60 Gallon Stocking!

[FallenOwl]

I plan to get a 40 or a 60 gallon bow front tank (maybe bigger!) and I wanted to know him many of each, and if these fish are compatible.
Here's the fish that I want.
Electric blue Acara
KuhlI loach
Gold barb
Mollies / Swordtails
Hatchetfish
Ghost catfish
Twig catfish or BN pleco
Ghost shrimp
Amano shrimp
Cherry shrimp (if they won't be eaten)
Bamboo shrimp
Nerite snails
Mystery snails

I would like to keep as many as possible (all of possible )

 

[vikingkirken]

The EBA will limit your stock. I don't think ghost cats, hatchetfish, or kuhlis are going to do well with the EBA. Even if it doesn't harass or try to eat them, they are too timid to be comfortable with such a large fish. And shrimp will be eaten.

If you leave out the EBA, you could include more of the other fish. But I think the EBA is worth the sacrifice If it was me, I'd do something like:

1 electric blue acara (or you could do a mated pair)
8 gold barbs
3 swordtails (1M/2F, barbs and EBA will eat fry) OR 1 male swordtail and 1 male molly (if you're really worried about fry)
1 BN pleco
nerite snails

Of course, I'm biased, because with the exception of the pleco, those are all in my stocking plan (just waiting on my EBA for my tank to be finished!) But I think you would really enjoy that tank I know I love mine!

 

[FallenOwl]

That's all!??
Ok, well..
Maybe drop the Acara and instead have
1 male DG
2 female Pearl gouramis
(I already have them in a separate tank, all adults that get along perfectly)
Then could I have more of the fish that I wanted?

 

[vikingkirken]

I wouldn't mix two types of gouramis in a tank...

My numbers are pretty conservative, but I'm learning I like a tank that way--more opportunity for fish to show their natural behaviors. IME, unique behavior starts to muddy when you start adding all different kinds of fish to a tank. You could up your numbers or add more fish if you wanted to, I just wouldn't do the skittish fish mentioned above, and not shrimp. You could add a second school of something like Odessa barbs, praecox rainbows, serpae tetras, or similar-sized fish. Probably a gouramI as well, if you wanted to.

There's also a big difference between a 40 and a 60 gallontank! Can you give dimensions for those tanks?

 

[FallenOwl]

I don't know which I can get yet!
I'm hoping for a 60 gallon bow front or larger, but I'm not getting one any smaller than a 40..

 

[FallenOwl]

Ok, new plan to make this simple. Let's just say I'm getting a 60 gallonbowfront.
If I DO end up getting a 40 gallon I'll just bump the numbers down
So, this is what I already have (they don't have to be moved to this tank, but I would like some of them to be.)
5x Harlequin rasbora (getting more)
6x KuhlI loach
1x Male DG
2x Female Pearl gourami

So, going off of my previous list.. What are my stocking options for a 60 gallontank?

 

[vikingkirken]

What are the dimensions? I'm not familiar with that size.

I'd think you could have a very peaceful tank with something like this:
3x pearl gouramis (1M/2F)
8x hatchetfish
8x harlequin rasboras
8x ghost catfish
1 BN pleco
Amano shrimp
Snails
Possibly a bamboo shrimp, although they might get picked on by the gouramis

I believe twig catfish need more flow than the ghosts would like. Someone more experienced may know more about that though.

The biggest issue I see here is that you've been looking for fish with personality, and many of the options you've listed are skittish and not going to appreciate the size or activity level of many of the "personality" fish.

An alternate stocking with the larger/more active fish could be:
1x electric blue acara
1 BN pleco
8x gold barbs
8-10x harlequin rasboras or Odessa barbs
3-5 live-bearers (swordtails and/or mollies; either all males, or 2-3 females per male of same species)
Snails

Possibly a dwarf cichlid in there as well, depending on the tank dimensions.

 

[FallenOwl]

Again, I don't have the tank.. So I don't know dimensions.. Maybe it's not quite a 60g, or maybe it's a little more.
I like having two options (1 with skittish/peaceful fish, 1 "personality tank")
I also like both of those stocking options, but I'm not stuck on anything yet!
Also, where would I get some of these fish (gold barbs, EBAs)

Another question vikingkirken - since I like those two options, could the "peaceful option" be in a 20 gallon long (substituting the pearls with my dwarf)?
And what would the minimum tank size be for the other option "personality"?

