Need Help Stocking A 55 Gallon Tank For An Elementary School

[Mollygirls]

Hello everyone,

Its been awhile since I last posted however I couldnt think of a better place to get idea's and suggestions.

My kids school has a 55 gallon tank with 4 HUGE goldfish, 2 fancy goldfish and 4 tetra's.. The tank is filthy, the fish are dying one by one and the school thinks that its easier to buy pleco's to clean the tank then to clean it themselves? When the pleco dies they flush it and get another.. sigh

Anyway I have volunteered to take over the tank and I want to change it to a tropical tank. The goldfish are way too big to be happy (in my opinion) so I am rehoming them. One of the teachers has decided to set up a tank in her classroom for the children (she has tanks at home and will care for them) I am trying to rehome the HUGE goldfish into a pond..

However that isnt the issue.. The issue is what to put in the tank once I clean it and "re" cycle it.. I am not happy with it as it sits as the filters are overflowing with gunk and its so bad its falling into the tank.. I really think this tank needs to be torn down and cleaned however if anyone thinks I could just clean it without tearing it down and setting it up again I would be glad to take advice!

Once it is ready for fish this is where I need a bit of help.. The school colours are Yellow and black.. I am wondering what yellow and black fish I could get that would be happy together in a 55 gallon..

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

[sami the cichlid]

just a suggestion, livebearers would be great for the kids to learn about the miricale of birth and watching fry grow

 

[OldMan47]

How about a nice tank with just some Ameca splendens in it. They are wonderful fish with an orange and black stripe on the dominant male's tail. You will also see them called butterfly goodeids for their tail color. They are extinct in the wild but not especially hard to find at a local fish club or on line. They love their greens so algae control becomes mostly a case of letting them eat what develops. They are a nice livebearer that does not need a tank heater and is good with their fry so no need for breeding nets and such hardware. I toss a few into a large tank with a few low light plants and harvest some fish about once a year after that. Care is easy as can be. Feed regularly without over feeding and do regular water changes with gravel vacuuming. They do best in a species only tank because they can be a bit too rough with other fish species.There is a picture of one here
http/diszhal-info.extra.hu/halak/Ameca_splendens.jpg

As far as a complete tear down, I would try to avoid it. As long as there are fish in the tank and some filter flow, the filter is staying cycled. You might move it to a bucket and do a good clean of the tank itself but do not restart the cycle, with all the work that entails, to save a few minutes doing a good clean of the present filter media.

 

[drobbyb]

How about some yellow labs? A nice colony of those would look stunning against a black background and some rock formations. They are easy to find too.

 

[sanka101]

for a livebearer tank I would get some nice yellow and/or black guppies such as Tequila Sunrises, maybe som orange and black mickey mouse platties.
or
Tetra tank i would look at some lemon tetras, Black neon tetras, Gold neons tetras,silver tipped tetra,rummy noes Albino Buenos Aires Tetra. Black skirt tetra, pengiun tetra, black phantom tetra. not all in one tank but one of those species!! THe rummy are a sweet spot for me. So lovely.
and
a albino bristle nose pleco or some albino, pepperd, or panda cories

 

[meguro]

Tiger barbs. They're yellow and black right?

You could do one huge school of tiger barbs (~20) and leave it at that. Or add some corydoras/loaches to it. Or something like
8-12 tiger barbs
1 blue acara
1 firemouth
5 yoyo loaches
1 bristlenose (optional)

I think a bit more consideration should be given to the location of the tank and who would be seeing it though ie. is it in a classroom? a hall? teachers staffroom? the front office/admin area? is it a year 1 classroom or year 8 classroom? etc.

This is important because if students could have unsupervised access to the tank, putting expensive and/or sensitive fish in it (say discus for example) might not be such a good idea compared to if it was in a teachers staffroom or something. If it was in an admin area where visiting parents/regional supervisors/guest speakers/super nintendos etc. could view it, larger fish might seem more impressive than smaller fish.

 

[natalie265]

I dissagree w/the live bearer idea. Then you'll have the problem of what to do with all the fry.


I would assume that, being in a school, the tank will be in a busy atmosphere and you'll want to avoid shy, delicate and jumpy species.

I agree that you should avoid having to recycle the tank. It would be possible to break it down and clean everything w/out having to recycle it.

 

[Mollygirls]

Thank you everyone for you suggestions.. I have taken the advice and just cleaned out the filter today and will do a water change and vaccum tomorrow. The goldfish have been rehomed to a friend of mines house. She is also a fish lover and welcomed them into her tank.

My worry with the livebearer tank would be if the kids see any of the fry get eaten! YIKES! I have one of the special needs students (and her worker) feeding the fish everyday! I would hate to have it affect her at all.

The school is from ages 4-12 so senior kindergarten to grade 6. It is in the main hall beside the library so it is viewed all day long by staff, students as well as visitors. Which is why I want it bright and clean at all times.. The fish tank has been a part of the school since the school first opened! 50 years ago!

I was thinking of putting 2 angel fish in as the biggest fish but other then that I dont know.. I have livebearers at home so putting in just males would work as there wouldnt be the fry issue. I like the idea of variety rather then one species. I am going to see if we can have fish facts on a board near the tank in order to let the kids learn about the fish in our school. I dont think kids realize (most of them not all.. I know there are many young members here who have more knowledge then I do) that taking care of fish is hard work and takes the same amount of love and kindness it does to have a cat or dog! So perhaps some educations on fish would be good?

I think a trip to the lfs is in order to see what colours they have. I enjoy the idea of loaches as well.

Thanks again I will keep you posted on what I have available to me at the pet store and what ends up in the tank.. I first have to add a heater to it so it is the right temp for the tropical fish! Hopefully this week I will get the first new additions!

Thanks again and if you have more suggestions please dont hesitate to add them..

 

[jonny_dw]

Personally I would go for some malawi's, very active, not shy and look stunning.

 

[natalie265]

I love your idea of putting the educational signs near the tank. Kids could learn a lot through this tank--everything from chemestry, ecology, responsibility... Not sure how much work/planning you want this tank to be, but you could push it one step further and do a biotope aquarium, which would be a great learning tool for the kids. Wonder what it would take to get one at the school i work at

Personally, i love angel fish, and it is a fish species that most kids will easily recognize. (Add some corys and some hatchet fish and you're on your way to an amazon biotope!)

 

[OldMan47]

I have been reading through the posts about how livebearers eat their young etc. For the more common ones that is all too true, but for the goodeids in general it is not. The "extinct in the wild" Ameca splendens can serve as examples of the nature of what habitat destruction can do. These are very peaceful with their own kind and reproduce freely but are extinct in the wild because their natural habitat water was used for farming instead of allowing the fish to continue to use it. There are lots of lessons to be learned there along with some nice easy care fish that do not eat their young. The idea of continuing a species that no longer exists outside of aquariums is also worthwhile in its own right.

 

[snowflake311]

Peaceful community.

6 xray tetras
6 red eye tetras
1 angle fish
7 Cory cats
1 rainbow cichlid or some other cichlid that will go with the angle.

something like that. Kids love movment. Make the tank as active as you can.

 

[Honeythorn]

If the children like goldfish, a good alternative that stays small, looks rather similar and is tropical is Gold Barbs. Being gold/yellow with black splotches/spots, they are good for the school colour scheme, active entertaining fish, and very easy to keep. You could have a really decent shoal of 15 or so in there.

Here's a pic