# Bon Vivant - 5.5g with Finnex Stingray



## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

Cute tank. Guppies will overpopulate this quickly. 
Also what is you plan for your bristlenose? How long has he been in this tank? He is likely getting stunted. He is a beautiful fish and in that tank will not live as long or as well as he should. 
I hope you have other - bigger tanks available to you.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

amcoffeegirl said:


> Cute tank. Guppies will overpopulate this quickly.
> Also what is you plan for your bristlenose? How long has he been in this tank? He is likely getting stunted. He is a beautiful fish and in that tank will not live as long or as well as he should.
> I hope you have other - bigger tanks available to you.


+1 this. I think bns should be kept in 20 or larger to give plenty of room for growth, poo dilution, and natural noms (should still get supplements with veggies and wafers as needed though).


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Ahem:



> I had set up my previous 12+ tanks primarily for breeding guppies and shrimp.
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I've bred guppies for about four or five years, so I'm aware of how quickly they will breed. I plan to keep the population at about 12 males and 3 females.

The pleco has been in the tank about two weeks. I got him about six weeks ago. The whole growth hormone thing is a myth, so he won't get stunted unless I let the water quality go bad or stop feeding him. I checked the growth rate of LFABN and he should reach 3" or so in about six months, so I'll start looking for a new home for him in March or April.

This tank was designed to accommodate a large bioload. That's why I chose fast growing plants and added an ammonia sensor. The substrate is 80% covered with plants, 90% of which (by volume, not species) are fast growers. I may need to stop dosing nitrate, but that's fine with me.


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

I have had my bristlenose about 2 months. He is 3 inches now. In a 46 bowfront. He was just a baby when I got him less than one inch.
Stunting does occur in small tanks- that is not a myth.


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## Julee (Aug 12, 2011)

amcoffeegirl said:


> Stunting does occur in small tanks- that is not a myth.


Definitely not a myth...


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

I stand corrected. After researching it further, I have found that some fish do release a growth-inhibiting pheromone. However, I do not think the pleco will become stunted in this tank. His growth may be slowed, but I define stunting as permanently reduced size with environmentally-induced deformities, not just slowed growth. That usually requires some amount of neglect, not just a smaller tank size.

*I appreciate your concern, but I have no intention of rehoming the pleco at this time. In order to prevent my tank journal from being derailed, I ask that any further comments about my pleco be combined with constructive comments about some other aspect of the tank.*


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## Noe5252 (Dec 19, 2013)

how good are the finnex stinray leds ?


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

Fishly said:


> Ahem:
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As a guppy keeper/breeder myself how do you plan to keep only 3 females with 12 males? Don't you find they get stressed by the constant harassment of the males?


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

So far the Stingray is great! The only thing I don't like about it is how blue it is. It averages around 10,000k and I prefer 5500-6500k. The M. umbrosum was emersed grown when I got it (~Oct 29) and it has grown about 1.5" over the last nine days, so the light is definitely enough to support fast growth! Last night I uprooted the MU, trimmed off the bottom stems, and replanted it. I hope to upload a pic later tonight.

I was thinking of taking a pic once a week for a while and making a gif to show the growth of the tank over time. Would anyone be interested in seeing something like that?

Amcoffeegirl, I know it says everywhere that you're supposed to have at least one female for each male, but even with that setup the males will usually gang up on one favorite female. I've kept a lot of males with only a few females in the past and as long as the females are young, they can handle it. If I need to, I'll remove the females and have a male-only tank. 

I hope eventually to have something like this:


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## NomNomPony (May 18, 2014)

Any further pics of this tank? I'm considering the 16" stingray for my 5.5.


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## Monrankim (May 28, 2016)

I just want to say that you did an amazing job with this tank. Good photography too.


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## TheGreenWizard (Jan 19, 2015)

NomNomPony said:


> Any further pics of this tank? I'm considering the 16" stingray for my 5.5.


Same here! You said it was too blue and that was my concern as well. Having the Finnex Planted+ would be overkill... Maybe add a red LED lamp or two?

Love the tank! I hope it's still going!


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