 

[vikingkirken]

My apologies. You mentioned a 60 bowfront so I thought you might have something specific in mind, and I haven't seen one that size before.

EBAs and gold barbs are both pretty easy to find; most LFS should have them.

I'd leave one of the schools out in the 20g.

I think a 40 breeder would work for the other tank, possibly a 45 tall. You might want to reduce your numbers a little bit.

 

[FallenOwl]

Ok, thank you

 

[BottomDweller]

For a 60 gallon with some of the fish on your first list I would do
12 KuhlI loaches
10 Gold barbs
1-3 Mollies
1-3 Swordtails
10 Hatchetfish
1 BN pleco
10-20 Amano shrimp
1 Bamboo shrimp
6Nerite snails
3 Mystery snails

With the shrimp watch to make sure they don't get picked on.

 

[FallenOwl]

An alternate stocking with the larger/more active fish could be:
1x electric blue acara
1 BN pleco
8x gold barbs
8-10x harlequin rasboras or Odessa barbs
3-5 live-bearers (swordtails and/or mollies; either all males, or 2-3 females per male of same species)
Snails

Possibly a dwarf cichlid in there as well, depending on the tank dimensions.

I noticed that this stock doesn't have any "bottom dwellers" could I add some to this?
What level does the Acara swim at?

 

[FallenOwl]

Ok, so I was looking around and thought about something.

In the bigger tank (40g breeder or 40+g bowfront) I want my main focus to be the EBA, so I was thinking about getting "duller" fish.
Here's some examples:
Scissor tail rasbora
Silver tip tetra
Long finned gold Danio
Giant Danio
Lamp eye tetra
Black neon tetra
Emerald Cory
Albino Cory
Eclipse catfish
Pictus catfish
Black and white livebearers
True Siamese algae eater
Albino BN pleco
Snails
( the substrate will be black sand )
?Planted?

In the smaller tank (20-25g long) I want the colors to "pop" on my DG (orange and blue), so I was thinking:
Ghost catfish (I've always wanted some )
Orange or blue shrimp (opinions?)
Ember tetras
Harlequin rasbora
Amano shrimp
?algae eater?
Hatchet fish
Striped KuhlI loaches
Snails
(What color sand?)
Planted.

 

[BottomDweller]

In the 20-25 I would do this along with the DG
10-20 orange or blue neocardinia shrimp (personally I like blue velvet shrimp)
5-7 Amano shrimp
8 gold barbs or 8-10 harlequin rasboras
8-10 KuhlI loaches
2 Mystery snails
3 Nerite snails (algae eaters)
I think black sand would look good.

 

[vikingkirken]

I noticed that this stock doesn't have any "bottom dwellers" could I add some to this?
What level does the Acara swim at?

The acara is a bottom dweller, and the barbs spend a lot of time picking through the substrate looking for scraps of food and such. I'd think you could also add something like a BN pleco if you wanted to.

In the 20-25 I would do this along with the DG
10-20 orange or blue neocardinia shrimp (personally I like blue velvet shrimp)
5-7 Amano shrimp
8 gold barbs or 8-10 harlequin rasboras
8-10 KuhlI loaches
2 Mystery snails
3 Nerite snails (algae eaters)
I think black sand would look good.

I would not do small shrimp with gold barbs; I think they would be eaten.

 

[FallenOwl]

I thought about it for an hour
Could I do this?
40g breeder or 40g+ bowfront
1x Electric blue Acara
10x Scissor tail rasbora
10x Long finned leopard Danio (maybe?)
10x Albino Cory
5x Male Molly (3) swordtail (2)
1x long finned albino BN pleco
6x mystery snail

20g long +
3x Dwarf gouramI (1m,2f)
10x Ghost catfish or 15-20x ember tetra
8x Hatchetfish
12x KuhlI loach (6 striped, 6 black)
1x Clown pleco
5x Amano shrimp
15x Sunkist shrimp or (blue velvet & blue pearl shrimp)
1x Mystery snail
3x Rabbit snail

 

[vikingkirken]

Scissortail rasbora need a longer/larger tank, they can get 6" long. I think the danios would be eaten.

