Stocking Suggestions For A 55g

[t1tanrush]

Sorry I didn't read your message properly - bit under the weather and doped up a bit lol

No problem Lisa, obviously not ur fault lol.

A 3ft version might be wide enough but wouldn't have enough swimming length. It wouldn't even be suitable for the JDs. They'd kill each other - unless they were a proven breeding pair, and even then that would need a seriously experienced owner with a spare tank on hold.

I have a pair of JDs in a 25 gal along with tank mates, and they get on fine and breed occationally. The male lives in his pipe and the female goes evrywere else. The male only gets aggressive if he sees the female, but his lane of sight is restricted (this was unintentional, but by choosing the pipe he can only see 6" in front of him). Ive had them for three years and the male is 6-7" and the female 5".

Lisa, another example of how larger fish can live in smaller aquariums just fine.

 

[cheesy feet]

Gotta agree with them.I seriously think that there is no set way of stocking a cichlid fish tank.To many people say you need a 55 gallon tank for a common plec because it might grow 18' but would more likely grow 8'... My texas cichlid only grew to 7 inches when it was suppost to hit 10 inches plus..He was fine in a 30 gallon long (4ft x 1ft x 1ft) with a plec which was 6 inches (although he nearly ripped it to shreads a few times ).I won't stop some of you moaning at me because you've read loads of fish profiles and they all say you need to have atleast 5 silver dollars, or a 75 gallon for a pair of adult severums...But i only keep a pair of silver dollars .I also keep a pair of sevs in a 45 gallon tank (one 6 inches one 7 inches,and they are adults)...I don't think sevs will grow 12 inches(in the wild,yes,maybe)...The biggest i've seen is 9-10 inches and that was big!...I'm just fed up with people who say you need this and that,it can be true but might not be...

 

[LisaLQ]

Yes but they're not fully grown. Read before you respond titan, you may learn something.

Thanks Sev btw, I do understand smaller example would be ok in smaller tanks - it's just the above pratt is really getting on my t*ts today with his recommendations for fish that he obviously has no experience with. I do however much appreciate you setting me right, as you obviously have those fish and can relate from personal experience. So for you - I eat my hat, but only because your situation is different, and your fish are different.

My point to titan, however, was that two 10" fish, or two 12" fish, would not fit in a 4 x 12" footprint.

 

[t1tanrush]

Yes but they're not fully grown. Read before you respond titan, you may learn something.

Thanks Sev btw, I do understand smaller example would be ok in smaller tanks - it's just the above pratt is really getting on my t*ts today with his recommendations for fish that he obviously has no experience with. I do however much appreciate you setting me right, as you obviously have those fish and can relate from personal experience. So for you - I eat my hat, but only because your situation is different, and your fish are different.

My point to titan, however, was that two 10" fish, or two 12" fish, would not fit in a 4 x 12" footprint.

I'm not saying that I know all the answers, I was passing on what I had read was accepable, you decided it was a personal attack at fish keeping. Get out troll.

 

[LisaLQ]

God help me - are there no mods on here tonight? I'm a troll? Pah - you're not worth wasting the typing effort on. Night night, past your bedtime innit?

 

[SamUK]

Gotta agree with them.I seriously think that there is no set way of stocking a cichlid fish tank.To many people say you need a 55 gallon tank for a common plec because it might grow 18' but would more likely grow 8'... My texas cichlid only grew to 7 inches when it was suppost to hit 10 inches plus..He was fine in a 30 gallon long (4ft x 1ft x 1ft)

ok, for one the other day you tried to tell me my 180g tank was overstocked using the inch per gallon rule. so that would be your set way?


and the second sentence doesnt make sense.


if your texas cichlid was 'fine' then he would of reached the full 10" but even you say hes only 7".

Sorry I didn't read your message properly - bit under the weather and doped up a bit lol

No problem Lisa, obviously not ur fault lol.

A 3ft version might be wide enough but wouldn't have enough swimming length. It wouldn't even be suitable for the JDs. They'd kill each other - unless they were a proven breeding pair, and even then that would need a seriously experienced owner with a spare tank on hold.

I have a pair of JDs in a 25 gal along with tank mates, and they get on fine and breed occationally. The male lives in his pipe and the female goes evrywere else. The male only gets aggressive if he sees the female, but his lane of sight is restricted (this was unintentional, but by choosing the pipe he can only see 6" in front of him). Ive had them for three years and the male is 6-7" and the female 5".

Lisa, another example of how larger fish can live in smaller aquariums just fine.

id ask how big and how old the JDs were before assuming that

 

[LisaLQ]

Cheesy - common plecs should reach well over 12" at least, if they're only reaching 8" that means there's something wrong. Ie. their tank is too small. A common plec needs a 75g, not a 55g or smaller by the way too. That might be why yours only reached 8" if it didn't have ample tank space.

My current biggest common was in a 2ft tank for two years. He reached 6", and stopped growing - previous owners assumed that was as big as he was getting. When I got him, I put him in my 180g, and after two years of being 6", he's now headed for 10" - and he's only been here a couple of months.

So yes, they do need big tanks, and no they shouldn't only get to 8". Whether that was your experience, or whether you read it somewhere, that's false info - or a one off strange case - certainly not the norm. I've seen many 15"+ plecs, and owned an approx 18" one in the past - so 8" would be a very small specimen, either stunted, juvenile or a runt.