My New 55 gal - Help please!!!

[coraljackie]

Hello all! I just finished the 4th week of cycling in my new tank, and I think I'm ready to go fish shopping! the tank is a 55 gallon, standard dimensions, with an Emporer 400 power filter/biowheel.  Here are the fish I'm interested in:

*Silver sharks
*Harlequin Rasboras
*Dwarf Gouramies
*All kinds of tetras
*Red-tailed black shark
*Tiger barbs
*Pictus catfish
*Panda Corydoras

Obviously I can't have all these fish, and some of them aren't compatible, but what fish would you suggest from the above list? Basically I want a nice community setup with a mix of big fish and colorful fish..  any advice would be great!

 

[dattack]

Pandas and tetras are nice fishes to start.  They are very docile enough to do well with others.

Beware of tiger barbs and sharks.  They might nip and attack other fish so it's a hit and miss.

 

[koolkatzfish]

If your heart is set on a pictus, don't get small tetras, they may get eaten when the pictus gets bigger.  Harlequins are nice, another cool rasbora is a scissortail, my sister has them and they are active.  they get around 2-3 inches long.  There are other barbs that are not fin nippers, but if you get the barbs, watch the gouramis, those feelers are just asking to be nipped, and get a big school of barbs (at least 6) and they will chase each other and hopefully leave the others alone.  
I would reccommend starting with rasboras and tetras first and add from there.  Most are hardy fish, in case the biological filter needs to be tweeked a little.

 

[Troy-N-Eli]

Along w/ other suggestions, if you really want a shark, might we suggest a bala (tri-color) shark or 2.  They are entertaining and harmless to other fish, except dwarf puffers who try to munch on their fins.

Pandas are cool, but salt and pepper cories are also very entertaining.  Granted, the cory is still our fav also, but S&P are another really good option.

The scissortail rasboras are another very good suggestion.  We just got some for our comm tank the other day and we couldn't be happier w/ the addition.

Danios are another good fish to start w/ also, but you should probably keep an eye on them.  Ours got nippy w/ some neons for a little while until we added some harlequin rasboras to tame them down, now all our small fish school together peacefully.

Hope all that helps.

 

[coraljackie]

Thanks for your advice everyone..  

I really like the Scissortail idea, maybe I will do 1/2 school of Scissortails, 1/2 school of Harlequins.  

Any ideas on the 'big' fish in the tank? Or will the Balas need all the rest of the room?

 

[Matt Nace]

Balas are a royal pain. As they get bigger, they are just as afraid during water changes. In a 55 gallon, I had 4, and although harmless and pretty, I cursed them many times as they shot back and forth and up and out during the water change. A  *thumbsdown2* to balas in the 55 gallon.

Same for irredescent sharks, although not as bad, still scared easily.

At least 8 to 10 tiger barbs or they will nip. Mine don't touch any other fish except my poor shrimpys.

I like Congo tetras for a nice looking tetras
Only one redtailed shark or they will fight.
At least 4, and perferably more on the pandas.
If danios is what you want..I highly reccomend the pearl danio.

A nice and pretty barb are rosy barbs. Also a group of Rubys is nice, but you may get a fin nipper in the mix.

 

[Jay S.]

Congo tetras are pretty fish and very cool to watch. Another pretty fish is the Rainbow fish, although they are super pretty, they can tend to be a pretty penny in price but depends on what species you are looking for.

Lemon Tetras are nice when they are in a school of 6-8, Black Phantom Tetras,Mountain Minnows,YoYo Louch "get 2 if your getting any".

There's a few from the top of my head.