55 gallon freshwater tank??

Question

wut kind of fish should i get???? sumthin kool nd fun

Answer 1

What kind of fish do you want? In a 55 gallon tank, you have a lot of choices.

You can go with a community tank...When stocking a tank, you have to look at the levels of your tank. You have the bottom, the middle and the top. Let's start at the bottom, shall we? :)
Bottom is usually where your cleanup crew is. That's algae eaters, plecos, cories, etc.
A school of at least 6 corydoras julii or sterbai is great:
http://cyberaqua.free.fr/reportages/co2/31_corydoras_julii.jpg
or you can get a school of oto cats: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/oto_cat.jpg
Get a school of at least 5 of these. They eat algae.
Or you can get a bushy-nosed pleco:
http://www.peteducation.com/images/articles/p_89881_bushy_nose_pleco.jpg
They hit 5-6".

For the mid-to-bottom, you can get a school of glass catfish:
http://www.aquascape.co.uk/Glass_Cat.jpg
Get at least 6 of these.

Next, you want your mid-to-upper range. A school of tetras is great for this level. If you have a big tank, you can go with two schools, of course. You could put one school of 10-14 fish, or two schools of 5-6 fish. Some nice fish are:
neon tetras http://www.geocities.com/theslidersmarsh/img/neon.jpg
cardinal tetra http://filer.case.edu/~jjw2/cardinal.jpg
lemon tetra http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/characins/images/LemonTetraWFCh_C1124.jpg
harlequin rasbora http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/harlequin_rasbora.jpg\
glowlight tetra http://www.solodvds.com/images/fish/Hemigrammus_erythrozonus_s.jpg
zebra danio http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/zebra_danios_w180.jpg
... the list goes on and on and on.

Next, you want your upper fish, which may also be your centrepiece fish.
Gouramis are nice and come in all sorts of varieties: http://www.biol.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/users/naibunpi/Image/Gourami-photo-old.jpg
2 or 3 angelfish, or a pair of pearl gouramis http://www.fishlore.com/Pictures/Profiles/ghost_angelfish_2.jpg
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/Fishpics/pearl_gourami.jpg
Or a pair of kribensis http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CichlidPIX/Pelvicachromis_pulcherAQ.jpg

You'll also want to decide if you want live plants. To grow live plants, you'll need a fluorescent light bulb. They are fairly expensive, depending on the size, 15-40$, but the plants may be well worth it for you. There are lots of plants out there, they look great, but some great ones are
anubias http://www.aqua-passion.com/fiches_plantes/images/Anubias_glai.2004316185215.jpg
java fern http://www.neptuneaquatics.com/images/Java%20Fern.jpg
java moss http://www.aquamoss.net/Java-Moss/images/Java-Moss-01.jpg
pennywort http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/00%20John%20Somerville/Pennywort,%20Floating%202.jpg
vallisneria http://aquavisie.retry.org/Database/Planten/Vallisneria_spiralis.jpg
amazon swords http://naturalaquariums.com/plants/echbleheri.JPG



OR you could go with cichlids. These require higher pH and hardness, and you can't put any plants in with them .They prefer caves and rock structures. They are also very aggressive

with any other types of fish, so you can only have cichlids. You could put 3 yellow labs: http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/images/thumbimg/650/2190_17.jpg
and 3 electric blues: http://www.alloddballaquatics.com/cichlids/Electric_Blue.jpg in a 50 gallon tank.


Do you know to cycle your tank? In the wild, and in established tanks, there are nitrifying bacteria that break down toxic ammonia from fish waste and excess food into less toxic nitrates. In a brand new tank, these bacteria don't exist, so any fish in the tank will produce ammonia, which, not being broken down by bacteria, will kill or weaken the fish. So, of course, it is vital to cycle your tank.
There are a few methods. Do you have access to an established tank? These bacteria live in the gravel and in the filter cartridge, so if you can get some from another tank, you can put the bacteria right into your tank (don't let the gravel or filter cartridge dry out). If you do this, in a day or two, your tank will be A OK.
Another way is to get Bio-Spira. It is the actual live bacteria in a little pouch, and your tank will instantly be ready for fish.http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html......

You can also put a source of ammonia into the tank, such as fish food every few days, or a piece of shrimp. You can also use a fish as a source of ammonia, but I don't recommend this - it borders on animal cruelty. Without bio-spira or bacteria from another tank, the bacteria will eventually develop, but it will take at least 2 weeks.

You should invest in an ammonia, nitrite and nitrate testing kit so you can keep an eye on your levels. It's worth the 30$!

While you're cycling, take a trip to your local fish store, bring a pen and paper and write down which fish you like. COme home and research them, see what is compatible and what is the right size.
ANyway, whatever the petstores say, take it with a grain of salt. Fish stores are there to SELL FISH, they don't always give very good advice. Research everything before your buy it.

Good luck, and enjoy :)

Answer 2

it incredibly is a approximately as strange a mix as i've got obvious and not something like an suggestions-blowing aquarium is, and it would desire to no longer ascertain so good pondering the actuality that fifty 5 gallons should not be super for all the fish you're describing. Cory cats are so tiny whilst in comparison with super clown loaches. Clown loaches are gigantic and want larger tanks. Needlefish opt for calm tanks. Angel fish are territorial, as are puffers. Crayfish eat small fish. Rainbow sharks would wrestle with each distinctive. it incredibly is a tank full of oddball fish with astonishing desires and a super type of which require a super type of area.

Answer 3

Try Tinfoil barbs, they're beautiful fish that recognize its owner. Make sure to get at least three or four.

Answer 4

I'm a fan of african cichlids. They are colorful and very active and tend to have more "personality" than the average fish.

In particular I like ps. demasoni, ps. saulosi, l. caeuruleus, and m. zebra

Answer 5

Ask the person in the pet shop. You may go for beauty or longevity.