Do you have a source for female dwarf gouramis? They're apparently hard to find. I don't know how much space you would need for a group of them :-/ The remaining stock seems reasonable.

 

[FallenOwl]

Could I do giant danios and lamp eye tetras instead? (Same numbers)
I think I have somewhere to get the female DGs, but even if I don't, I don't have to get them. It was just a preference

 

[vikingkirken]

I think those could work! But I'd drop your numbers a bit, or drop a school. But I seem to be a somewhat conservative stocker numbers-wise. Perhaps Anders247 can give some clearer numbers here.

 

[FallenOwl]

Can they both be planted, or will the Acara dig up the plants?

 

[Anders247]

My acara has never dug, at least when I have been watching, but I don't think I would trust them with plants, personally.

 

[FallenOwl]

Ok, I might just put some Marimo moss balls in there then
Since I already have the two Pearl gouramis, could I add them to the Acara tank? (Not required, just wondering )

 

[Anders247]

What would the full stock be?

 

[FallenOwl]

I changed them a little
40g breeder or 40g+ bowfront
1x Electric blue Acara
2x Pearl gouramI
8x Giant Danio
10x Lamp eye tetra or 9x Male Molly
10x Albino Cory
1x long finned albino BN pleco
5x mystery snail

20g long +
3x Dwarf gouramI (1m,2f)
8x Ghost catfish
8x Hatchetfish
12x KuhlI loach (6 striped, 6 black)
1x Clown pleco
5x Amano shrimp
10x ghost shrimp
10x Sunkist shrimp
1x Mystery snail
3x Rabbit snail

 

[Anders247]

I would do the tetras instead of the mollies for sure. I wouldn't do giant danios, instead how about pearl danios? (Danio albolineatus)
As for the 20g, that looks better, but not perfect. I wouldn't do the ghost catfish, how about something smaller/

 

[FallenOwl]

I really want to keep the ghost catfish if I can..
I'm not sure where I can get Pearl danios, it would be a lot easier (and probably cheaper) for me to get giant danios.

 

[FallenOwl]

I'm pretty sure my DG is on his last day.. I don't want to get another one if he passes, so is there anything else that would be a good centerpiece for the 20+ long?
Here was the stock:
3x Dwarf gouramI (1m,2f)
8x Ghost catfish
8x Hatchetfish
12x KuhlI loach (6 striped, 6 black)
1x Clown pleco
5x Amano shrimp
10x ghost shrimp
10x Sunkist shrimp
1x Mystery snail
3x Rabbit snail

 

[vikingkirken]

How about an apistogramma or Bolivian ram?

 

[FallenOwl]

I want something that swims in the middle preferably

 

[vikingkirken]

Honey gouramis could work.

 

[FallenOwl]

Maybe something that isn't a gourami?..

 

[Anders247]

Maybe golden wonder killis, but they can be aggressive.

 

[FallenOwl]

I don't want to sound to picky, but this is what I'm looking for:
Peaceful (To other fish)
3"+
Middle swimmer
Not a gourami

Also: if I drop the hatchetfish could I have a "school" of sparkling gouramis? (They look different enough from the DG)

 

[vikingkirken]

I am not aware of very many middle-dwelling fish which aren't schooling. Most of the common centerpiece fish are top- or bottom-dwellers, with the exception of angelfish which aren't what you're after here. There may be options I'm just unaware of...

 

[FallenOwl]

It can be a top dweller, I just didn't want it to interfere with the hatchet fish.
Maybe I could do this?
6-8x Ghost catfish
8-10x Hatchetfish
6x sparkling gouramI (are they schooling fish?)
12x KuhlI loach
1x clown pleco
Shrimp
Snails

 

[Anders247]

Sparkling gouramis are not schooling but they are social. That stock would work.

 

[FallenOwl]

Could I do 4-8 sparkling gouramis then? (Depending on how expensive they are )

 

[Anders247]

Yes.