Stocking 50 Gallon Tank

[Ozzie Boss]

So I am planning to upgrade to a 50 gallon tank soon. I was thinking about some fish to add to it and wondered if this group would be ok.

7x White Skirt Tetras
5x Emerald Green Corys
2x Powered Blue Dwarf Gourami OR 2x Honey Gourami (Male and a female)
1x Electric Blue Acara
3-4 Anglefish (Most likely will be 3)

If this group is ok what fish should I add first. The white skirts and corys will be added first since I have them in a other tank already.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

White skirt & black skirt tetras are fin nippers and should not be kept with fish that have long fins or slow moving fishes like angelfish.

Do not get dwarf gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) or any of their colour varieties including the powder blue because they regularly carry the Iridovirus and or Tuberculosis (TB). The fish come in from Asia with these diseases and there is no cure for them. Once the diseases are in your tank, they are there forever or until you strip the tank and disinfect it. Both diseases can infect any fish, and once infected the fish will die before it normally would.

Other types of small gourami like the Honey Dwarf, Indian Banded, Thick Lip, Sparkling, etc, are fine and usually do not carry these diseases. However, they can sometimes, but for the most part they are fine.

I would not keep blue acaras with angelfish or any small gouramis. They are just too boisterous for them and could cause problems when they mature.

If you want angelfish, buy a group of 8-10 small fish and grow them up. When they mature and pair off, keep the pr you want and remove the rest. But do not keep angelfish with white or black skirt tetras.

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF.

I concur with Colin's post, and will just explain a couple things. Angelfish are a shoaling species, meaning that they live in groups. This is part of their "expectation" programmed into the DNA. Males are territorial. In an aquarium, we immediately put the fish into an extremely unnatural and artificial environment that has consequences. Subordinate fish can no longer escape dominant fish of their own species; less than five angelfish is only creating this problem. A group of five or more is needed (I'll come back to a pair) but if these should form one or more pairs you might then find you need to separate them or you will soon have dead angelfish from the dominant pair. The tank size obviously factors into this, but a group of five or six angelfish in a 4-foot or five-foot or sometimes even a six-foot tank will usually go down this road. A pair is the exception to the fore-going. But here we come to another issue, bonding. Unless the male and female select each other and bond, they may not last long together.

The blue Acara also has issues, and as Colin mentioned should not be combined with other cichlids (angelfish are cichlids). More info here:
http://seriouslyfish.com/species/Andinoacara-pulcher/

And also the "skirt" tetras, whether black or the derived white form, are nippers.

 

[Ozzie Boss]

Hello both of you and thank you for the warm welcome. I was aware of the skirt tetras being fin nippers however I have read that a larger school of them can stop them from fin nipping as often. I usually see them being aggressive with one another and not other fish but if this becomes a problem I can easily rehouse them back in their old tank with more room as the corys will be gone. As for the powered blue gourami I was not aware how common that disease was. (I was aware of it but didn't think it was THAT common) Knowing this I will likely go with the honeys. The acara I have been told that they are usually peaceful fish however with most cichlids this can be determined by the individual fish. I am willing to take the risk and if it doesn't work out I will return it. As for the angels I will most likely buy 5 small ones and see if I can find a pair and return the rest. Lastly if the white skirts don't work out what would you recommend for a schooling fish in the tank? Thank you again.

 

[Byron]

Please do not get sedate fish (all cichlids, gourami, etc) if you intend small fish that "may" nip fins. This is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. There are many small peaceful shoaling fish that can be housed with sedate fish, but not these.

Larger groups of a shoaling species may help to contain mild aggressive behaviours within the group. Not always, but sometimes. But placing such a species in close confines with another fish that will bee seen as a welcome sign never works. And any home aquarium is "close confines" to the fish. The pheromones and allomones released by fish that are read by other fish will be present even if physical interaction is not.

Deliberately "risking" is something many of us on this forum do not condone. There is no point in trying something that is contrary to the natural behaviour of the fish species. When fish do not behave according to the norm for that species, it is most often because something has unsettled them, and fish can only react in one of two ways--increased aggression which is proven scientifically to be the usual reaction, or complete withdrawal which means weakened fish and early demise. This is not fair to the fish, just to obtain something we may like. The fish should always come first if we want them healthy and "happy." None of us is going to be able to change nature.

To your question about suitable fish with angelfish or gourami. [But first, the acara will tend to eat anything small enough to fit into its mouth, so if you intend other fish in a community-like tank, this is not the cichlid to select.] Five angelfish need a 4-foot tank minimum; if you honestly intend getting rid of some if a pair forms, this obviously won't be so much of an issue as the pair will likely develop early. I am not a fan of buying a fish intending to get rid of it later. This is stressful to the poor fish. But with angelfish in a 4-foot or larger tank, shoaling species like Rosy Tetra, Bleeding Heart Tetra, Red Phantom Tetra generally work; groups of 10-12 of whichever. These are disk-shaped and better than longitudinal tetras like neons which are much more likely to get eaten; mine certainly were [long before I knew better]. The species mentioned are not fin nippers, though again one can never guarantee this, but there are some within this general clade that are, like the Red Minor or Serpae, and the Widows.

 

[Ozzie Boss]

Okay after some thinking I have changed the stocking a bit

8-9 Rosy or Red phantom Tetras (Depending on availability and size)
5x Emerald Green Corys
A Pair of Angels
2x Honey Gourami

Undecided: Electric Blue Acara
I will do further research on this fish and see what I decide to do.
Also Byron what Cichlid would you rather choose in this community than the acara? I wanted a nice colorful "show piece" fish. Sorry for so many questions but I really want this tank to work out.

 

[Byron]

No problem with questions, all of us are here to help when and where we can. I will always be honestly straight-forward, meant for the best welfare of your fish.

With angelfish you really do not want other cichlids. Again, a much larger tank can handle this, but not here. Angelfish or acara, with obviously very different tankmates whichever. And the angelfish will attain 6 inches body length, with a vertical fin span of 8 inches, so not small fish.

Gourami and cichlids also is not recommended, for similar reasons. Male gourami like male cichlids are territorial, sometimes extremely so. Either but not both.

I would also increase the cories; like most shoaling species, the more there are the better. And with cories this can make a huge difference in the health of the fish. By "Emerald Green Cory," do you mean Corydoras aeneus or Corydoras splendens (sometimes still seen as Brochis splendens)? The latter gets a bit larger, so a couple more, but if the former, I would say 9-10 or a few more.

 

[Ozzie Boss]

Nice to know that. As for the Corys I bought them at a petco (This was when I was new to fish keeping and didn't know that local fish stores were much better) they were labeled "Emerald Green" I believe they are the "Brochis splendens"

They look like this. (Hopefully you can see the pic as I am still new here lol)

 

[Byron]

Yes, those are the "Brochis" species. Taxonomically they have moved into the Corydoras genus, though a few do not accept this; if interested, I explain this in the "Notes" section here:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/corydoras-splendens/

Nice fish, but 7-8 would be best. They are also a bit more robust than most smaller cories.

 

[Ozzie Boss]

I do love them they are one of my fav. I have no problem adding a few more to the group.