# 55 gallon stocking



## madmax666 (Sep 11, 2008)

*Which plan would be the most succesful and peaceful?*​
Plan 1112.50%Plan 2225.00%plan 3562.50%


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## madmax666 (Sep 11, 2008)

I am awaiting a 55 gallon tank to get to my house... parents bought new house taht had one in the house so i have to wait for it to close...
So i am planning to start this as a big planted tank. It will have about 94w for lighting with a hob filter. I will be using eco-complete and lots of drifwood with plants every where. 
I have a few plans but after further reading some post here an there i have some worries about the blue rams that where int he plan. 
Plan 1:
3- Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami - Male 
3- Flame Dwarf Gourami 
3- Dwarf Gourami - Male 
5- Ram, German Blue 
3- Japonica Amano Shrimp
4- Otocinclus Catfish

Plan 2:
8 or so-german blue rams
25-neons
cleaner crew with lots of shrimp

Plan 3:
now reading that even just a pair of these guys will have issues i am worried about keep that many... Some suggestions on another post was to get some Apistogramma. If i where to get these guys they how many would i be able to keep without any aggression issues. i would like to keep the big school of neons due i already have 10.


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## madmax666 (Sep 11, 2008)

sorry..can this be moved to Tank Setup?? Please!


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## M0oN (Dec 8, 2003)

Both plan 1 and 2 have fundamental flaws.

Blue rams will eat shrimp when they molt.

Dwarf gourami - which are all males - will fight with eachother constantly.

As far as apisto's, I would just get a trio 1m/2f and a ton of tetra's with a bushynose pleco in the mix.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

G'day *madmax666*,

There are a couple of dwarf cichlid setups you could look at that would include a Pair of German Blue rams. It is important to note that Blue rams are not considered a social cichlid, unlike most other eartheaters. They are a pairing fish that defend a set territory, so odd numbers generally don't work out in small tanks.

I would look at single pair of German blue rams, and look to add a trio of one of the Venezualan or Colombian apistos, or a trio of dicrosus filamentosus.

I'd up the numbers of otocinclus to atleast a dozen. These guys are a small schooling catfish, and look cool in large groups. I'd also look to add a gang of dwarf corydoras, either C. habrosus or C. pygmaus.

Finally I'd add two schools of tetras. Again sticking with Venezualan or Columbian species that can handle the higher temps that Blue rams need. Rummynose tetras are a must, and then I'd add either a school of Blue or Green neons. If you can find Green neon tetras, they do look awesome, and are a little larger thatn regular Blue neon tetras.

Oh I'd forget the dwarf gouramis and shrimp. Just go with a strictly SA setup.


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## madmax666 (Sep 11, 2008)

okay thank you! i will start a new thread in the tank setup when i get the stand level and the tank cleaned! This will be my stock list only thread. So my LFS does not carry much so i might be buying online. The place i have been looking at is liveaquaria. is there anywhere else that anyone recomends? 
Yeah thats why i am now scratching the GBR even though they are beautiful! :drooling: 
Stock-
Neons-25
True Rummynose Tetra -15
Oto-12
C. pygmaus-10
Some kind of show fish
My plan for the tank is to showcase a huge piece of drift wood on one side with the eco-complete. This side will be on a raised bed. In the bed will be full of plants. I will be building a retaing wall out of flate stone rocks siliconed together. The other side will have a wide open swim area with i hope white sand.
I am looking for the right type of sand that is WHITE and the fish can play in all then like. Any suggestions on a show case fish and the sand is WANTED BADLY!


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Hey *madmax666*,

I'm not sure I understand why your dropping a pair of GBR's from your stock list. I definately think you could go with one pair and a trio of apistos or dicrossus.

Most dwarf SA cichlids will do very well in a planted or semi planted 55g tank. I would be looking at having a pair of either GBR's, or Laetacara curviceps or Laetacara araguaiae (ex sp. 'buckelkopf') combined with a trio of an Apistogramma species or Dicrossus species.

There are some fantastic looking line bread variants of apistogramma, A. elizabethae, A. bitaeniata, A. hongsloi, & A. agassizii to name but a few.

I shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss the idea of keeping shrimp with dwarf SA cichlids. I must admit I've been toying with the idea of adding 20 or so cherry red shrimp to my own apisto tank.

Finally, check this link out for ideas on the aquascape of your tank, Aquarium Design Group.


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## madmax666 (Sep 11, 2008)

Wow i love all of the different apistogramma's. My LFS is way over priced(i still support them though! i buy lot of stuff there still) but they dont carry much of what i want for this new tank except for the neons! they are a bargin for $.99 each. I really love the schooling fish look like on that igwam??Sp?? tank from that link! I still have not gotten the tank yet (My mom keeps putting it off...i cant drive my self yet!). Then i will have to wait for the cycle and the setup of all of this along woth the ordering of all the equipment but anyways. 
I would love to get a pair of GBR along with the apistogramma's. I am most likely ordering these fish from live aquaria as i said before. They sell them as... assorted apistogramma's so i guess its a surprise but all the varieties are beautiful!! :drooling: !! 
I will be adding the gost shrimp i have already. If they get eaten its not a big deal...
Thanks for your input!!
Any ideas on what type of white sand to get? once i figure out the sand i will be ordering the lights, eco-complete, sand, heater and what not!! I will hopefully be starting a thread in Tank Setup soon so if you want to stay posted i will be there shortly.( school start the 27th next WEEK!!  so tank setup may be a slow one..)
Thanks Again for your interest!!!


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## warbyd (Apr 3, 2009)

Your best bet for sand is just to get some playground sand from lowe's or home depot or wherever it is in the US that stocks that sort of stuff, alternatively talk to some of the local landscaping yards and ask them for a local sand supplier... Make sure you wash the absolute **** out of it though before you put it in your tank. You should only be looking at $5-15/25kg of white sand.

Oh and since you're going for an SA tank, make sure you don't get LIME sand. Just plain old white silica sand is what you're after. Lime sand will buffer the pH higher than you want it 

HTH
-Dave


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

now, assuming the 55 is 48", not 36", if it is set up right you could probably get away with a trio of Apistos and a pair of Blue Rams.


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## madmax666 (Sep 11, 2008)

my tank is 48"
I have a problem with ich atm and i am on the 3rd day of treatment and most of it is gone. I am going to order some fish from my lfs hopefuly tmrw. I also may be getting 10 spotted cory cats from pet co because there is a sale on them marked down from 4.11 to 1.19 or something. I will only get these guys if all of my ich is gone and after a water change.
I think i can get away with both because there is kind of two sections of the tank. and there are some plants that cut the line of sight so that will help out.
Tank looks like this but has some changes like no more stone in sand.


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