55 gallon tropical community tank

My parents, back in the day, used to be avid aquarium enthusiasts and we have since acquired their 55 gallon show tank. Currently there is a male betta (Admiral Ackbar) and a female bristlenose plecostomus (Professor Nubbins), though our final stocking plan will include: one angelfish, either a dwarf gourami or two apistogrammas of some sort, six platys, eight tetras, six cory cats, a nerite snail, a bamboo shrimp, and Professor Nubbins. Ackbar will stay in the big tank as long as he behaves himself, but I predict he'll end up back in the 10 gallon tank before too long.

 

you may be surprised, in a well fed tank he may not be as much of an issue especially if there is a place he can call his. You may have some aggressions with the gourami thou.

 

We weren't set on having a gourami. We like the powder blue ones, but we wouldn't be devastated if we couldn't have one, and if we had to choose between a DG and an angelfish, we'd definitely go for the latter.

I thought DGs were only aggressive towards conspecifics, do you think we shouldn't get one?



Also, here's a picture of the tank. Sorry it's so washed out, my camera does that.

 

personally I don't have a thing for them at all and I would do the angels over them any day.

 

When I tested the water today (thoroughly beating the bottles of testing solution against various surfaces), the ammonia tube showed only a slight hint of green, while the nitrate tube was the darkest I've seen it (to be honest the 10 and 20 ppm boxes on the chart look identical to me, so I'm not exactly sure which it was).

I did a 30%ish water change on Sunday and Friday night, and maybe 20% this morning, so I'm surprised how high it is. Does this mean the tank is properly cycling? Where is the safe zone for nitrates? I know ammonia and nitrite should be zero, but I'm not sure about nitrate. Should the levels also be zero?

 

When I tested the water today (thoroughly beating the bottles of testing solution against various surfaces), the ammonia tube showed only a slight hint of green, while the nitrate tube was the darkest I've seen it (to be honest the 10 and 20 ppm boxes on the chart look identical to me, so I'm not exactly sure which it was).

I did a 30%ish water change on Sunday and Friday night, and maybe 20% this morning, so I'm surprised how high it is. Does this mean the tank is properly cycling? Where is the safe zone for nitrates? I know ammonia and nitrite should be zero, but I'm not sure about nitrate. Should the levels also be zero?

Most people aI'm to keep nitrates at 20ppm or lower( although some have it in the tap and go a bit higher) in a cycled tank you should show nitrates, usually the only way it is 0 in a cycled tank is if you have a ton of live plants. I would say you are probiblly a day or two away from being cycled, just as soon as you get a 0 reading on the ammonia.

 

Awesome! Thanks

 

well, once the ammonia is gone I would give it 2 more days to ensure that your nitrites are gone as well. I have not seen any test results in your posts about them, NO2.

To me with the tests, I really don't do many any more, and I think a lot of the fish keepers on here will tell you the same, we do them when things look wrong or things look off. Once you get your maintenance cycle in line the results will be about the same on a regular basis.

That being said I'm not saying to not test, just after a few months of regular testing you may find that you can almost predict the results. Once you can get to that point I would back off on it and just keep up with your maint.

 

I've actually never gotten a reading for nitrite. I was testing every other day, so I'm assuming I missed the day when the nitrite spike happened. (Unless there's something wrong with the bottle for some reason.)

 

It could be, a lot of times they do come and go quickly but I can usually see them for a few days when it happens. Either way you should be good once the ammonia disappears but there's always a safety factor

 

I'm planning to quarantine the platys for two weeks anyway, so hopefully everything should be safe by then.

 

It could be, a lot of times they do come and go quickly but I can usually see them for a few days when it happens. Either way you should be good once the ammonia disappears but there's always a safety factor

I figured she may have missed them since she started with some established media.

 

I suppose I did forget to mention that part! I moved the media over from the established 10 gallon, along with the betta and the pleco. Although, I'm already getting nitrate readings for the new 10 gallon filter, without having gotten nitrite readings...

 

Update:

Well, unfortunately I wasn't a day or two away from being cycled, as the darn thing still hasn't cycled yet. I'm testing the water daily and treating with Prime, but because there's ammonia in my tap water, every time I do a water change, I'm dumping a bunch of ammonia in. I've gotten a couple "0ppm" readings, but it still takes about 5 days for the ammonia to drop to zero, so we're not in the clear yet.

I've been discussing it in another thread, but one of the male platys is being picked on by another. He hasn't been eating, so it was suggested to add a few more females (there were two males and one female) in hopes that the bullying would subside. We added three females yesterday; unfortunately he still hasn't really come out of hiding. The new females all seem healthy and active; they're much larger than the fish I have currently.

It's crazy how much of a difference a few fish can make...Initially there was a pleco and a betta, and my tank usually looked empty. We switched the betta with the three platys that were quarantining, and it seemed like there was so much activity in the tank in comparison! Now we add three more, plus the couple ghost shrimp we moved from the 2.5 gallon, and it seems like the tank is always bustling with activity. I can't imagine what it will look like once there are tetras, cories, an angel, and possibly a gourami in there. It seems like our tank will never be fully stocked, though! Hopefully it cycles soon.

