Ready for stocking...with what?

[Vivid-Dawn]

My tank is more or less cycled (finally!), I just need to do a water change to get the nitrates a bit lower.
So, next week I’m gonna start buying fish. I’m going to get 3 at a time, and quarantine them for at least a week, probably closer to 10 days, before I put ‘em in the community tank. This is what I plan on getting, in this order (shy ones first, so they can get their territory established before the more assertive fish).

Pictus Catfish (3)
Pea**************** Gudgeon (3)
Boesemani Rainbow (3)
Bala Shark (3)
I know Balas are supposed to be non-aggressive, but they’ll get bigger than just about everybody else, except maybe the catfish... and I want those first because I got some algae growing right now *sigh!*

I have 50 gallons, and one bunch of Anacharis plants. Taking into consideration the size of mature fish, is this going to be over-stocked? I have a Penquin 350 filter with 2 bio-wheels... I do a 5% water change Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 10% every Saturday. I hope that’ll be alright, but I’m not sure how “messy” these types of fish are!
If I need to get rid of any fish, my first choice would be the Pea****************s, since I’m going to have to order them off the internet... not necessarily a bad thing, but if my tank is overstocked, I wouldn’t want to have spent the extra money for them to end up miserable (or dead). Then maybe the Bala Sharks, and replace with either a couple Dwarf Gourami or a few Neon Tetras if possible, for some extra color.

[TheOldSalt]

The pictus cat would only gobble down the gudgeons like popcorn, so it's best to leave them out after all.

[MyraVan]

I think the balas get too big to be kept in that size tank when they are adults. They can get to be at least 8" long in good conditions.

[Vivid-Dawn]

Balas get up to 15" from what I hear. So I may not get those after all... I wanted a silvery fish for the middle, but they might get redundant with the Pictus under them.
Pea****************s are out, for lots'a reasons now.
Maybe I'll just stick with 3 Pictus and 6 Rainbows. Not much variety, but it'll be a more stable enviroment...I hope!

[MyraVan]

Instead of silvery, how about yellow/orange? Rosy barbs are tough, brightly colored (males are an almost neon orange, females kind of washed out looking) active fish that I think will get along well with the pictus and rainbows.

[euRasian32]

Be careful not too add too many fish at once, you could disrupt you biological cycle by increasing the bio load too much/too soon. Keep a close eye on your ammonia levels for a couple of weeks after adding new fish.

[Ownager2004]

Do pictus catfish eat algae? I thought they were predators...

[Vivid-Dawn]

MyraVan
I don't like orange. Yellow is good, which is why I chose the B. Rainbows.

euRasian32
Only going to add 3 at a time, and have them in there 3-4 weeks after quarantine before new ones are bought. Then with their quarantine, it'll be more like 5-6 weeks. I actually know how to do this sortta stuff now! (I hope... LOL)

Ownager
er... I dunno! (ahem.. more research needed, I guess...or just review the notes I already have somewhere.)
I feed all sorts of stuff to my fish, so they won't starve! Omega One flakes in the morning, then every evening rotates: daphnae, plankton, brine shrimp (dried for now), bloodworms (also dried), algae disks, live flightless fruit flies, and dried krill.
Maybe I could get a couple ottos, but I'm hoping that with regular cleaning and decent tank maintanence, it'll go away in a couple months anyway.

I was pondering switching the rainbows for cichlids, since my PH is 8.2 and hardness is pretty high (haven't tested yet, but I get 'crust' on stuff within a couple months!). But I don't like the body shape as well... I've heard some rainbows live in 9 ph, so if I acclimate them good enough, I guess it won't be so bad.