Isabella

I am currently in the process of stocking my 75 gallon moderately planted tank (will get more plants soon and make it very fully planted). The fish I have so far are: 2 Angelfish, 1 Golden Algae Eater, 6 Cherry Barbs, 6 Harlequin Rasboras (4 of which are new and in my Q tank for the next 3 weeks), and 2 Zebra Danios. (I will have a total of 6 Zebra Danios soon.)

Here are the 3 stocking plans (what fish totals the tank will have once I'm done stocking):

PLAN A
2 Angelfish (10")
1 Golden Algae Eater (5")
6 Cherry Barbs (9")
6 Harlequin Rasboras (9")
6 Zebra Danios (9")
3 German Blue Rams (~7")
4-6 (?) Diamond Tetras (8 - 12")
TOTAL = 57 - 61"

Plan B
2 Angelfish (10")
1 Golden Algae Eater (5")
6 Cherry Barbs (9")
10 Harlequin Rasboras (15")
8 Zebra Danios (12")
3 German Blue Rams (~7")
TOTAL = 58"

PLAN C
2 Angelfish (10")
1 Golden Algae Eater (5")
6 Cherry Barbs (9")
10 Harlequin Rasboras (15")
8 Zebra Danios (12")
4-6 (?) Diamond Tetras (8 - 12")
TOTAL = 59" - 63"

The reason none of the plans has a stocking level of the full 75" is that I need to subtract some space for gravel, driftwood, and plants. They all take up a lot of space.

The reason Cherry Barbs stay at 6 only in all 3 plans is that they don't school as readily as Zebra Danios and Harlequin Rasboras do. Harlequin Rasboras school most beautifully of the 3 groups.

Anyway, which numbers and combinations of fish are best for my tank in your opinion?

Tom

The only thing I noticed is the GAE it says 6", is it this one
http://www.fishlore.com/profile-chinesealgaeeater.htm?
If it is, they get to 10" and will attatch themselves to your angels and suck off the fish slime and eventually kill the angel. Other than that, I would go with either A or B, only because it has rams.
Tom

manda2753

Personally, I like Plan B...I like a lot of variety, so I'd go with A, but with those schooling fish, they do seem to look neater the more you'd have, so I'd trade the school of diamond tetras for more rasboras and danios. No scientific reasons, Plan B just appeals to me more!

manda2753

By the way, I have also heard the same thing about the GAEs. I have one in my community tank too. He's still young, so it's not a problem yet, but I am worried about what will happen when he gets older. I thought at first that a golden algae eater was entirely different from a chinese algae eater, but apparently they're the same thing, just a different variation.

Sabi

I like plan A and Plan B!

Isabella

Tom and Manda , yes, the Golden ("Chinese") algae eater has a reputation of sucking on the protective slime coating of fish. BUT, according to my own experience, this fish will never do such things if it is provided with appropriate diet and enough swimming space. I've had this GAE for over 3 years now and he NEVER sucked at any of my fish's protective slime coating.

My personal experience with this fish is VERY different from its bad reputation. Yes, I am 100% sure it will be aggressive when kept in a small tank and fed with poor diet. Keep in mind that most people that buy fish are beginners who more often than not keep fish in tanks that are way too small for the kinds of fish they have as well as in tanks that have way too many fish. They also often think that algae eaters should only eat tank algae, without any other dietary supplements. No wonder this fish later gets "bad" reputation. Being kept in such contitions certainly will cause it to become aggressive.

Please read this entire thread to see why I am keeping this fish: http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/index.php?topic=12857.0
(It is important that you read everything from top to bottom.)

P.S. Tom, most fish sizes you see in various online articles and books give the size of the fish as it would have in nature. In captivity, 100% of fish grow much smaller than they'd normally be in nature, even if they're in big tanks. I've had my GAE for over 3 years and it has not exceeded 5" in size. I presume he had stopped growing long ago.

Manda, that's exactly what I was thinking too.

Sabi, thank you for your opinion too.

Tom

Good point. I had forgotten that fish don't grow as big in an aquarium as they do in wild. But my question about that is, what happens if the fish are wild caught, would it still grow to the wild size? Back on topic, I guess you are lucky then compared to the rep of them, I was too.
Tom

Isabella

Tom, just a note: I am not saying these fish can't be aggressive. Maybe there are aggressive GAEs even with perfect diets and in large tanks. All I am saying is that in my personal experience, my GAE is relatively (and surprisingly) peaceful. I am by no means encouraging people to get these algae eaters. They definitely should NOT get them if they won't be able to provide them with appropriate living conditions.

Tom

I undersatand what you meant, I was just saying you were lucky to have a peaceful GAE/CAE and I was also lucky that I had peaceful ones.
Tom

Isabella

I'm glad you had peaceful ones too See, maybe they're all not so bad

Tom

And I had 2 in a tank, they only chased each other and that was it. They were really great algae eaters, than I found out about small plecos.
Tom

Callum The Cat

Isabella

I see everybody loves the idea of 10 Harlequins

Sabi

yeah, harlequins rule! Didnt you know?!

Tom

Ya, their right up there with bettas and angels and discus.

Isabella, what you could do is instead of the diamond tetras and danios and get a huge school of harlequins. It would look really beautiful with all the plants you have.
Tom

COBettaCouple

i like Plan A

Callum The Cat

Marc

I would just be careful with the CAE. Fish slime is an acquired taste, just because it doesn't like it now doesn't mean it never will.

But Plan B would look awesome.

Isabella

Tom, I know. But I really like Zebra Danios too. Plus, I already have 2. And now that I have 2, I need to get a few more for them to be happy. And ... I don't want to return them to the horrible LFS where their water parameters read 5.0 pH and 40ppm nitrate ...

Good idea

I realize this Marc. And I pray this never happens in the 75 gallon tank. I mean, 75 gallons is so much space for this algae eater. But, if anything ever happens ... I'll have to get BN pleco, the True Siamese Flying Fox, or a few Otos. I have no idea what I'll do with the GAE. I don't want to give it away to the LFS

Tom

Well then I guess you will need to buy another tank just for some zebra danios. lol
Tom

Isabella

8 Zebra Danios (as in plan B) are not enough for this species to school nicely?

Tom

Thats why you buy a nice big 55 gallon tank and put about 20 danios and some cories and some otos in there too.
Tom

Isabella

Yeah right. And the next thing I'll know will be that I'll be sleeping on my tanks as my bed will have to be moved out of my room too ...

Tom

For me, my bed will be a pile of straw outside in the back yard. lol
Tom

Isabella

LOL, yeah, that's what it comes to when you're infected with MTS

Tom

But someone with a real bad case would also have tanks all over their yard too. lol
Tom

Sabi

That would be like a dream!
But i wouldnt have danios, for some reason that isnt a type of fish i'd keep!

Isabella

Why don't you like Zebra Danios? They're very small and cute, and look beautiful in groups. They look very pretty too with the beautiful black-and-white stripes across their bodies Not to mention they're hardy little fish.

COBettaCouple

Danios are cool little fish.

Sabi

No,no i'm not saying they aren't great fish, they are!
Why i wouldnt keep them is because: when someone i knew's tank broke he gave all his danios to me, say maybe, 8/10 fish. They chased my tetras and angels and stressed them to a point where just stayed in one plase leaving the whole tank to the danios so I had to take them to my lfs.
I think maybe it was they didnt have the correct tank mates or something... But anyway it left me a bit weary.