So I Got a 55 Gallon Tank Today...

[Shaula]

What kind of fish should I put in it?

 

[Valiant]

Fried ones with tomatoes, rice, vegetables and sauce.

 

[Shaula]

Mnn.... too bad I already had dinner.

 

[Biaxident]

Fresh or salt water?

 

[Kyrielle]

Whatever it is...fishless cycle it first! It'll make putting fish in it and having them live that much easier. (See now you've awakened my inner fish enthusiast.)
It takes about a month, but when you're done, you'll be able to add all your fish at once.

Fishless Cycling

I say this, not knowing anything about how much you know about fish keeping and with the interest of your future fish in mind.

Anyway, if you're going freshwater...

Cichlids are usually cool fish to try. They can be very aggressive amongst different species, though, so a bit of research will be needed.

Or you could get a large school of some kind of tetras.

For bottom feeders you could get a group of kuhli loaches or corydoras catfish (they come in many varieties)...

Here's a good place to check out different species with commentaries from folks who have kept them. There's a forum, too, that will help you figure out how many of what once you've figured out which species you would like.

And then...to be truly evil...some freshwater aquascaping images, if you ever decided to go with live plants:

 

[Biaxident]

Whatever it is...fishless cycle it first! It'll make putting fish in it and having them live that much easier. (See now you've awakened my inner fish enthusiast.)
It takes about a month, but when you're done, you'll be able to add all your fish at once.

What she said.

Schools of smaller tetra like Cardinal Tetra

are always cool. Kuhli loaches

are cool too. And they won't attack other fish like most cichlids.

 

[PuddleRiver]

Gourami's are pretty cool, too. Just be careful who you put in the tank together. Pinks, blues, golds and greens can be pretty aggressive (especially golds and blues) I love the dwarves, but you can't put them in the tank with the others. I used to have a 30 gallon and 2 tens. I used one of the tens for a quarrantine tank when I brought them home from the store. Watch them for internal parasites and treat the tank accordingly. I had a lot of trouble with this from one particular store. Then leave them in the ten gallon for at least two weeks.

I miss having them but ran out of room. I envy you the 50 gallon, the bigger the tank the easier it is to take care of. Heck, it'll pretty much take care of itself.

 

[Shaula]

Freshwater. And don't worry I'm planning on fishless cycling. But thank you for the advisory anyway. For the time being I'm just contemplating on what I want to do. I'm a bit excited because this is the first time I've been able to afford such a size.

On a side note: Isn't it terrible that the hardest tanks to care for are marketed for children?

 

[Kyrielle]

Freshwater. And don't worry I'm planning on fishless cycling. But thank you for the advisory anyway. For the time being I'm just contemplating on what I want to do. I'm a bit excited because this is the first time I've been able to afford such a size.

On a side note: Isn't it terrible that the hardest tanks to care for are marketed for children?

Yeah, it sucks. Everytime I go to Petsmart and see those parents picking up those super tiny tanks for their kids I can't help but think, "You'll be sorryyyy..." They just need to educate people very simply by explaining that: when fish are in small quarters, they are boring because they don't move much. It's like watching someone in a cubicle. Ever watch someone in a cubicle? It's boring.


Hmm, it looks like, if you were up to the challenge, you could try for a single, pair, or 4 discus along with a couple other small groups. I say challenge because they're so sensitive...to everything...but they are very pretty at least.


Hmm or you could start with looking at some biotopes and try replicating one.

 

[JAVO]

Why do you want fish? What appeals to you?

I've had mostly community tanks, and had a cichlid tank for a few years (38 gallon). I'm currently taking a break from it all.

The most interesting fish I ever kept was the elephant nose (Gnathonemus petersii). They're an electric fish, but the charge isn't strong enough to be felt by humans. They use it to detect food. They like to jump out of the tank, and generally don't get along well with any other electric fish, including their own species.

 

[Rangler]

A single beta fish. lol.

