Would these tank mates work?

[islandfish]

I'm waiting for my tank to cycle and in the meantime I'm wondering about what type and how many fish to put in it.

In a 55 gallon tank would this work:

1 pearl gourami
2 angel fish
5 red tailed tin foil barbs
5 rosy barbs
1 sm pleco

Or would that be a bit crowded when they're all adults? Any suggestions?

[genocidex]

barbs and angels and gourami might fight with fin nipping....

[islandfish]

hmm, they have these types grouped together at the pet store as being compatible. :sad:

[Bigge3415]

From what I have learned from this sight. You never trust what the pet dtore says. Sometimes it is the exact opposite from what they say.

[skullduggery1]

It will be fine as rosey barbs are not fin nippers,but the tinfoils will get to large for that sized tank.A regular pleco gets large,but they grow slow.

[islandfish]

AhA! As I suspected! I thought from my research the tinfoils would get to big but the pet store people give me a blank stare when I asked if the tinfoily would get to big (Insert empty headed giggle and hair toss here). Okay, they didn't really, but I think they find me frustrating with all my questions.

[genocidex]

sorry but im always wary of barbs and nipping even if they arent known for it XD lol

[islandfish]

I'm wary about aggressive fish too, that's how my last tank fell apart. I bought a Jack Dempsey (Jack), a Green Terror(never did figure out a name for him), an Albino Oscar (Dusty) and two Tiger Oscars (P & H). I found out later that my tank is too small for all these guys and on top of that, they weren't a good mix.

We ended up losing the GT and eventually selling the Tiger Oscars, they stressed me out because they picked on the other fish so much. So now we had my two favorite little guys the JD (jack) and the AO (Dusty), but what a lonely tank.

After awhile we thought maybe we should add another AO to help balance things out. What a horrible mistake!

The pet store had a AO that had grown pretty big, we thought about the same size as our guys, so we took him home, the pet store thought he'd be better with fish his own size as he'd pick on smaller fish so they had him in his own tank. (:doh:) Call me stupid for not catching on.

We got home, put the fish in the tank and went to make dinner, not knowing things in the tank were in total chaos. Within an hour the new AO had pecked out one of Dusty's eye (completely gone, he probably ate it) and Dusty had several bites over his body. We had to take Dusty and put him out of his misery. I was horrified. I caught the AO and took him back to the store asap.

Anyway, I ended up with one fish, that ended up dying shortly afterwards.

Long story short - I don't really trust 'fish that are not supposed to be aggressive either'.

That's why I'm seeking advice online; I'm hoping to make more informed decisions based on other people's experience and advice. I don't want to subject any more fish I might buy to a pained or tortured life.

[islandfish]

[QUOTE=islandfish]

In a 55 gallon tank would this work:

1 pearl gourami
2 angel fish
5 mollies (instead of the tinfoil barbs)?
5 rosy barbs
1 sm pleco [QUOTE]

Are two angels okay or do you think they might get aggressive towards each other or the pearl?

[j_profe]

In my 60 gal I have 9 gouramis, 6 angels and also mollies and more (bit crowded, I have to do 2 weekly water changes) and my gouramis fight a little among themselves but they have never attacked my angels...so far so good. And yes, local stores will say anything just to sell you stuff. My advice: keep researching!

[Lady Hobbs]

Rather than buying more fish for the 55, I would move some of the stock in the 60 gallon. Six angels will be a nightmare. The only angels that will get along is a mated pair. Anything else in that tank will be fair game. I don't think gourami's will attack angels but they are another species that loves to fight between themselves and 9 in one tank is really, really stretching it.

My 55 gallon has 5 rainbows, corys, 1 Angel and cherry barbs. They cherry barbs are nice little fish.

The fish store only keeps fish together because they get hundreds brought in at the same time and they're generally sold by the end of the week. You can not stock permanent homes for adults like temporary homes for juvies?

I would NOT get anymore fish. You have enough stock in the 60 gallon for both tanks.

[j_profe]

Thanks Lady Hobbs!!
Yes I know is very crowded (you advised me against that before) :( .Some of my earlier fish died and my husband brought home the angels...am making arrangements for a third tank, (2nd is a hospital as you also suggested) so I can move the angels there...my bad :( I just wanted to share my experience with the gouramis and angels! thanks!!!!! but your comment is right on!

