New Tank Stocking recommendation

[subramn]

I have a 55 gallon tank with heavily  planted with amazon sword, java moss, java fern and four filters - one hang on back filter, 2 bio bed filter, 1 sponge filter.

i have few guppies and would like to add tetras now - 

Orange Von Rio Tetra - 6 count

Ember Tetra - 6 count

Black Neon Tetra - 6 count

around 15 guppy fryies.

any suggestions

Edited October 28, 2020 by subramn
link update

[Streetwise]

I have no guppy advice. I think you will have more enjoyment with one Tetra species per tank.

Edited October 28, 2020 by Streetwise

[Marc]

How long has the tank been running, how high do the current plants go?

[subramn]

@Streetwise@Marc Thanks for your reply. its fairly a new tank finishing up cycling. i was researching what i should add shortly after that.

plants have occupied the aquarium.

[Ashe]

4 hours ago, subramn said:

I have a 55 gallon tank with heavily  planted with amazon sword, java moss, java fern and four filters - one hang on back filter, 2 bio bed filter, 1 sponge filter.

i have few guppies and would like to add tetras now - 

Orange Von Rio Tetra - 6 count

Ember Tetra - 6 count

Black Neon Tetra - 6 count

around 15 guppy fryies.

any suggestions

A one tetra species tank should be extremely interesting to watch since they school really well in great number but a big school of ember tetra and a small school of black neon are probably my suggestion. They add some great contrast and super fun to watch when the two school sometimes merged. 

[subramn]

@Ashe Thanks for reply. how much is a reasonable number of ember and black neon. is 6 each or 8 /6

any experiences

[Ashe]

You seem to have tons of filtrations so I would go with around 16 ember and 10-12 black neon. 

I have been keeping ember and black neon for a couple years now and black neon seem to not school that often or not too happy with any number below 8-10. That also is semi-true with ember tetra. If you just want to start out to get the feel of it first, a 12:10 ratio (ember to black neon) is what I would go with for a 55 gallon planted tank. You can always add more, it is never hurt to have less at first. 

[Mikey Walnuts]

Like others are saying, adding large numbers of a single species of tetra could be nice. I have a planted 65 gallon that I've had running for 3 years with 50 glowlight tetras and it's real cool watching them all school together. Even with that big school, 3 angels, an 8 inch gibbicep pleco, 4 full grown bristle nose plecos, and multiple young bristlenose plecos, I still only have to do a 25% water change every week. That's also mainly to gravel vac up the mulm as my nitrates never go above 20ppm. I will add the caveat that part of my success with this tank (I believe) is I have a ton of rotala that grows like a weed and must soak up a ton of those nitrates.

If you like the idea of going with a big school (25, 40, 50+ whatever) you can always feel out how you like it by adding a 6-12 every few months and see how it effects your maintenance schedule.

 

Also, for something different than the other recommendations, a 55 with a few angels is always a classic look. They could also keep your guppy population in check if you're worried about overpopulation

[subramn]

@Mikey Walnuts @Ashe Thanks for your reply 

[Marc]

If you're asking if the tank can take on those added fish with the filtration you have I would say yes, if its properly cycled and heavily planted. I just added 28 fish to my 55g with no problem. I run medium/heavy planted with a canister filter and two large sponge filters. I think the bacteria can double itself in a couple of days.

I think my fish are too comfortable, the neons and ember tetras rarely school anymore. They just spar and look for food individually.