Cliffside Caves

This is my completed 55 gallon. It has been my project for a couple of weeks and I’m very happy with it. I plan on adding a lot more plants.

It is running a fluval 305. My apartment is very warm so I will not have to worry about heaters for a little while but will be getting them soon.

It is stocked with:
2 Blue Gouramis, Male and female
16 X Ray Tetras
2 Nerite Snails
1 Mystery Snail
5 Cherry shrimp (although I haven’t seen them for a couple of days. There are tons of hiding places but they may have become food.)

A couple of questions:

Heaters? 1 large or 2 small heaters and what brand suggestions?

Air stone? Gouramis like calmer water but in such a large tank should I be worried about not enough surface disturbance to oxygenate for the other critters?

It is stocked somewhat over the “inch per gallon” guideline but it still seems pretty empty. With having a great filter and happy fish, would it be okay to get a few more friends if I saw something that caught my eye and worked in a community?

Thank you!

 

View attachment 570960

This is my completed 55 gallon. It has been my project for a couple of weeks and I’m very happy with it. I plan on adding a lot more plants.

It is running a fluval 305. My apartment is very warm so I will not have to worry about heaters for a little while but will be getting them soon.

It is stocked with:
2 Blue Gouramis, Male and female
16 X Ray Tetras
2 Nerite Snails
1 Mystery Snail
5 Cherry shrimp (although I haven’t seen them for a couple of days. There are tons of hiding places but they may have become food.)

A couple of questions:

Heaters? 1 large or 2 small heaters and what brand suggestions?

Air stone? Gouramis like calmer water but in such a large tank should I be worried about not enough surface disturbance to oxygenate for the other critters?

It is stocked somewhat over the “inch per gallon” guideline but it still seems pretty empty. With having a great filter and happy fish, would it be okay to get a few more friends if I saw something that caught my eye and worked in a community?

Thank you!

Hi! Looks great!
For stocking I always refer to AQAdvisor-dot-com. You enter tank size, filter model, fish and it'll tell you what's comparable, what percentage of stocking you're at, what percentage of weekly water changes you require, etc

 

Hi! Looks great!
For stocking I always refer to AQAdvisor-dot-com. You enter tank size, filter model, fish and it'll tell you what's comparable, what percentage of stocking you're at, what percentage of weekly water changes you require, etc

Thank you for the compliment. I’m very proud of it.

Incredible! Going to the site now!

 

The inch per gallon rule isn't very accurate. The best way to tell if your tank can handle more fish, is to observe your fish and test your water. Overstocking is about more than water quality- an overstocked tank can make fish stressed and more likely to get diseases. Personally I always understock cos I want my fish to be comfortable and not be competing for space. You also have to test you water. Sure, you can plug info into a website, or you can test your ammonia/nitrite/nitrates and know exactly how much waste your bacteria can handle.

 

I agree, Jellibeen.
I’ve only ever used the ipg as a loose guideline. I test my water regularly with the apI master kit and I love doing water changes, it’s therapeutic IMO.