my 55 gallon tank

[zigzag131]

ive got my 55 gallon tank up and running just waiting to get it cycled. i have some fake plants and two pieces of drift wood in it that are placed right next to each other and go all the way across the tank.

now after im ready to put some fish in their i would like to try my luck with needle fish and dragon goby eel ( i think thats the correct name )

i was thinking two maybe 3 eels and 3 or 4 needle fish.

of course im about to go read up about them but i though i would see what people here thought of that idea.

if that doesnt work ill either turn it into a pacu tank and add some more plants.

 

[Whiskers]

you might want to read up on the pacu as well. from what i understand they get huge, way larger than your 55gal will handle.

 

[homebunnyj]

Dragon gobies are very cool-looking fish. However, they are brackish fish, no matter what your local chain store says. I researched them a few years ago and came very close to setting up a bracking 55 just for them. Oh, well.

Dragon goby

Have you ever seen pacus at an aquarium? Wow! OMG, those things get big! Look at the thumbnails on the google image search results to get an idea of what this fish is like. pacu - Google Image Search

Way more fish than I can handle!

 

[m1aman]

i had a red pacu in 55 gal tank about 10 years ago. it grew to 13 inches long and stayed at that length for over a year before i sold it. it was in a tank with neons, gouramis. i think it ate some of the neons though i can't prove it since i didn't cut him open and check. fyi.........

 

[zigzag131]

yes i know pacu's get big and i was planning on having them in my 55 gallon tank until they were large then putting them in my 110 gallon tank ( i have a 29 gallon and two 55 gallon tanks being setup in my room... i dont have room for the 110 also )

and thank you for the info on dragon goby's i wont buy them

 

[zigzag131]

does anyone have any suggestions to what i should put in here?

in the near future i will be adding live plants but im learning about them right now

 

[MissFishy]

You could easily set up a really neat cichlid tank with lots of color and variety.

 

[zigzag131]

well where i live the cichlids at the lfs are convict cichlids, jack dempsy's (SP?) red devils's and blood parot or parot something like that. and thats at petsmart..

i have yet to find any other pet stores or fish stores near me with anything other them black fin sharks and stuff like that.

if i could find some nice colorfull cichlids i would make it a cichlid tank

 

[gtphale]

pick them up online

 

[zigzag131]

ive read about some getting them online and a lot of people have had bad experiences doing that but if i can find a nice store online i will

 

[jo3olous]

yes i know pacu's get big and i was planning on having them in my 55 gallon tank until they were large then putting them in my 110 gallon tank ( i have a 29 gallon and two 55 gallon tanks being setup in my room... i dont have room for the 110 also )

and thank you for the info on dragon goby's i wont buy them

you do know what pacus are right?. Pacus are the fish you see in local aquariums, not homes. They are "tank busters" and shouldn't be in anything less than 3-400 gallons. End of post.

 

[zigzag131]

well i knew they needed big aquariums but not that big. i actually looked online and read about them a little but but nothing i read said anything about putting them in huge aquariums.. so thank you for the information

 

[jo3olous]

well i knew they needed big aquariums but not that big. i actually looked online and read about them a little but but nothing i read said anything about putting them in huge aquariums.. so thank you for the information

because a lot of the people that buy them have no pre-knowledge of them they just want predatory fish for the most part to please themselves.

Pacu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is pretty accurate. Okay so we know pacu can reach 24+ inches in length, and can be quite fat and HEAVY. Okay so if you buy them small for your 55G and then get a 110G later, they will only grow 12-14inches long and should fit. That is stunting growth, usually not healthy for the fish nor ethical.

Why are pacus tank busters? Pacus simply grow rather large for most home aquaria and if kept in an undersized tank, can literally break the tank walls, knock off the lids, abandon ship.

Lots of people keep this fish and many other predators and make stupid posts and list info about them online. Obviously this forum won't get you the fun answer, which is "I love my Pacu in my 40G!" but we give you cold blooded facts.

I can understand the enjoyment of having a pacu because they are such intelligent fish, and maybe you just want to keep one for a while and grow it. The problem is where do you bring it when it outgrows your tank? illegal to release it in the wild, fish stores dread taking over large adult fish that no one will want; your best chance is to get it to a local aquarium.

So realistically, you want a pacu with fish it can co-exist with in a minimum of 3-400 gallons. Keep in mind the other fish it can live with are also large predatory fish for the most part, and a full fledged adult pacu should be in almost 1000G anyway with other buddies

 

[zigzag131]

well thank you for the info and by no means did i want the pacu so i could please myself with a predatory fish. i guess im going to try to find some different types of cichlids then what my lfs has and make it into a cichlid tank.

 

[jo3olous]

my problem is just finding different types lol my lfs doesnt have that many.

ive already got my other 55 gallon setup for my oscar i out 1 tiger oscar in there then i went and bought another one for it and put a pleco in their and thats it so far

your tank is already full then. 2 oscars should have 90G minimum. with 2 in a 55G you are overstocked and the pleco if its a common, well that's overkill.

 

[zigzag131]

i'm still new at this so ill be doing some research before i add anything to my tanks from now on.

thank you for all the help

 

[jo3olous]

well thank you for the info and by no means did i want the pacu so i could please myself with a predatory fish. i guess im going to try to find some different types of cichlids then what my lfs has and make it into a cichlid tank.

SA Cichlids: Oscars, Dempseys, Severums, Terrors, Piranhas, you have so much selection (the largest some of these get is about 12-16'', less than half a pacu and they will not be 60lbs so your tank will be safe) you could even go with dwarf cichlids

African Cichlids: a lot too but I know less about

 

[zigzag131]

my problem is just finding different types lol my lfs doesnt have that many.

ive already got my other 55 gallon setup for my oscar i out 1 tiger oscar in there then i went and bought another one for it and put a pleco in their and thats it so far

 

[jo3olous]

my problem is just finding different types lol my lfs doesnt have that many.

ive already got my other 55 gallon setup for my oscar i out 1 tiger oscar in there then i went and bought another one for it and put a pleco in their and thats it so far

you are overstocked already. 2 oscars should be in a 90G minimum. Throw a common pleco (if common) in the mix and you are bio-loaded

 

[zigzag131]

so would my two oscars and my pleco be better suited if i moved them to my 110 gallon tank?