Steve420

I need some help putting together my stocking plan for my 55 gallon freshwater. I've been researching and researching different combonations of fish and would like to get some suggestions from everyone. So here we go....

I do have a couple of guidelines that I would like to stick to

1) 2 schools of "smaller fish" Something like a Cardnial Tetra size would be perfect.
2) Those 2 schools need to be compatable with a couple of Angelfish. My wife and I are pretty set on having a couple of Angels, so this is a must!
3) The more vibrant and brighter colors...the BETTER!

I open to any and all suggestions. Being a newb, I just want to try and make sure I get this right the first time around!

Thanks FL!

sirdarksol

Angels will possibly eat fish as small as cardinals. Slightly larger is going to be a good idea. You're also looking for fish that aren't terribly likely to nip, as angels can be targets for this kind of behavior.

Cherry and/or gold barbs may be good choices. My barbs are only vicious toward each other and toward snails. Bleeding heart tetras would be an okay choice, I think. They're a pretty sakura (cherry blossom) pink color. Buenos Aires tetras might be a possibility. They can get nippy, and can chew live plants to shreds, though.
Glassfish would be a neat possibility, but they aren't brightly colored. In fact, they possess no color. They're clear. They are large enough to not be eaten, and fast enough that they could probably deal with the angels' habit of being aggressive while eating.

Does anybody know how a school of male guppies would do with an angel? I don't recall seeing anything about anyone who has tried this.

Whatever you choose, it sounds like a neat setup (two schools and a couple of angels).

Butters

yeah, I agree with sirdarksol here. the smaller fish like neons and cardinals are gunna become a nice expensive snack for your angels. Maybe some black skirts or white skirts, but those dont have a whole lot of color. If you would go with a barb, go gold... cherries stay on the smaller side and might end up as a quick bite too.

sirdarksol

My (limited) experience with the skirt tetras is that they can get violent. Are they going to create problems for the angels?

Butters

If you keep them in large enough groups they should just pick on each other and not the angels, but I could be wrong. I'm not an expert either so what do I know?

Steve420

The Glassfish sounds pretty cool. I have some underwater LED lights buried in the gravel, so I think that could create a pretty nice effect. I'm going to look into those.

Thanks for the help so far...keep em coming!

Blub

55g tank discussion
My list of schooling fish under 3".

Any fish 2" or larger should be angel safe. My favourites would be Dwarf neon rainbows, Cherry barbs, Serpae tetras, Marbled Hatchets, Harlequin Rasboras, Bleeding heart tetras, Congo tetras, Panda Corys and Black phantom tetras.

So... A general rule of thumb that (if used in conjunction with fish species requirements like min tank size, compatibility etc...) is 1" of adult fish per gallon. 2 angels, 12", and a small school of 6 2" fish is 12". Have fun!

sirdarksol

Glassfish are pretty neat. The only place I've ever found them undyed is at Petsmart (go figure). They have a reputation for being fragile, but this is largely due to pet stores telling people they are brackish fish. They are not.

I've got an article about them in the Fishlore Magazine. I'll post a link here when I've got a chance to hunt it down.

Blub

You won't need to.

http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummaga.../glassfish.htm