Totally New At Predators. Read A Lot. Seems Cool.

[agk2000]

Hey people of earth and beyond. I recently acquired a 55 gallon tank,and was wodering what a good option would be in terms of predators. Oscars need a 75, so do flowerhorns, pirahnas need huge tanks, and I am kinda freaked out by exodons, but they get pretty big too. Im looking for something that won't bite off my fingers if i'm dropping in some food. Eels? Bichirs? I have no idea what would fit good in there!

 

[T-RightFish71196]

Senegal bichirs, elephant noses, red wolf fish, african butterfly fish, bush fish, puffers, peacock eels.... There are many predatory options for a 55 gallon. obviously do not put all of of the ones i mentioned in together but you can certainly mix and match a few. You may have to do some additional research regarding compatibility though as i have no experience with those fish, my advice is based on what i have read ln this forum before. I do know though that puffers should only really be kept in species tanks.

 

[dbanner]

Depends what your looking for really. What I mean is, are you looking for a single predator or do you what more than 1 fish in the tank? Is the tank a standard 55gal (4ft long x 1ft wide)?

You could have a Senegal bichir if you like iv had a couple of different bichirs including 3 Senegals. I had 1 single and then kept 2 together. Both in a 5 ft (120gal). No problems either time. I also had 4 red belly piranhas in a 55gal for quite some time. Many people think they will attack your hands and so on but that's not entirely true. They are actually very shy and will swim away from you if you put your hand in... Although I did have 1 psycho piranha that ended up turning on and killing the other 3 piranhas and then turned on me. I couldn't put my hand in his tank. I had to attach my syphon to a long metal pole to clean the tank. He was around 7-8 inches.

You could also have something like a Jack Dempsey with some larger dithers like congo tetras.. basically fish that would be too big to fit in the JD's mouth. There are a few people on this forum that keep a breeding pair of JD's in a 55. Other options for cichlids would be a Texas (which can be aggressive, mine was) or a salvini (never owned one but very nice looking)..another good choice would be pike cichlids There are loads to choose from... Your right in saying things like oscars and flowerhorns need 75gal or more, even though if you look online it says 55gal minimum.. I don't agree with it that. I have my flowerhorn alone in a 120gal. This is by far the most aggressive fish iv owned. Even more aggressive than any bichirs or piranhas iv had and more so than my dovii's were.. He is crazy. I have to put him into a 40gal to clean his tank as he keeps going for my fingers and he's only 5 inches or so at the moment so his true aggression is not even showing yet. Even so he has killed a 6 inch JD and a 7-8 inch buttikoferi.

Also have you thought about snakeheads? You could get a pair of channa bleheri (dwarf snakeheads) that get up to 8 inches. Iv had 2 before in a 46 gal, they are very nice indeed. Best thing to do is buy 5 or 6, let 2 pair up naturally and then rehome the rest. Other snakehead options would be a pair of channa pulchra or channa ornatippinis. Bleheri would be the least aggressive of the 3 but they have the best colours IMO