New 55 Gallon

[williamc]

OK I found a new 55 gallon fishtank for sale for 50 with stand.
Planning on using playsand as substrate,some rocks for decoration
I was wondering what would be some good fish to put in here.
The tank will be cycled

 

[drobbyb]

OK I found a new 55 gallon fishtank for sale for 50 with stand.
Planning on using playsand as substrate,some rocks for decoration
I was wondering what would be some good fish to put in here.
The tank will be cycled

Having 55 gallons to play with opens a good many choices. You could do anything from tetras to medium cichlids to rainbows and everything in between. What have you always wanted to keep but never had the oppurtunity? Now is the time to make that dream happen.

 

[williamc]

I always wanted to have some chiclids that could take live food as a treat but not be so aggresive so that I could have one of my fav fish Tiger barbs!
What could go in there with about 6 tiger barbs and 3 corys?

 

[drobbyb]

I always wanted to have some chiclids that could take live food as a treat but not be so aggresive so that I could have one of my fav fish Tiger barbs!
What could go in there with about 6 tiger barbs and 3 corys?

African cichlids fit the bill. They stay medium sized (well most of them) and they won't bother cory cats or tiger barbs. Or you could do the opposite end and do dwarf south american cichlids. Some people will probably disagree about the barbs and cory cats in with african cichlids but I know it works. My brother has a 55 with africans and tiger barbs in with a lone cory cat. If you are going to do cory's you need at least 6 of them. In the wild they run in the thousands.

 

[williamc]

what kind of south american or african chiclids would work and could eat the occanisonal cricket or worm?
Thanks for the fast posts

 

[drobbyb]

what kind of south american or african chiclids would work and could eat the occanisonal cricket or worm?
Thanks for the fast posts

Most of the larger cichlids will eat either of those. I would caution against crickets however as they can carry intestinal parasites and they are largely unregulated.

 

[Mr Bliss]

OK I found a new 55 gallon fishtank for sale for 50 with stand.
Planning on using playsand as substrate,some rocks for decoration
I was wondering what would be some good fish to put in here.
The tank will be cycled

10+ emperor tetras (1 male per 2 females would be ideal I think)
a pair of Bolivian Rams
three pearl gourami
bristlenose plec

That's how I'm stocking mine anyway. Although if you don't plan to use live or fake plants or otherwise set up bogwood etc to break line of sight within the tank, I'd replace the emperors with less aggressive tetras (or rosy barbs!), because emperors sometimes bicker and need ways to quickly hide from each other, especially if the dominant male has a particularly tyrannical personality. But they're beautiful fish that have very interesting behavior. Sometimes they'll school tightly around the tank, then suddenly (seemingly at random) enter turf war mode where each male establishes a little territory in the tank and tries to impress the females. Mine are mostly skirmishing in the morning and switching to shoaling mode in the evening for some reason. They also tend to follow my bristlenose around the tank whenever she wakes up; she was very uncomfortable with this at first but seems to have gotten used to her retinue by now.

 

[williamc]

so a pair of rams would be good?
What about firemouths I like the look could they work?

 

[drobbyb]

If it were my 55 gallon tank I would get a school of 12 Melanotaenia Praecox rainbows and a 6 coryadoras of some sort.

Firemouths coudl work. Get a nice male and 2 females.

 

[williamc]

The praecox rainbows at my lfs are $5 a peice!!!
And I have always wanted a chiclid tank

 

[SharonCC]

If you're doing Africans , don't do Tiger Barbs and Cories! Africans are VERY mean fish!!!

 

[williamc]

thanks sharon