Stocking Deadline On Monday! Help Please!

[FishFanatic04]

I had an older stocking thread already but it's lost in the weeds or something. I would really appreciate some help here. I am completely stocking my 75g tank next week, as well as completing the stocking on my 46g. I have to hand over my list to my LFS on Monday and I really want to get everything at once...It will be coming from the same supplier, so chances are good they will all be healthy and cared for.
I am literally begging for advice.

I need help with the 46 first...I had planned to put 5 apisto's there but the tank is looking a little dull in the mid-top and I wanted Opaline Gouramis in the 75....
46g Planted list:
2- Opaline Gouramis ?
3- Platy
10- Albino Cory
11-Von Rio Tetra
1-Clown Pleco
Snail
Is this overstocking?

75g Planted list:
4 Angelfish...breeding pairs as I can get them....I would rather have 6 angels but I'm so worried about overstocking. I want a good balance.
5-Apistos... Unless the gouramis won't work in the 46g
10 or 15? - Sterbai Cory
2- Bristlenose Plecos
15- Kuhli Loaches
15- Cardinal Tetra {I was worried about them with my Ph, but the majority of fish aren't good there...I hope I can do everything else right for them}

Is this overstocking?

Thanks for looking. I have to decide by Monday, so again...please helpppppppppppp

 

[magpie]

Why the platys? I don't know enough about gouramis so won't give advice on the first tank other than I would skip the platys.

What is your filtration? The 75 gallon may be a bit overstocked with that list depending on filtration... But I definitely think that if you want 5 apistos they'd probably work better in the 75 gallon. You have a lot of bottom dwellers in your 75 gal list. Apistos, Cories, Kuhlis, BNs. How about taking out the cories and sticking with the nice large group of kuhlis since you'll have cories in your other tank?

 

[FishFanatic04]

I originally planned for the apisto's in my 46g with 10 Cory and 1 clown pleco...who has a bit of wood he has claimed...I have 3 terracotta pots and 1 rock cave, plus some wood that could be used as boundaries in the 46 already for the apistos. But the tank was looking a little empty in the mid-high level and I thought the gouramis might be nice instead of the apistos... Easy to forget that the apistos stay in the bottom.

The 3 Platys are already in the 46. To my everlasting guilt and regret, ended up in a fish-in cycle with the Platys. They have a home for life in my 46, I will raise their fry {for awhile}...my LFS is taking them all. I was horrified and cried through an entire month as I cycled....No one locally would help. Enough said.


My problem is that all of my favorite fish are bottom-dwellers. I guess I like it dirty.
I am almost ashamed of myself.

I really need to find a good balance somewhere. The good thing is that I can shuffle things between tanks. I don't mind switching things up for a good balance. I really want to know if I NEED to give up any species.

The filtration question...I have a Rena Filstar XP3.

 

[Xraymark]

Well I find my BN all over my tank and on the ornaments. Hardly ever on the sand and my bronze/albino corys are probably 70% on the bottom in the sand. They shoot all over the tank.
So these are not exclusively stuck to the bottom of the tank.

 

[magpie]

Oh, sorry I didn't realize you were working with fish you already had... duh, didn't read your signature. That makes more sense now. I applaud you for committing to your platys!

I totally, 100% understand in regards to your love of the bottom feeders. I am the exact same way. I could very easily have an enormous tank filled with loaches, gobies, eels, dwarf cichlids and the like. Right now I have a 65 gallon tank, it has a 3-ft footprint, and I have 2 gobies, 8 kuhlis, 3 farlowella catfish, and just got 4 dwarf cichlids. The farlowella are like the BNs - they hang out on the bottom sometimes (mostly during dinnertime) but during the day they are hanging out on plants, driftwood, and the sides of the tank. It seems Ok, and I have a heavily planted tank with tons of rock and driftwood, but I'm just trying to picture having another foot of space and adding 15 cories and another apisto, who truly primarily stays the bottom 1/4 of the tank (as opposed to my laetacara who hang there but also use the other parts of the water column). I think it would be hard to really be sure that all of those bottom feeders would be getting the food that they need, and for me to feel like it wasn't overly crowded. Of course I have the gobies, too, and I 'worry' about my bottom feeders because I love them so much.

So in my opinion, yeah, I still think it's a bit much, but I am not an expert by any means, so definitely get more opinions! Maybe start with just 8 cories and see how it looks/feels? Maybe it is fine... just trying to think about the adult size of all of these fish, too. What kind of Apistos are you getting? They can be 3 inches, the angels will get huge... so not sure how much impact that has on the water quality as they get larger.

Sorry, I'm not really helping, am I?

 

[thereverendturtle]

46 gallon looks good, the gouramis will be fine. The 75 I would cut the corys out, since you really want kuhli loaches. Then maybe bump the kuhlis up to 20. Just my opinion.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I appreciate your opinions. That's what I was looking for. Some kind of experience. We have edited our plans a lot to try and find a better fit. They are the apistogramma double red cacatuoides...

Here's where we are now...
46g:
2 Opaline Gourami
3 Apisto
1 Clown plec
8 Albino Cory
11 Von Rio Tetra

75g:
6 Angelfish {Def. a better Ratio}
3 Platy
3 apisto
8 Julii
15 Kuhli
15- Cardinal Tetra
2-BN

I think This is a better ratio...plus separating the 2 apisto males should lower the amount of aggression from them.

 

[FishFanatic04]

As for feeding them...I do a lot of cooking and there tends to be some kind of veggie in my tanks no less then 3 days of the week...then 2 days of live food sinking algae and veggie and protein wafers mixed in there. In the end,I think my bottom feeders eat better then any of the other fish since I tend to sprinkle a small pinch of flake for them... while the bottoms are eating wafer delicacies. lol

I wouldn't mind lowering the Cories to 8. and leaving the kuhlis at 15. with the 3 apistos instead of 5. This leaves alot more space then the orginal plan of

15- cory
15 kuhli
5 apisto

 

[FishFanatic04]

I am on a learning curve right now anyway, most of these fish will only be with use untill Nov. We will be moving and aren't taking any tetras, cories, or the gouramis if they aren't a breeding pair. So if things aren't working out, when we set up at the new house, I could leave out the cories in the 75g.

Really appreciate your opinions. Its tough fully stocking the tank in one go. I think I am going to stop over thinking now before I have a stroke.

 

[magpie]

I've read a bunch that gouramis and dwarves often don't work well together...

And I guess if it were me and I was going to move in 6-8 months and return the cories anyway, I wouldn't get them to begin with. Id personally just keep a lighter stocked tank until I moved.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I've read a bunch that gouramis and dwarves often don't work well together...

And I guess if it were me and I was going to move in 6-8 months and return the cories anyway, I wouldn't get them to begin with. Id personally just keep a lighter stocked tank until I moved.

I'm ALWAYS going to be moving. We are military. I either have the fish for awhile, or give it up altogether.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Thanks to everyone read this and gave opinions. We handed our list over and hope they can get everything we asked for! My plants are on the way, it looks like wed. or thurs....plantfest and Sat. we add fish!! woohoo!