55 gallon aquarium?

Question

Whats some good combinations of fish for a 55 gal aquarium? i want something with color, and not all small fish. have any ideas? i like angels and catfish type things or cichilids. i know they cant all be together so give me some good combos, such as like 4 angels and like 1 plecostomus or something. thanks. best combo gets 10 points

would any cichilids be allowed with angels? i know i definitly want angels. Based around that i need to know if i can have a plecostomus catfish and/or cichilids?

how do you pronounce cichilids?

Answer 1

Angel fish are cichilds actually. You would pronouce it sick lids. A good combination is open to many possibilties here. Consider this though. 55 gallon tank is roughly 4 feet in length by 2 feet wide. That's the rough area you have to work with when considering your population. If you go with Angelfish then I'd stick with those only for your cichilds. You can also go with Africans, but actually you'll want to overstock it to aggression is limited. There are some Africans that are fairly peaceful for Africans as well. I have 18 Protomelas Stevani's aka Taiwan Reef Cichilds in my 180 and they cooexist with 2 different types of mbuna in there, and I have yet to have a fight between species go on. The Mbuna have fought within themselves and I also have four nicely growing Yellow Labs that fight sometimes among themselves but never between species. Granted my spacing is 6 feet by two feet. More area, but the idea is if you want to intermix for colors, then I'd go with groups that are relatively peaceful for Africans and you get better colors out of them IMO.

If you go South American, i'd try Blue Acara as your main cichild. Nice colors on it, and pretty peaceful fish you could probably get to breed. I'd limit any plecos you get to just one given how big they get as adults. Take a peek at Taiwan Reefs and possibly Red Empress. They have nice colors, but I'll tell you one thing I've learned about schools of them. There will be only one dominant male of the group. The males usually have the most colors to them, and if there is more then 1, the colors you see on pictures, that will be the colors on the main male, the other males will have colors subdued, and the females are many times not even the same color grouping at all making them easy to identify.

You can get further help still at fishless cycling.com or just use the link on my profile.

JV

Answer 2

You have plenty of options but I personally would not get either an Oscar or a Bala Shark. While you could keep a single Oscar in a 55 gallon. That is the minimum tank size it should be kept in and it should really be kept in a larger tank. I suggest getting a pair of smaller but equally as cool Cichlids as Oscars. Good choices include... 2 Blue Acaras 2 Firemouths 2 Green Terrors 2 Jack Dempsys A 55 gallon can also make a nice rock dwelling Lake Malawi Cichlid set up. You could get a small group of several different types of mbuna from Lake Malawi. Some of my favorites include... 3-5 Electric Yellows 3 Auratus Cichlids 3-5 Aurora Cichlids 3 Kenyi Cichlids Hope this helps.

Answer 3

It is pronounced Sicklids. With Angels, the only Cichlids you could really keep would be Apistos or Rams... they are small, colorful, and peaceful. In a 55, you could have 5 Angels, 2 Rams or Apistos, a Bristlenose Pleco (Bristlenosed Plecos only get about 4 inches while Common Plecos get about 2 feet), along with 13-15 Rasboras, OR Danios (not giant), OR Cherry/Gold Barbs. Avoid Neon and Cardinal Tetras because the Angels will eat them. Also, avoid nippy fish like Tiger Barbs because they will antagonize your Angels fins. If you have any more questions, email me at [e-mail].

Nosoop4u

EDIT: Unfortunately, Discus are very sensitve to water parameters, and are very dificult to keep alive. They also generally cost more than $50 per fish...

EDIT 2: Clown Loaches get about a foot long and are shoaling fish that should be kept in groups of 5+, so they aren't acceptable inhabitants for any tank less than 125 gallons...

Answer 4

hah so many thumbs down - yet I've had this setup for 6 years now without a problem (with Oscars, not Angels)

start the fish all about the same size - 2-4 inches, they'll grow

2 Oscars or 3 Angel Fish (dont get both)
2 Gouramis (full size, not dwarf)
2 Pictus cat fish
4 Cory
1 mid size shark type catfish (black fin, blue whale, etc)
1 plecostomus

They will grow up together, oscars will grow fast to full size. Give them each 4 goldfish per week (small goldfish to start then going to larger as the oscars grow)

This gives you a range of top, middle, and bottom feeders that look nice and are active. Add in a few plants and decor for your choosing.


I found this too:
Either one Angel to an aquarium or more than 3. Angels are Cichlids and like most Cichlids, if you keep just 2 or 3 in the same aquarium, the strongest one will make the others miserable. Angels do very well in a group with 6 or more Angels in a large aquarium with at least 50 gallons of water that is at least 18" deep.

Here is a list of tropical fish that are usually compatible with Angel Fish: Silver Dollars, Bigger Tetras such as Black Skirts, Serpaes, and Silver Tips, Corydoras Catfish, Livebearers such as Platies, Swordtails, and Mollies, but not Guppies which may be eaten by Angels, and one Plecostomus Catfish.

Angel Fish are often seen in aquariums with Gouramis, Giant Danios, Rainbows, a group of Bala Sharks, and a group of Clown Loaches.

As Angel Fish grow larger, they become very efficient at stalking and eating small fish like Guppies and Neon Tetras. So they are not compatible tank mates for these fish.

Answer 5

Nix on the tiger barbs! They'll nip on the angels' whiskers mercilessly!

I used to keep angels myself back in the day...Starting with about 4-5 angels, you could keep various colorful scavengers like (3)Tri-color sharks, and (3)red-tailed sharks -, a zebra pleco and/or a blue-eyed pleco (if you can afford either $$), some red-hook silver dollars, some blue tetras, and black tetras, (cardinals and neons would be lunch), (3)pearl gouramis, (3)blue gouramis, and (3)clown loaches* would make a beautiful 55 gal set-up.

I hope you know to do this gradually, right?

*Edit: After reading the soup nazi's post I realized I made a mistake and he apparently caught it...clown loaches do indeed grow too large for a 55gal angel tank. I believe I meant to say zebra loaches.

I'm glad to see he agreed with what I said about tiger barbs and cardinal and neon tetras.

Answer 6

Well I like the angels so get like 6 of them and then you could get a couple of the needle nose fish that eat live bait and you can mix those with some tiger barbs and like a couple of eels and then just ask the people at the store what else can go in with them

Answer 7

discus are good with angel fish they have very bold color and come in many different colors they get right large feed on fresh and dry food fun to watch and if you can get them to breed can make some of your money back

Answer 8

I doubt that I can give you a good combination of what types to use. The links below will give you a better idea.

Answer 9

(sick-lids) chiclids can't be in with any small fish or angel fish ...they can be in with the algae eaters that suck on the glass............they are very aggressive fish and grow to around 4 or 5 inches so only put 10 or so in your tank ...............they are very territorial

Answer 10

Well, Angels are beautiful and my particular favorite angel is the white blushing angel. But, keep in mind that you need to provide space based on adult size and one adult angel requires 30 gallons of water and plecotomus get huge and require 30-50 gallons of water each. So, I think a nice combination and your best bet, would be a pair of angels and then a pair of cory cats.