 

hopefully it cycles soon as well. Also keep in mind, if you think the tank looks full then leave it as it, I have had a few tanks at times that looked well over stocked but could handle more fish from all thought. then again I have had another that never looked at all over stocked but needed some work. There is a lot to stocking a tank beyond what sounds good on paper.

 

You'll get there! If it is any concelation we are feeling your pain, we just set up the 125gal on Thursday. Going to be a at least acouple more weeks before we can put more fish in...a 125gal looks really empty with only 10 small tetras in it.

 

hopefully it cycles soon as well. Also keep in mind, if you think the tank looks full then leave it as it, I have had a few tanks at times that looked well over stocked but could handle more fish from all thought. then again I have had another that never looked at all over stocked but needed some work. There is a lot to stocking a tank beyond what sounds good on paper.

I definitely don't think it looks full yet, I'm just used to the tank looking empty! I am reconsidering having a "secondary" centerpiece fish though. The plan now is platys, tetras, cories, and an angel (plus the pleco, snails, and a few ghost shrimp that are in there now). We were thinking of a DG but at this point I'm thinking that it may be full enough without. The only problem is that all the platys are orange or red, so there aren't any cool colors in the tank, which is why we were thinking of maybe a powder blue DG.

You'll get there! If it is any concelation we are feeling your pain, we just set up the 125gal on Thursday. Going to be a at least acouple more weeks before we can put more fish in...a 125gal looks really empty with only 10 small tetras in it.

I can imagine! We want to upgrade to a bigger tank like a 125 someday in the distant future, but for now the 55 is definitely keeping our hands full.

 

You will think the orange and red looks a lot better once the other fish are in there, they really stand out.

 

You can get some really nice looking angels too, some koi ones or even some nice pearl scale angels.

 

At least we're planning to add some cardinals (we were thinking neons, but apparently cardinals are more hardy and also get a little bigger, so they hopefully won't get eaten by the angel), so there's a little bit of blue.

Petsmart started carrying angels but they always look like complete garbage...we saw a tank of them at Petco yesterday and pretty much all of them had no fins because they had been nipped off. You think they'd notice and maybe realize they shouldn't be keeping so many in one tank....but then again our LFS has a huge tank with a zillion angels in it and they all look fine.

(We've been avoiding buying fish from the LFS for the most part, not because they aren't knowledgeable (they saved us from putting a common pleco in a 10 gallon), but because they only have a two day return guarantee...our BN pleco came from there and she's doing great, as have all our snails, but I'm still a little leery. I know that Petsmart's fish surely aren't as healthy, but I know that if they die, I can get new ones no questions asked. Still have mixed feelings about the whole thing.)

You can get some really nice looking angels too, some koi ones or even some nice pearl scale angels.

I don't know any of the fancy names, but we sort of like the black-and-white marbeled ones, and the black striped ones. I'm thinking since we have so much orange, we'll probably not get the koi ones (but I do think they're really pretty). I've heard of blue ones, but I'm guessing they're "designer" angels and not fit for my poor college student budget

 

I know the feeling, my LFS Thankfully has a two week policy, altho its tough when petco has a 30 day policy. I do try to buy from my local guy but sometimes the longer warranty or the price just win. Its hard to compete with a chain when they put on some really good sales.

 

There are blue platies, we are getting some for the 125gal.

 

I know the feeling, my LFS Thankfully has a two week policy, altho its tough when petco has a 30 day policy. I do try to buy from my local guy but sometimes the longer warranty or the price just win. Its hard to compete with a chain when they put on some really good sales.

Our "LFS" isn't really a locally owned thing; it's just a Petland with a huge aquatic center (called "Petland Aquarium Adventure). Of course I would never buy fuzzy-type animals from them (I worked at an animal hospital, and it isn't really a secret where they get their dogs), but the aquatic staff is very knowledgeable and they have a huge selection of fish compared to other chain stores. If you want to bring back a deceased fish, you only get two days, and you have to bring a water sample.. another not-so-good thing, since my tank isn't fully cycled to begin with, I'm sure they'd point the finger at the ammonia even though there's never more than 0.25ppm, and usually close to 0.

At any rate, I just try and keep them alive to avoid the hassle in the first place

There are blue platies, we are getting some for the 125gal.

We thought about those...the only place we could find them was the LFS with the less-convenient return policies, they're slightly more expensive (but nothing ridiculous), and they didn't really have any super blue ones. Unfortunately now we're all full of platys...though eight probably wouldn't be platy overload, maybe we'll consider getting two blue females.

 

I wouldn't worry much about the 0.25 part as you can always bring your tap water with to show that is where it comes from. Most of the stores are pretty good about things.

 

I wouldn't worry much about the 0.25 part as you can always bring your tap water with to show that is where it comes from. Most of the stores are pretty good about things.

