55 gallon stocking for Angels

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J

JenTN

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 17, 2007
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Knoxville, TN
Hi guys! Well I'm currently doing the wonderful cycling on my 55 gallon. It's going to be a South American Biotope, I am "pretty" sure it's going to be focused around Angelfish (I still have the few weeks of cycling to make a final decision, LOL).

So far, It is running with the Tetra Whisper 60 and Eco-Complete substrate. I have around 10 plants- including swords and Anubias (sp). I plan on adding more plants, I want it to eventually be heavily planted. I definitely want some Java fern on driftwood. I plan on weekly or (if I'm lucky enough, doubut it though) bi-weekly water-changes. Temperature is 76 F, ph is 7.2, harndness 150 ppm, ammonia started registering this morning(around 1 ppm according to my kit). I have a Python so it's not to bad (love that thing, btw). I have used Flourish and Flourish Excel in the past with great results, but I've read that plants don't need supplements, so I'm kind of cunfused on that. I enjoy feeding a varied diet, so giving the Angels and their mates a variety will be no problem.

My stocklist seems to be constantly changing- there are way too many options, and every time I seem to finally settle on something I really like, I see something I like better that could work, or someone says what I like won't work well. Here is the tentative list so far:
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6 Angels- with the intent of removing 4 when 2 pair up and returning the 4 to the LFS

15 Lemon Tetras- my 1st pick was Red Phantoms, but the guy at my LFS said RP's won't do well at 76F, they like colder water- so if anyone has any suggestions on a similar Tetra, shoot

5 Bolivian Rams- added after the tank has been going a while

5 Cory Catfish- no tank is complete without them! I hope to get the bronze variety, from what I read they do well at cooler temps

5 otto catfish
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I really would love to try Discus, but I think I will leave that for later in life when I can start with a larger/barebottom tank and some more fiskeeping experience.

Any comments/advice will be appreciated. I hope this will be aesthetically pleasing. My substrate is dark and I will have a black background. I really, really wanted Cardinal Tetras, but alas I read everywhere that eventually they would get eaten by the Angels. I hope my bioload wil be okay- my tank is a standard 55 gallon. I assume with the cooler temp of 76 that I will not be feeding as much and there will be less waste produced.
 
for tetras, i'd go with red-eye tetras.. they are very hearty and easy to take care of.. they can stand up to the aggression that the angelfish dish out.. 15 seems a little over the top for 55 gallons.. the angelfish themselves are ravenous eaters, and having that many fish in the aquarium would accumulate a LOT of nitrites.
 
Hmmm...I don't think 15 would be over the top with only 2 Agels in there. I may not have the cory's in there anyway, they are not a must-have. I will monitor nitrates weekly to make sure things are under control. Nitratites will be at 0 before I add ANY of these fish
 
I got out of the planted tank thing because I have too many tanks filled with discus, but a lot of people fill their tanks with fast growing stem plants at the start. Using this method, they can put fish in it right away and experience no tank cycle. Later, after a couple of months, unwanted stem plants are removed from the tank so the permanent plants can be added.
 
nikond70s;3264631; said:
the lemon would be better than the red eyes..the red eyes can be fin nippers.
Click to expand...

I don't see red eyes being a problem. I keep them with discus in the field w/ no problems. I actually have a group of about 30 red eyes w/ 30 lemons in one discus tank. As well as a huge school of cardinals and about a dozen silver hatchets.

Tiny baby angels might be a concern. But any well started pugnacious angels can more than hold there own lol.
 
Well, I had a very fast cycle- amonia and Nitrates (or Nitratites as in my last post, lol) spiked and went to zero very quickly) Nitrates are at 4.

I got a beautiful mated pair of 4 inchish veiltails. I am super impressed with these guys. I think I will definitely go with the Lemon tetras. The pair I have has a bit of yellow coloring and the Lemons will compliment them nicely :)

I have around 15 plants now, I think the plants and the Nitromax (I think) helped the cycle move quickly.
 
I used Eco-complete substrate too- it's supposed to speed up the cycle..maybe it helped? Everyting still at zero, nitrates are at 5.

I think I am going to go with the Panda Cory's- they are freaking adorable!
 
I know Eco-complete plant is supposed to have bacteria and speed the cycle, but I always wondered how the bacteria stayed alive. The bags have water in them to keep from drying out, but do they put something in the water to feed the bacteria? I am not sure, but both tanks I have used it in cycled very quickly with no other methods used to speed/help it along.
 
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