Help on my fish selection

[Geradmg513]

I am trying to decide what type of fish I would like to go with in my aquarium. Just as a little background on my set up.

-56 Gallon column style tank that is 30Lx18Wx24H with all glass top
-2 Marineland LED lights (one on each side of the brace bar) the total lumens is 620.
-45lbs of Pure Water Pebbles Gravel
-6 Mini Fake Plants, 1 corner fake coral piece, and 1 large coral piece with spots to hide
-1 4" air-stone circle and 1 12" air stone bar
-Fusion 500 air pump with silicone hose and air check valves
-Hydor Theo 200w heater
-2 Penguin Bio-Wheel 200 filters (overkill I know but the 350 would not fit with the brace in the middle)

Here is a list of the fish I would like to choose from:

-Clown Loach
-Angel Fish
-Opaline Gourami
-Bala Shark
-Colombian Shark
-Redtail Shark
-Black Swordtail
-Creamsicle Molly
-Balloon Molly
-Bosemani Rainbow
-Trinidad Pleco
-Rio-Negro Pleco
-Neon Tetras

I also like the little gold claw crabs and spotted puffers but I know those probably aren't the best idea. The main thing is I want active fish that live together peacefully, look interesting, and swim at different levels. Once I decide on the fish I will cycle everything and then gradually add them.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The height of that tank will lend itself well to angelfish. The opaline gourami will get along with them (I have had that combination in a 37g).

Mollies and/or swordtails work, you can get combinations of them or their different colors. You generally want to stick with either all one sex, or 1 male per 2-3 females so that the male's "attention" is spread out. With the larger fish in there, and even the parents, the reproduction level shouldn't overpopulate the tank. With an angel or 2, I doubt you'd get any fry that actually make it, unless you separate them in a breeder box/net.

Rainbows - usually do well, the bosemanis do get on the larger side so the number of them would be fairly limited. They are a great colorful fish though. Also look at smaller dwarf neon rainbows (praecox rainbows), they stay smaller so a bigger school would be possible. You can also mix them. Rainbows like a planted environment, so if you get them it would be a good idea to find a nice tall plant or 2 (real or fake) that will reach up towards the top of the tank.

Neon tetras will usually do fine if you start with small enough angels (that don't see them as food), but I've always found the tetras to be pretty boring. Once they get used to the tank, they just kinda float around individually and don't have much "personality."

Clown loaches and bala sharks probably get too big. Columbian sharks also - they will also eat smaller fish when they grow. Have you looked into yoyo loaches instead? Or one of the other botia loaches? A lot of them have similar characteristics to clown loaches but stay smaller (clowns get to almost 12").

I like the look and activity of redtail sharks but they can get mean to other fish in their territory, which eventually would probably include anything else that lives towards the bottom. A group of yoyo / botia loaches would be more peaceful.

I'm not familiar enough with individual pleco species to help out there - planet catfish is a good resource to check up on size and any specific requirements they may have (some plecos get enormous!): planetcatfish.com

Gold claw crabs need an area that they can crawl out of the water, and have been known to keep crawling right out of the tank...

 

[GooGirl]

I have some mollies, and unless you want to breed them, get all one gender. 3 of my fish had babies, and I ended up with over 30 fry! They breed like crazy! However, all 3 died after giving birth...

If you need help figuring out which is a female and which is male, I can find my old account's post of a good pic of a female and a male molly swimming next to each other.

 

[lauraf]

I second CAPS' advice. Angels would work well, along with a school of rainbows and some smaller loaches like yoyos. A few swordtails and/or mollies, and you have a lovely tank.