I didn't think about that, that's a good idea.

After looking up pictures of blue metallic and blue mickey mouse platys (which is what they had at the LFS)...I definitely don't remember them being so blue!! I'll have to take a peek next weekend; maybe they're just not colored nicely from being at the store. (Though we obviously won't be getting any more fish for quite awhile.)

Would eight platys be too much? If this was the final stocking...

1 angel
8 platys
8 tetras
6 cories
1 BN pleco
a few assassin snails (forgot to mention I got two of those... John Wilkes Booth and Marcus Brutus)
a few ghost shrimp

We had looked into kuhlI loaches, but they don't have the stripey ones anywhere near me, so maybe we'd save those for a future tank.

 

My Petsmart requires atank sample as well. However they use test strips and are not concerned with ammonia in the so-called safe zone. Just today I interjucted as the girl at the store tested a guys water and told him that he shouldn't worry about the ammonia in his tank, that the ph was low and that was what killed his fish.

We are ordering blue mickymouse platies online, nostores around us carry them.

Edit: you posted while I was typing. I think 2 more platies would be fine, if you don't get the DG you have some extra roomanyway. But even if you do, I don't think your stock is too heavy.

 

Yeah I do enjoy the fact that the use test strips lol makes it nice and easy, they print a safe zone and most know no different.

The nice part around me is that both stores are getting to know me so well I don't even have to bring in samples for them, they just take the fish and give me new ones if there is an issue. Good to stay friendly with them.

 

Our petsmart does not require a water sample, just the fish and a receipt. The female betta I bought probably died because I put her in a 10 gallon with a male and a singular pictus catfish (back when I didn't know any better); I just brought the fish in a bag with the receipt and they gave me my money back.

When the first betta I had died, I didn't even have the receipt (left it at home) and they let me take another one anyway.

 

It's been a while since my husband and I had a fish tank. We have a 55-gallon set up for about 9 weeks now. The first group of fish have been going for 6 or 7 weeks - 1 dwarf gourami, 4 glo fish, 6 zebra danios. Yesterday (without getting the levels checked first!) I bought 9 more fish - 4 swordtails & 6 glolights. I later had the water checked because I wanted to get an algae eater. The kid at Petco told me the PH was at 6.0, nitrates were safe, and ammonia was 0, and getting an algae eater is not recommended. Went home, started adding Proper PH 7.0 powder, and now the PH is at 6.6. I checked it again today, it's still 6.6, added a little more, and it's still 6.6 I've been feeding the fish 2-3x a day, but now I'm thinking to cut it back to 1x a day. I"ll try this for a few days, and check the levels again. My brother who works at PetSmart said to feed them 1x every OTHER day. Help!

 

Welcome to FishLore!

1. You will get more replies if you start your own thread If you find the "Freshwater beginners" forum, on the top left there is a "create new thread" link.

2. "The kid at Petco" probably used test strips, which are very inaccurate. I'm not sure what method of testing you are using, but you should look into getting a liquid test kit, such as the API freshwater master test kit. It lasts a long time and is MUCH more reliable.

3. As many members will say, don't stress yourself "chasing" a certain pH. Firstly, it is much more stressful for the fish to have the pH constantly fluctuating. Secondly, fish are very capable of adapting to a new pH. If you want a higher pH, try adding crushed eggshells or seashells (you can put them in the foot of clean pantyhose to keep them tidy, and put the bag in your filter housing) to naturally raise the pH.

4. I am not familiar with algae eaters (I am pretty sure that they are often mislabeled though, and I think they get large and aggressive), but I find it unlikely that you COULDN'T have one because you pH is too low. It is dangerous for snails, for example, because the acidity can erode their shells, but if you acclimate your fish very slowly to the new water (either using drip-acclimation, or adding a small volume every 15 minutes or so), they should be able to adapt.

5. As for feeding, it depends on the person. I feed daily, I know some people feed twice daily, or every other day. The important thing isn't necessarily the number of times, but that they are adequately fed. A very common mistake is to overfeed. I usually put a small pinch of pellets in, wait for them to eat them, and then put another small pinch in, so they don't all sink before they are eaten.

Hope this helps a bit! Again, more people will see your questions if you start your own thread.

 

Thanks! He did use test strips. I have liquid test kits -they came with the tank and filter, etc, from my sis in law. I have the ammonia and ph kits, just have to slowly get everything else. From now on, I'll just go to Petland (it's nearby) to get the tests done, but won't get any fish there. After I put the original 6 fish in, a week or so later, I got a 2nd gourami - male. The guy said they'll be fine together since it's a big tank. He died 2 wks later. I told the same guy about it, hes like oh well, some die when the tank is cycling. The OTHER fish were fine! So no more Petland fish! LOL

 

I shouldve kept the receipt and brought the fish back to Petland LOL oh well.

 

Dwarf Gouramis should not be kept together, else fighting will ensue. Unfortunately many pet store employees don't always know what they're talking about.