Stocking options for 55-gallon tank

[AtomicSunfish]

Hello, as I mentioned, my 55-gallon tank is currently overpopulated with guppies, so I’m making some changes.

I have ordered a true blue acara from my LFS, so that should be going in soon. My questions are:

- I’m thinking of putting in a couple of angelfish in there as tank mates, which I think would be compatible. Between the blue acara and the angels, I think they could bring down the guppy population.

- I like the idea of keeping everything South American, but I’m thinking of including a few blue gouramis, kribensis cichlids, and either a rainbow or red tail shark.

- Instead of the above options, I’m considering putting in a severum, but they can get over 8” long. Is that too big for a 55?

[anewbie]

A true blue acara might be interesting; hard to say if they will hunt the guppies which are surface fishes. Angles probably will; but if you get two angels there are all sort of dynamics depending on if they are m/f m/m f/f - also fundamentally guppies are a hardwater fish and sa fishes (angels, acara, ...) are soft water fishes. There are some other issues - if you are thinking of keeping together acara, angelfishes, sevrum, blue grouamis well it is too much. 

 

Be aware that severum eat plants so if you have a lot of plants and get a severum say bye to the plants. kribs are west african and should not be mixed with sa fishes (esp the acara); fishes indicate territory and aggression before actual conflict and sa and west african fishes never learned each other language so they get very confused when trying to talk to each other creating more vicious attacks.

A 55 is shape wise is kind of a lousy tank - it is tall and narrow and what you really want is a lot of floor space so things can spread out. I think a blue acara and 2 angles might work depending on the angel behavior (which depend on both their eventual sex and individual fish behavior) but beyond that it will get crowded fast. The acara is a lower level fish and the angels will be in the upper middle with the guppies at the top. 

If you get the red tail shark drop the acara. 

 

It isn't a great fit but if you get rid the acara and angelfishes you could probably try a severum - it would work better if the tank was less tall and wider a 50, 65 or 75 but you have a 55. In the worse case when the severum is full grown you could trade it for something else. Also be aware the the actual size of the fish will depend on the sex. I guess what i'm saying is no i don't recommend a severum in a 55 but as long as you are prepared to trade it in if it gets too large there is no harm in trying one and see how it goes. 

If you have live plants don't consider the severum.

 

[AtomicSunfish]

Any thoughts on putting pictus catfish in the 55 with the blue acara, as well as possibly the angels or severum? Would a shoal of 3 pictus cats do well in a 55?

[AtomicSunfish]

So, it turns out that the blue acara and the guppy are not only sympatric (co-occurring) in Trinidad, but the blue acara is also one of the guppy's natural predators. They are not as specialized for guppy predation as the pike cichlid (Crenicichla alta) or certain characins, but they do hunt and eat them. Not only that, but like the pike cichlid, they have a preference for more colorful male guppies as their prey. I'm looking forward to seeing how the blue acara starts controlling my guppy population. Here is the reference:

Jean-Guy J. Godin, Heather E. McDonough, Predator preference for brightly colored males in the guppy: a viability cost for a sexually selected trait, Behavioral Ecology, Volume 14, Issue 2, March 2003, Pages 194–200, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/14.2.194

 

[mynameisnobody]

You can do what you like but @anewbie nailed it for you. On this forum, you learn about first hand experiences. Online references are great, but are generalized and many factors come into play. 

[AtomicSunfish]

On 4/5/2024 at 3:27 PM, mynameisnobody said:

You can do what you like but @anewbie nailed it for you. On this forum, you learn about first hand experiences. Online references are great, but are generalized and many factors come into play. 

I value both aquarist experiences and scientific research. Put the two together, you get effective fishkeeping.

[mynameisnobody]

@AtomicSunfish you then have it figured out. Good luck. 

[Tony s]

On 4/5/2024 at 5:41 PM, AtomicSunfish said:

I value both aquarist experiences and scientific research.

Actually, good for you. This hobby doesn't grow any by listening to either source exclusively, takes both. especially takes people who can understand and create articles in scientific journals. hands on experience is also a must, but the trap there it's more difficult to expand the knowledge base if we're always doing only what we know. and you got to remember one of the best educational tools right now is the internet. and one of the worst educational traps is accepting research from people who don't understand how to do research. the so-called experts, who really aren't an expert in anything

[AtomicSunfish]

On 4/5/2024 at 5:06 PM, Tony s said:

Actually, good for you. This hobby doesn't grow any by listening to either source exclusively, takes both. especially takes people who can understand and create articles in scientific journals. hands on experience is also a must, but the trap there it's more difficult to expand the knowledge base if we're always doing only what we know. and you got to remember one of the best educational tools right now is the internet. and one of the worst educational traps is accepting research from people who don't understand how to do research. the so-called experts, who really aren't an expert in anything

Yep, trust in media and the academy is at an all-time low, and not without reason. You should definitely critically evaluate scientific research, and only accept the findings if they stand to reason.

I liked that article because it addressed what we were discussing: coexistence of blue acara and guppies. Looks like they can both thrive in the same waters. The question is, how effective a predator of guppies can blue acaras be? Looking forward to finding out. I’ll let ya know what I see … hopefully soon when I get one!

[Tony s]

On 4/5/2024 at 8:12 PM, AtomicSunfish said:

coexistence of blue acara and guppies

I honestly did not know that was a thing. my understanding of guppies is they were a hardwater species and the ranges didn't overlap much. but you have to figure, most of the animals we keep are of the prey variety. and the colors are usually predator responses or mating strategies.

and honestly, I'm impressed about your reading journal articles. I think I'm getting to old to process them anymore

[anewbie]

On 4/5/2024 at 3:18 PM, AtomicSunfish said:

So, it turns out that the blue acara and the guppy are not only sympatric (co-occurring) in Trinidad, but the blue acara is also one of the guppy's natural predators. They are not as specialized for guppy predation as the pike cichlid (Crenicichla alta) or certain characins, but they do hunt and eat them. Not only that, but like the pike cichlid, they have a preference for more colorful male guppies as their prey. I'm looking forward to seeing how the blue acara starts controlling my guppy population. Here is the reference:

Jean-Guy J. Godin, Heather E. McDonough, Predator preference for brightly colored males in the guppy: a viability cost for a sexually selected trait, Behavioral Ecology, Volume 14, Issue 2, March 2003, Pages 194–200, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/14.2.194

 

Let us know how it turns out. It is true that those guppies that hit the bottom will be more likely to be targeted. Also be aware that our domestic guppies are larger than those typically found in the wild. Still it might work out exactly as you wish - one never knows for sure ...