65 Gallon Inhabitants

Here is my stocking plan now that my tank is looking good and everyone seems happy... not using a quarantine anymore... I work at the store I'm buyin them from so I can watch them for two weeks there

1 fat Pearl Gourami - 6 inches
1 African Knife - 9 inches
3 Albino Cory Cats - 9 inches
3 Upside Down Catfish - 12 inches
5 Congo Tetras - 15 inches
2 Bolivian Rams - 8 inches

59 inches total... maybe pushing the 65 a little...

Any opinion on any order I should add them? I am trying to go slowely so I don't cause an ammonia spike. So far it is just 1 Albino Cory, African Knife, and the Pearl Gourami. Was gonna add two more Albino's and the 3 Upside downs on Monday (they are only about 6 inches all together right now). Thanks.

 

Sounds like a fun tank! Post pics when you have it complete If you can, get 4 cories instead of 3. They will be happier.

 

although they are one of the smaller knife fishes, africans can still get quite large and need a large tank. What are the dimensions of your 65? They can get bigger than 9 inches, sometimes up to 12, so be careful! good sounding tank though

 

Wow really, I had read that they rarely got over 8 inches in captivity... 10 to 12 inches in the wild. I'm not calling you a liar by any means just telling you why I put him in the tank. All the sites I read said a 55 or larger for an African Knife so I figured a 65 was cuting it close being that it has the footprint of a 55, but I thought it was enough

I'm lazy don't feel like measuring but it is about 48" x 28" x 13"...

Maybe if I don't push the stocking it would be ok... leave it without the rams?

 

well african knifes are one of the slower growing species (along with the black ghost knife...but that one can reach up to 16 inches). Generally, you're right, they'll only get around 9 or so inches in captivity, but there's always the possibilty that they can get larger. I read that "in captivity" clown knives rarely exceed 24 inches....my cousins is pushing the 30 inch mark.

 

Thanks I will keep that in mind when stocking. This will be my first larger fish of my own. I fish sat a tank for a friend for a year in college that had a black ghost knife, a gar, and an arowana. And I was entranced by the ghost knife... I would hold a flash light above the tank and feed him by hand. He would come up and cut across the water... it was awesome! This knife doesn't move exactly like that but he has his own awesome habits, such as scarying people watching the tank when he pops out from the little hole in the tree

By the way is that an arowana on your avatar? I can't tell, I'm thinking arowana though

 

yeah, that's my little guy Worm. I got him when he was 3.5 inches and now he's about 4.25 in less than a month! He'll eventually have a 225 home in a few months, lots of room to grow. I'll try and get a better picture of him later tonight

 

Cool!

 

so far I got an angel, pearl gourami, the African Knife, and one albino cory cat that is hanging in there (not getting anymore cory cats, see my "cory cats on death row" post). I am very torn about what else to get. I really really like this Farlowella Cat so I think I may go ahead and get him (my tank needs some sort of algae eater). Then it's either a school of Glass Cats or a school of Congo Tetras and the tank is full. I just can't decide. The Congo's are pretty but they don't have that cool schooling behavior the Glass Cats have. The Glass Cats would like the power head I have in there but I doubt the Congo's would mind it. The Glass Cats might be scared of the knife when he does his rounds... Oh what to do, what to do?

 

Yeah so far my Farlowella looks happy. Got him yesterday. His color changed and freaked me out... apparently they mimic their surroundings though and my gravel is lighter. I'm feeding him marine algae which he is eating up, but I'm not sure if it is the healthiest thing in the world. The good thing about it is it doesn't rot in your tank like zuccinI or lettuce (it will eventually but not like those). And he can graze on it which is what I want. Thier leading cause of death in aquariums is starvation.

 

I'm sad. My Farlowella's tail is all nipped up. I'm not sure who did it but I highly suspect the Pearl Gourami who is progressively starting to act like a three spot. I should probably get rid of her (found out it was a her after a little more research) but she is such a beauty and I feel bad sending her back to the fish store's little tank. I can't give the Farlowella back because his fins are too messed up. I should probably put him into a quarantine tank until he heals but what I'm afraid will happen is he will just be the new guy in the tank again when I put him back in the 65, unless I get rid of the Pearl Gourami. There is also the factor that it could be the knife and not the Pearl. I haven't caught her in the act just seen her chasing the knife around when ever he comes out. (she doesn't do any damage that I have seen just probably bugs him)

 

So the old tank is fully stocked! Yeah! Here's the residents:

Shadow- 1 African Knife
Pearl- 1 Pearl Gourami
Precious- 1 Half-Black Veil Tailed Angel
Cory- 1 Albino Cory Cat
Bamboozilla- 1 3 inch Bamboo shrimp
Fleco- 1 Farlowella Cat
The Boys- 4 male Congo Tetras
Little Lady- 1 female Congo Tetra

The Congo Tetras really changed the dynamic in the tank. There is really no one in charge now. Pearl has been subdued... now she only bosses around the Shadow, she doesn't like him coming out during the day. Shadow doesn't come out as much during the day, which is sad... the congo's just move around too much for him I think and he's always got Pearl on his tail during the day. Fleco seems to be doing alright on his marine algae sheets. Cory likes to cuddle with him while he's eating it's kinda cute... been trying to figure out what he's really doing, I'm thinking maybe he is eating the scraps (but there's plenty in there, don't know why he wouldnt just get some himself). My Little Lady has been getting frisky I think, she keeps rubbing tails together with all the males. I'm a little worried because when I first got them I thought I had four females and one male but apparently I have one female and four males (and now I probably know why they are nipping at eachother). Maybe I will post a thread about this...

 

watch out for that knife fish. >> 12" max. size!

aside from that, everything else is good!

 

nice stocking!

plase try to get at leat 2 more albino corys, or that cory is going to be scared and lonely

good luck with the tank!

 

Ornate Rainbow

A person broke down their tank and brought all their fish into our store a few weeks ago. Two blue gourami's, cory cats, lots of tetras, and an ornate rainbow. The rainbow is full size and absolutely beautiful. The rainbow is all by himself in a tank now cause all of his friends have been bought. I was thinking about buying him myself and adding him to my 65 gallon but I think that is a bad idea. First, he is a schooling fish and should be with other rainbows (but probably won't be, most people aren't that considerate, they want variety). Second, my tank is happy right now... if I added him the pearl gourami might get upset. Someone nice come buy the pretty rainbow...

 

I came up with a solution by the way. I came up with an order for freshwater fish for my boss to check over. I included some rainbows, so hopefully we will carry these beautiful fish and the lone ornate rainbow can have some buddies for me to sell with him (as most of our customers don't have rainbows in their tanks). I'll tell you what I do need though is a BN Pleco (I put that on the order too, hee hee)! I just hope he does better than the Farlowella and the Cory Cats :-\