stidham

I'd like to restock my 55.

It's been up about 2 years now. I'm going to give most of my fish in the tank to my son. They will go nicely in his 60 gal cube.

This is what the tank looks like now.


I want to go with an all sand bottom, some driftwood. As for fish. My wife wants me to go with bigger fish. I was thinking discus. I've loved them for years but always wussed out because they were so expensive. I'd like a pair of discus, A couple of angels, a school of 5 or 6 corys for clean up, a pair of blue rams, and maybe a school of neons or maybe bozemani (sp?) rainbows instead of the angels.

Opinions?

Thanks,
Dave

capekate

Hi Dave, welcome to fishlore!
Your tank is gorgeous... just the way it is! BUT I sure understand wanting to change things around some...
Your choice of fish sound great. Discus and rainbows and GBRs and Angel fish are all great fish.. But you have to take into consideration the water temperature of each species. The rainbows prefer a cooler water temp than say the Discus. Angel fish can do ok with the Discus at the higher temps but not the rainbow fish or neons. But Cardinal tetras can do fine in the higher temps as can the GBR.Not sure that the cories would do well at the higher temp either.
So If you wanted Discus, Id say try the GBRs, cardinal tetras and angelfish.
If you didnt want to go with the Discus, you can do the angelfish, neon or cardinal tetras, cories and the boeseman or any of the Australian rainbows for that matter, there are so many beautiful ones to choose from.
Discus really need a lot of TLC, such as frequent water changes and those higher temps. I think you would have more of a choice of fish if you omitted the Discus's needs. ahhh so many decisions lol... but so much fun!
Anyway.... glad to have you on board!

~ kate

jamison

That's your 55? It's absolutely gorgeous! I've got a used 55 tall on it's way to my house right now. I'm so excited! I hope I'll be able to get it looking as nice as yours! Although it will just be temporary, it's for two baby Pacu, I will take much pride in making it look fantastic. Great tank man!

stidham

Thanks for all the responses. I'll try to get some before and after pics. Btw my wife made the skirt around the stand. I also posted this over at Aquaria Central. Now I'm feeling my wussiness starting up again I'm just afraid of the spending a couple hundred $$$ on discus and then them all dying because I got too busy with the rest of life to do water changes like I should.

I think I'm going to go with a shoal of rummy noses, a shoal of cardinals, maybe some hatchfish, a pair of GBR's, some corys and a couple of angels as centerpiece fish.

Thanks again.

Dave

capekate

Hello Dave,
that is a beautiful tank skirt that your wife made. I noticed it right away in the photos. Your choice of fish sound great and I understand the money that Discus can cost you and its a good thing that you realize that you may not have the time to dedicate to such sensitive and expensive fish!
Good luck with your tank... and would love to see some of those before and after photos.

~ kate

steveangela1

That is a beautiful tank!!! I tried to do something similar w/ the sand in my lake malawi peacock ciclid bowfront tank.. and the diggers had a feild day messing up my substrate... now its all mixed up together... but your fish (community guys wont be diggers like my africans lol) Honestly whatever you put in it will be great! as long as your water conditons suit the fish (in my opinion!)

susitna-flower

I vote to get the discus! If you keep the number of fish down, is there any way you could plumb in a continous water supply? Take the pain out of water changes, maybe an RO water system?

You only live once, and I am that little devil setting on your shoulder!