 

[Oberon]

Freshwater. And don't worry I'm planning on fishless cycling. But thank you for the advisory anyway. For the time being I'm just contemplating on what I want to do. I'm a bit excited because this is the first time I've been able to afford such a size.

If I were you, I'd do something completely different. Go to the nearest bait shop and stock your tank with a dozen minnows. Maybe go to a local pond and catch three or four sunfish.

Yeah, they'll eat the minnows, but that's okay. If you've got some plants in the tank for cover, they won't eat them all at once. You can restock with minnows as needed, maybe drop in a crayfish or two for variety.

I think it would be fun to have a fish tank stocked with local indigenous species.

 

[JAVO]

Sharks, ftw!

 

[Bamboo]

When I read the thread title, the first thing I thought was "where would somebody get a 55 gallon oil drum anyway?"

Fish are cool though. I don't have a tank, but considered getting one. Maybe I should get around to it. It seems cool to have one ... living ecosystem in your home.

I really like the looks of that first one, neat and clean.

 

[beyondaurora]

I have a 55-gallon South American Cichlid tank which consists of:

Pacu
Texas Cichlid
Red Devil Cichlid
(2) Leaf Fish
A few minnows (feeder fish) that managed to escape the jaws of my cichlids and continue to spawn

Surprisingly, cichlids are hardy fish. I had goldfish when I first started fishkeeping - man, was that a mistake! Hardest fish to keep ever. The only thing I've had to worry about with the cichlids are diseased feeder fish (it's fun to watch them get mowed down, but it sucks dealing with a tankwide Ich infestation or bacterial infection - I lost my Jack Dempsey recently to this).

Here's some pics of my tank (just cleaned it today)...

 

[WithoutaFace]

gasoline

 

[rhinosaur]

How the heck do you keep plants alive in a fish tank? I've tried three times and the plants always die. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I need to give them some artificial light?

Right now I have three red cloud danios and two cherry barb tetras in a ten gallon tank. I wish I had five of just one species, because they seem to be happier when there are more of one kind in there.

 

[Halla74]

How the heck do you keep plants alive in a fish tank? I've tried three times and the plants always die. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I need to give them some artificial light?

Right now I have three red cloud danios and two cherry barb tetras in a ten gallon tank. I wish I had five of just one species, because they seem to be happier when there are more of one kind in there.

You need at a minimum some bad ass lights (metal halide or high pressure sodium) and a CO2 delivery system to keep lush green plants alive for very long. Most people forget that live plants only boost the O2 content of the water during the LIGHTED phase of the Krebs Cycle, so when the lights go off, (DARK phase of Krebs) the plants actually are consuming free O2 and making it less available to fishies...

They are a pain in the ass in my opinion, stick with the big fake plastic ones and save yourself a lot of heartache...and money!



I have a 55 gallon tank with 1 Green Terror, 1 Jack Dempsey, 1 Convict Cichlid, and 1 Manauganese Cichlid - all really freaking big!!!

 

[Kyrielle]

How the heck do you keep plants alive in a fish tank? I've tried three times and the plants always die. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I need to give them some artificial light?

Right now I have three red cloud danios and two cherry barb tetras in a ten gallon tank. I wish I had five of just one species, because they seem to be happier when there are more of one kind in there.

It depends on the plants, really. But yeah as Halla said, if you want stuff to grow like crazy, you do need some nice lights, CO2, and probably some Eco-complete/laterite/flourite in the substrate. You can do a low-tech setup that has low light, though. Not as fun to take care of because low-light plants grow very sloooowly, whereas high-light plants in a high-tech setup will need trimming every week.

I only have the "nice lights" part of the deal...the plants are growing well, but so is all the freaking brown algae (at least it comes off very easily)...too many phosphates/silicates in the water I've been told...

 

[beyondaurora]

They are a pain in the ass in my opinion, stick with the big fake plastic ones and save yourself a lot of heartache...and money!

Exactly. I think my tank (see above) looks pretty good, and all the plants are fake. The floating fake plants are especially nice because they filter out some of the light and provide a hiding place for the minnows.