I'll be keeping those fish, my sand, and a few plants.
I was thinking about trying a biotope, and I've been doing a lot of research on it. For my 55 gallon tank I want to do a South American biotope. I'm trying for the Rio Meta, and Orinoco rivers area. I'm for sure getting 10 Glowlight tetras (my sister has decided to get rid of her's), and I want another L444 or two. It won't be a complete biotope, because of the platys, guppies, and tetras I'm going to have.
I was wondering what I could do for a center piece fish. So far my ideas for stocking are:
10 Glowlight tetras
6-8 Bandit Cories
1-2 L444 Pleco
1 unknown center piece fish
Also looking into snails. I'm probably going to get Malaysian Trumpet snails, even though they're not
Tank dimensions: 48" long, 12.5" wide, 18" tall (filled 16-17" normally).
Tap water stats: pH - 6.8, Ammonia - 0.25, NitrItes - 0, NitrAtes - 0.
Tank pH is normally 6.6 - 6.8.
I have a Fluval 305 canister filter (for a 70+ gallon tank), set at the fastest flow normally. Output is around 260 gallons per hour.
Is this over-stocked, or could I even add some more. I would like a few more mid-top level fish, but I don't want to be overstocked. I have play sand substrate, and so far for my plants I'm going with:
Red Cabomba
Amazon Swords
Maybe some Duckweed
And possibly a little bit of Christmas moss
I have some wood, but I definitely want more, maybe I'll try to find a little oak log, and hollow it out for them.
Anyways, thanks for any help!
I know the plecos are messy, my L444 recently died, but I fell in love with the bristlenoses today, it was the first time I'd ever since them in a pet store, and I figure 1-2 should be able to fit in my tank with the same, or similar, bioload to 6-8 cories, right? 
The rams I read are typically okay in communities, but they can be aggressive when spawning. So maybe just 1-2? I'm not really sure, lol, I'm going to need help on that one. I'm going to be keeping the tank around 78 degrees. 
