warpedmind41

So, I'm about to be getting my hands on a used, but fairly new 55 gallon aquarium from a friend that has only had it for like 2 months and bought it new.

It's going to be an upgrade from my current 29 gallon tank.

So far, to put in the new tank I have one Dragon(Violet) Goby, that is about 8 inches, a Senegal Bichir that is about 4 and a half inches, and a Pleco that is about 4 inches.

Basically, what i am wondering is if anyone has any suggestions on what else I could put in it.

I'm really into exotic(or exotic-looking) fish, and fish that you don't usually find in home aquariums.

I'm going to have a sand for my substrate, and I probably won't have many(or any) live plants in the aquarium(I have bad luck with them), but I will have hiding places and fake plants, although, my pleco is the only one that really ever hides. My Goby likes to chill between the glass and this skull hiding place I have. And my Bichir likes to chill underneath my water heater, or sometimes he will wedge himself between the glass and the cord for the heater(he's not stuck, because it is loose, I made sure to keep it loose when I realized he liked to do that).

Lucy

Sounds like a fun tank
I hope you post some pics when it's up and stocked!

warpedmind41

Sure thing.

My current tank looks like this:

I should be getting the new tank tonight or tomorroe after school from the girl(can you believe she only wants $30??).

I have no idea when I'll be able to set it up, but I'm hoping pretty soon, if not, it won't be until August(not supposed to have fish tanks in the house apparently, have 2 already!).

But I do plan on being around long enough to post the picture when it is set up, because I've been learning a lot from reading some of the forums on here.

But anyways, anyone have any suggestions on some cool-looking fish that can go with a pleco, a bichir, and a dragon goby?

agabr123

congrats! can't wait for pics!

do you know what kind of pleco you have?

warpedmind41

I have no idea, honestly. It was just labeled 'Plecostomus' (SM) - $2.99'. At Petsmart.

It is like a dark brown coor with lighter brown spots and stripes...or maybe the other way around? And he has two 'horns' near his eyes.

He's getting to be my favorite fish, just because of how well he seems to be thriving. I hardly saw him for two weeks, then I was him and he was a monster!

agabr123

sounds like a common pleco to me, can you post a picture? if it is a common, then he's going to outgrow your 55 even. they can get up to 18 inches long and are HUGE waste producers!

warpedmind41

Let me see if I can get one of him. He is usually in places where you can't see him. His favorite place, he is usually inside it on the roof of it, or he is outside on the wall, and he blends in, haha. But let me see. I took some ast night, actually...but I don't remember if they were any good, lemme upload them.

warpedmind41

agabr123

looks like a common (sailfin) pleco to me

MissMTS

Your common pleco will eventually outgrow that tank. But you can enjoy him for the time being

Another great fish for your tank would be African Butterfly Fish. They are really different looking and would be great for your tank. They are territorial towards other fish that swim at the top of the tank, but since you have all bottom dwellers they would be perfect Here's a link:

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-africanbutterfly.htm

warpedmind41

You know what, I was actually looking at that fish yesterday and really liked it. It is really pretty, and it does look like a bit of an oddball, which is why I liked it.

And yeah, I figure if it outgrows it, it will take a while to get to that size, and by then, I will most likely have a larger tank for him. I've been slowly working my way up the chain, I've always really liked large tanks, the possibilities with them are endless.

MissMTS

Yup, the larger the tank, the more you can do with. I just kept upgrading like you and now most of my tanks are 70 gallons and up

warpedmind41

Haha, sweeeet.

In the next 6 to 12 months I'm suppoed to be getting a very large tank, between 200 and 300 gallons, so far, it's looking like it may be a 240, since those seem to be the least expensive when bought used, and they are most oftenly what I see up for sale, so it will most likely be a 240, I'm considering making it a FOWLR, but I don't know, I don't want a lot of rock, just maybe 20-30 pounds on one side...rock is pretty expensive.

The 55 gallon is gonna be here in about 10 minutes, yayyyy!

After this 55 gallon, I'm thinking I'm going to want to get ANOTHER larger tank, and make it a saltwater, maybe 75 gallons. I've been doing research on getting octopuses, still have a lot of research ahead of me before I make any decisions, but I really want one.

warpedmind41

Here's the tank!
There are some hand smears on it, but nothing al ittle rag and H2O can't fix in twenty seconds.
It's a bit thinner than I had imagined, but it will do just fine.







The dimensions are about 48"x12"x21".

It looks great, I'll probably leak test it tomorrow, just to be sure it is all good before I even begin to think about setting it up, because I would hate to have it all set up, then have one tiny leak screw it all up. However, I didn't even see a single scratch. Good deal for $40, I think(she ended up wanting $10, which is fine by me!).

warpedmind41

Alright. It's been a little over 4 months. I just got settled into my new house. And I just made a DIY cinder block stand that is working great and looks pretty bueno to me, though, I plan on going back some day and maybe dabbing on some black paint of something, I'm undecided so far.

I have one fish in there right now and two others in two other tanks, I'll add them in soon enough. I just put the hardiest of the bunch in there and he seems to be looking better than he has in months. Anyways, here are some pictures I took during the process of getting it done. In one you can see my little catfish swimming in the front of the tank, something he doesn't do unless he's scared, but he seems to be happy.


Before I started adding water. I had the sand in and a bowl to pour into as to not spread my sand away from the area.


Halfway full. It looks gross, but the sand wasn't settled yet.


Almost done!


Just turned everything on, sand still fully settling.


The stand, before I put that wire in the back to it wasn't out like that, haha.


Yay!

Now I'm going to wait some time and then add my pleco, who is a big boy now! He's a good 6 inches now, wide on the head. Huge sailfin. Here's a pic I took a few days ago:

Right now I'm waiting to him into his new home. And I also have another fish I just bought a few days ago, I named her Betty, she's a Black Ghost Knifefish. She's only about three inches long. She's super cute. I absolutely adore her. I'm gonna head to the pet store tomorrow and buy a few more hiding places to put in the tank for her, hopefully find a clear tube to put towards the front for her or something.

Picture of Betty:

peacemaker92

Nice tank! Betty looks nice in her hiding spot. Congrats on finally having fish in it! I love how you did the DIY stand. Really good idea! Well done!

bolivianbaby

Looks great! Beautiful fish and aquascaping. I love your pleco and ghost knife.

warpedmind41

Yeah, I only used $55 to make the stand and it's awesome. Very stable. If anyone wants the instructions and such on it, this is where I got it: http://virtuallyamy.wordpress.com/20...quarium-stand/

But thank you very much. I've been waiting a looong time to get it all set up, and so far, I'm very happy with it.

warpedmind41

Here is a new picture of the tank, a week after set up. The water is clear now and I added two more fish, two more fake plants, and another circular air stone. But, my pleco moved a bunch of sand around that tree stump so he could get under it. >.>

I'm super proud of the tank so far and can't wait to continue to improve on it and add some more fish.