55 gallon

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Amaroq

Amaroq

Candiru
MFK Member
Jul 1, 2007
490
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In The Little Town Of Bedrock!
I'm trying to think of how to stock my 55 gallon. I want a more community tank now so thats the plan. I was thinking of possibly planting it so I would like it if they weren't plant destroyers.

I was planning on putting in:
7-13 Tiger Barbs
4 Cories
3 Ottos
3-5 Clown Loaches ( I plan on selling them back by the time there to big which won't be for a while, possibly even the Clowns instead of Cories?)
and I was hoping you guys could give me a idea for a "Center Peice" fish(s) Like maybe a pair of Blue Rams or something.

On a side note I'm not sure how I want to filter this puppy. I was thinking of making a 10 gallon sump and use that instead of my Emperor 400, should I even bother? If so, how many GPH?

For plants I was thinking Amazon swords, Java fern, Java moss, Anubias and maybe something else?

Spencer
 
I think the Rams would fight with the Barbs... The Clown Loaches won't outgrow that tank for years. As for a centerpiece... I'm still thinking.:nilly: Also an Emp400 isnt gonna filter a 55 good enough. Those filters are junk. I have a 55 with a AC110 and a Fluval 404 on it and only have 1 fish in it. Another side note is that your Clowns will rip up your plants and de-root them. Mine always did and now I have fake plants that I have to re-plant every other week.
 
Awww man thats to bad, I really had my hopes set upon a nice little shoal of Clowns swimming around all these Amazon swords and what not. I guess I give it a try and see how it works out and if they destroy them all I'll have to switch to silk plants or trade them back.

Alright I'll go with the sump then, how many GPH would you recommend? I was also thinking of getting a XP3, you think that might work as well? Like use the XP3 for all mech and the sump for almost all Bio? Or would I be better off getting something stronger like the XP4/XP5? I think they make them up to 5...not positive though LOL

What about just using the Pro II 2028 from Eheim? or using two smaller canisters from Eheim like having two 2217's ? I like the look of canister filters and from the general census the Eheims are the best. I'd like a sump but I wouldn't be using it for anything but Bio because I've found from the 2 I've made they're terrible at getting anything on the bottom. With the canisters though I can place them both close to the bottom and the outflows can be on the bottom on the other side so theres a small current pushing the crap to the filter intakes.

What about if I just added some more little fish to fill out the tank a bit more? I think the final stock might be:

7-15 Tiger barbs
7-9 Gold Barbs
9-13 Cardinal Tetras
3-5 Cories
3-5 Ottos (How many would you recommend for a 55?)
3-5 Clown Loaches

You think that might work? is it getting overstocked?

Spencer
 
In my tanks I try to get at least a 10X turnover per hour. Meaning on a 55g I would try to push around 600gph. I dont even worry about the bottom. Get good circulation and it will all filter out. Plus you will be doing weekly 50% water changes and gravel vac so it would be fine with a sump. As for the stocklist... I'm not to sure cause I don't keep those kinda fish. If you are worried about the overstocking then just overfilter the tank to compensate for it...:D

Also all the filters you mentioned... I mainly use mag drive pumps and sumps for filters so I don't even know what half of those are... lol
 
Alright, I need one that pushes the water atleast 3 feet up but I'll probably go with a 4' head so that I don't have to worry about losing a lot of GPH through the turns in the PVC piping.

How do you think a Gold Severum would do? think it would eat them all?

Spencer
 
just go with the AC110 thats plenty for a medium stocked tank. Those things are beasts of HOBs or 2 AC70s thats what i run on mine
 
Why don't I just use my Emperor 400 then?..If I can use that instead that would be awesome! I currently am using the 400 and a crappy little sump I've put together for some extra filtering, mainly Bio. I'm gonna take a guess here and say maybe 100-150 GPH.

Spencer
 
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