[g02sle3p]

Don't have much experience with a lot of those fish except for the Gourami. I can only speak on the basis of if you're ever going to get two, make sure they are male and female. I had two male Dwarves and one didn't make it past the first week, unfortunately. By the time I noticed the constant bickering and nipping it was too late. He did well with his other tank mates, which were 4 Zebra Danios and didn't bother him. He got VERY territorial however from being on his own for about a month once the Danios died off and I eventually replaced them with 4 Bolivian Rams. Had to give him up. Gourami can be a generally peacefull, semi-aggressive fish but once they become overly territorial there's not much you can do. Just some advice there.

And might I suggest a Bristlenose Pleco as opposed to a common? Commons will eventually get big, so big that they'll do more harm than good unless you plan on getting 100+ tank at some point. Bristlenoses get around 4-5 inches the most and do a fantastic job and cleaning the tank! My cousin has an Albino and a regular and they're constantly hard at work, but don't forget to feed them their veggies and algae wafers, too. I just got myself an Albino and they're really cool fish to watch. There's a photo online of a 55gal. filled with Angels that had a bad algae problem. Apparently, the owner put in 5 Bristlenoses and within a week or so it was all but gone. They're a fantastic fish and better suited for a 55gal. tank.

Though there's literally an endless amount of Plecos to choose from (Candystripe, Gold Nugget, Common, Rubberlip, etc., etc.), the research I've done states that the Bristlenose is generally the best choice.

[islandfish]

9 Gouramis??? Wow, I would have never thought. What kind of Gouramis are they?

[islandfish]

I had a pleco - Shadow. He was great, got to be about 6" before he died. Yes I know it's hard to kill a pleco. Damn. I feel so horrible.

I'm torn about what to do for a bottom feeder. Loved my pleco, but would like to get something similar - smaller, something that's not going to outgrow the tank. It's been suggested some sort of shark that is also like a catfish? Can't remember what it is. Or a rubber lip pleco. I like snails, but hubby thinks they're boring. I wonder if I could do shrimp?

BTW, when you refer to a 'rainbow' you mean fish?

[Lady Hobbs]

In a 55 gallon tank would this work:

1 pearl gourami......OK ......if you can find a pair, they are fine
2 angel fish OK "maybe" but if a mated pair definately
5 red tailed tin foil barbs......Heck No
5 rosy barbs I would not put any barbs in unless cherry barbs
1 sm pleco Small pleco's turn into one foot pleco

Cherry Barbs remain very small, add a nice splash of color and don't mess with anything. You should have 1 male to 2 or 3 females. Males are bright red, females are a brown and reddish. Easy to sex. (I currently have 15 in my angel tank.)

I would agree on a Bristlenose or two. Or 6-8 cory cats.

Yes, I was referring to rainbow fish. A large school of the neon rainbow would also be nice. And they remain small as well.

[g02sle3p]

Bristlenoses are great, so are Corys. I have three Albino Corys in my 30gal. and they provide some comic relief to the tank, as well as being good cleaners from when my Bol. Rams don't finish the last bits of shrimp pellets or flakes.

[Lady Hobbs]

Thanks Lady Hobbs!!
Yes I know is very crowded (you advised me against that before) :( .Some of my earlier fish died and my husband brought home the angels...am making arrangements for a third tank, (2nd is a hospital as you also suggested) so I can move the angels there...my bad :( I just wanted to share my experience with the gouramis and angels! thanks!!!!! but your comment is right on!

You can wait a bit until the pairing up starts and have one pair in the 55 and another pair in the 60, if you end up with pairs. Angels are much like gourami's. They like their mates but not any others much. You should let your angels be your centerpiece fish for the tank and then stock around them........two or three large schools of something. You don't want a nightmare tank of a bunch of larger fish that all they want to do is chase, nip and be poops to one another.

Sorry for double post.

[j_profe]

right on! Lady Hobbs!

Island fish,
hi, I have 2 pearls (female and male) 2 fire (males and they fight a little, a powder blue dwarf (male, fights with the two fire), 1 blue (female, the boss), 3 gold (females, chase each other). They are beautiful, very tough (didn't die during my never ending cycle!!!) I wasn't a gourami fan until I brought them home. Yes they chase and fight a little but none had been injured, at least until this morning that i left for work. lol!

[islandfish]

Good suggestions, thank you everyone. I'll keep them in mind next time I go fish viewing at the pet store.

I added more ammonia to my tank this morning and tonight I took a reading, it's quite high as are the nitrates. :banghead: I''m settling in now to wait for the nitrites to rise. I also turned up the head to max (80 degrees), and I keep the lights on during the day.