I want to do something different

[Nuttygal! :0)]

I have a 45gal, that I've had for about 4-5 months now. The tank at the moment holds -
3male guppies, 5female,
3 corys,
2 plecs,
4 silver-tipped tetras,
1 sunset blusher angel,
3female platys,
2 BGKs.
It has live plants, a huge chunk of bogwood, and a life-like crocodile head that opens and closes occasionally from bubbles from the air stone.
So that's the tank details, but over the past few days, I've been thinking, I really want to do something different with it. But I don't know what. I'm happy with all the decor, and I don't want to get rid of any fish, but do I have room for some more fish? I did want some shoaling fish at first, so I bought the silver-tipped tetras, but they don't shoal, they all swim around independently.
What fish, if any, can I add?

 

[Bloo]

Well the BGK's get huge (20" !!) so you might want to think what you're going to do with them very shortly
If you want some lovely schooling fish, you can rehome your silver-tipped tetras and replace them with 8 or so Rummy Nose Tetras - they are beautiful and quite eye catching and shoal constantly. Mine have bright red little faces

 

[sylvia]

But if you want to keep any small fish, you have to get rid of the BGKs. Oh and rummynoses or similar small tetras will get eaten by full grown angelfish (as smaller male guppies can be sometimes too). You also need to make sure the plecs aren't of a huge species...

 

[Bloo]

Ooops ! Sylvia you are right - I forgot about that Angel . That would have to go too if you want smaller tetras and other small fish ....

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

The BGKs are young at the moment, only 3-4 inches at the most, how long do they take to grow and when will they start eating the smaller fish?
The plecs - when I bought them, the LFS worker said to me that she wasn't sure what they were called, and they were labelled as "small plecs". And some of the guppies tails were nipped when I first put the angel in, but now they're fine. So...how about, I'll make sure that the BGKs have somewhere else to go when they get too big, check for sure that the plecs don't grow too big, keep an eye on the angel and guppies for a while (the angel is only fairly small at the moment), and if everything is going ok, then I will add some more fishees!
Would that work?

EDIT: And why do the silver-tipped tetras have to go if I want some rummy-nosed?

 

[sylvia]

Oh the silver tipped thing is probably due to possible overstocking (if the plecs get big and the BGKs aren't moved )? You'll have to wait for bloozoo to tell you. Regardless though, you can't put rummies in with an angel without the risk of them getting eaten. With the guppies the angels MIGHT eaten them but it's less likely. With small, neon-shaped tetras, it's instinctive for the angels to eat them so it's far more risky.

Umm the BGKs grow very slowly but once they hit 6", they'll be capable of eating the guppies and probably the platies too.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Oh....
Ok then, Bloozoo?

 

[Bloo]

Sylvia, that's exactly what I meant. If nothing gets moved or changed, I certainly would not suggest adding 8+ Rummy Nose Tetras into the current tank set-up. But if you are set on keeping your Angel, you can't really have those anyway... I just thought of them as nice eye-catching shoaling fish, if that's really what you want What about some Bleeding Heart Tetras perhaps? They get approx 2.5" & should be kept in numbers of 5+ and should by all means be OK with the Angel. Mine never shoaled very closely, however they do tend to stick together and are quite pretty too. Sadly I currently only have 2 and they look a bit lonely - I went on holiday recently and the person taking care of them overfed so I lost a number of fish....