Stocking this beast. 120

**Angelfish11788** · 02-16-2013, 01:49 PM

they current and staying fish include

2x Blood parrots
2x Angelfish
1x Royal Pleco
1x Severum
8x Lemon tetras
10x emerald catfish
1x Dwarf Gourami
3x Swordtails
3x Lyntail mollies

what I'd like to add.

up school of lemons to 15
add a gold severum
add a another smallish school, been hearing to many congo horror stories lately so not sure, maybe just more lemons
up emeralds to 15
3x more swordtails
4-5 Pictus cats.... 50/50 on this
and one verge but maybe a king kong parrot.. again 50/50

if mollies are a risk, the can go to the tetra madness 55 gallon

filtration is 2x Ac110s, 2x sponges. I wont add any more and sticking to the orginal stock in the top till i get a fx5, 405 or a XP4. Money may be an issue but i do want an fx5 since it gets a good gph and has good amount of space.

**Cliff** · 02-16-2013, 01:56 PM

I like the idea of increasing your current school sizes

I have never really understood the horror stories about congo tetras. I have been keeping them for about 3 years now without a single bad experiance or observation. But I have never had any less than 9 of them, and I had all males at that time. I found the magic number for my set-up is 14. I guess there are exceptions to every rule.

If would not be too gun-shy about adding congos to the mix. They should mix well with the sevrums in the tank as they are too fast for the severums to really bother with.

**fishmommie** · 02-16-2013, 02:34 PM

Like Cliff, I love my congos. My school is smaller - 7 - but also all males.
I have them with severums and blood parrots, an angel and a geo - and like you I have sword tails and one dwarf gourami.

I would also suggest you add at least one more blood parrot. They like family units. 4 total would be even better since you have the room. You'd be surprised how much color just one more BP will add to the mix.
But if you do that, I'd either add the congos or up the tetra school OR the cories, but not all three.
you'll have to post some photos. sounds like a pretty tank

**Angelfish11788** · 02-16-2013, 03:33 PM

I may do 7 congos like fishmommie but lately my lfs has been getting some brought back due to agression. I want pictus's really bad, but i may add 7 congos, a gold sev and kk bp, then up to 6x swords and up 15 emeralds

**steeler1** · 02-16-2013, 09:37 PM

I'm with Cliff and Fishmommie on the horror stories about Congo tetra's? I have not kept them in 6 years but I never found them to be aggresive to anything, not even themselves and I kept then with smaller tetras like Glowlights. They get a little "waspish" with each other once in awile but "no blood, no foul" type of aggession.

**Angelfish11788** · 02-16-2013, 10:28 PM

I may get them. I am set in a kk parrot. They will get along and fit with the normal parrots right.

**Amelia** · 02-16-2013, 11:03 PM

Just to throw off the ball, I had 15 Congos and they were absolute terrors. They were the first fish I got for my 65g waaay back when I first got it and it took me a long time to figure out why every new fish I added was dead the next morning. Killed over $100 worth of Julii Cories, some bristlenoses and shredded my poor swordtails to bits. I hate them. If you look close enough you can see have have mean little teeth. However, I did have a mixed school of more females than males and it was usually the females I saw doing the chasing and nipping.

Have you considered Columbians? They're beautiful.

**steeler1** · 02-16-2013, 11:54 PM

+1 to Columbians. Another attractive tetra of similar temperment and size but totaly different color would be Diamond tetra's. Not very attractive when they are small they grow into a very showy fish when they reach maturity.

A video of them if you have not seen them.