New fish and its been a while

hello everyone I am new to the forum and getting back into the fish hobby, I use to have a chiclid tank just real basic got two busy with school and now I came across and hectagonal style tank its 21 inches tall I calculated it to be a 49 gallon tank and I was just curious about the fish combo they should all be compatible but I am curious about the bioload here goes in my tank, 21h,18w,32l, I would like to put 3 discus, 3 rainbows, 4 corys, and 12 tetras is this a little to aggressive? thanks for any help

 

Poor stocking and most of those fish will not like a tall tank.

Discus need a 6+ school and I would only put them in a 100-125 minimum. They are super sensitive to water quality and pretty hard fish to care for. They need a long, deep aquarium, not a tall aquarium. They prefer a species only aquarium. A big NO on them.

Rainbows prefer a long aquarium of 6+ schools and a 6 school would stock the tank with maybe a group of fish. Bottom feeders are limited because of the tall tank and the limited floorspace.

Tetra's are all good and fine but they prefer a long aquarium.

That tall of a tank would be good for a pair of breeding angelfish as angelfish prefer taller tank as they grow tall themselves.

EDIT: Cory Cats also need 6+ schools by the way and it just wouldn't be a good idea in a tall aquarium with limited floor space especially because they go up to get air occasionally.

 

Hello CuriousGoerge and
to Fish Lore!

I'm sure you will receive more responses before long.

I hope you enjoy the site!

Once you're tank is set up, we'd love to see some photos!

Links for Discus that you may find helpful:

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/discus-care-sheet.11955/

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/discus-updates.28251/





Ken

 

yeah like said it just won't work in that tank. the most important factor in housing bigger or more active fish is the length of the fish tank, then width and lastly height. for those fish you need a tank at least 4ft long.

discus can go in a 75 gallon some say a 55 gallon min. they need 6 and really don't like other active fish like the rainbows.

id also prob skip the corys they like lots of room.

you could do some goruamis, maybe 3 honey gouramis and the tetras. depending on the tetras, some would need a bigger tank.

also welcome to fishlore its good to have you.

 

a 49 gallon hex has plenty of floor space for corys I would up the school to six though, in the wild these guys root around in droves of hundreds! they're personality really comes out if there are lots of them

I would suggest sand for substrate if you want cories. Most fish prefer sand and its easy to keep clean You can buy 50lb bags of pool filter sand for around $7 (yay cheap!) and its heavier than most "aquarium" sand that pet stores like to stock so it settles easier.

I agree with ash on the discus. they like a long tank, but Angelfish or a single gourami would look nice

Rainbows are like danios, phycotic. they definitely need room to swim and a tall tank won't give that to them. you could have a nice school of harliquin rasporas, neon tetras, sarpae tetras, cherry barbs... just don't do tiger barbs, they are notoriously nippy.

Welcome to Fishlore btw Glad to have you aboard

 

The others have covered the topic of stocking the tank really well, so I just wanted to say... Welcome Curious George!!!!! You'll find a ton of willing people to help you with tank ideas from fish to decorations.

Glad to have you with us and it's great that you're thinking ahead and planning before just putting the fish straight into the tank!

 

Thanks for all the feedback so far, Sucks that my tank isn't big enough for the discus I think they are beautiful fish, the tank I got it was free for trading some old furniture. So here is the dilemma now if I were to keep this tank what would be a good community that would be really colorful?
what would be good tank mates for a black ghost knife fish in a semI ag tank?
Or if I were sell this cool tank for something longer in a mixed species tank what would be some good tank mates for the discus?

 

U can try to barter on craigslist for the size aquarium you need. Once again jd is spot on. You have gotten solid advice, I agree that your cory's will be fine in what you got just as stated 6+ of em. I like the rasbora's but if you can find em, I'd go celestial pearl danio. its like having a bunch of little trout in your tank. Fire Ring Danios are pretty awesome as well.

Edit: i've never really seen discus in anything but a species tank, for reasons previously stated. I'm sure some have done it though

 

Discus can be extra work compared to other fish. They like lots of water changes especially when there young. Most discus owners like to feed multiple small meals a day. If you don't have much free time I'd get something easier to keep.

If u do have the time. You can keep Cory or cardinal tetras with them.

Ghost knife fish get huge, you need a 125g tank min for them I believe. I'd deff trade your tank in. The fish or looking at are going to need more space.

You should have seen my Cory's in my 125g. All over the place, I would put Cory's in nothing less then a 30in long tank.

 

black ghost knife fish are awesome yes but they get too big for your tank. a minimum of 125 gallons is recommended I believe. edit: as stated above by jo

You can most certainly have a beautiful, colorful community tank in that tank. you would just need to find lazy fish lol. ones that aren't phycotic like rainbow fish. but like fly said, danios are phycotic too but stay small so they'll be fine in your tank

like I said before. gourami and angelfish are beautiful fish, they're not phyco and they're good community tank fish. just one though. I recommend a 55+ for a pair. a big school of neons looks great in a tank. I'm thinking 12+ for a school. cherry barbs are also pretty little red fish.