55 Gallon Tank Need Ideas On Stocking A 55

[jaydivingboard]

Hi! I recently got into the aquarium hobby not too long ago. I purchased a 10 gallon tank because I read that bigger was easier but I wanted to know I could do it before taking on bigger tanks meaning more stock. I let it run through the Nitrogen Cycle for about 4 weeks adding some fish food everyday, and recently added my 2 Dwarf Guorami (I've heard male dwarf's are uber aggressive but with these guys I have seen none except maybe a little at feeding time? But I just feed them on opposite sides of the tank to take care of that) 2 fancy guppies from my 10 gallon, and an african dwarf frog also from my 10 gallon, I want to add bleeding heart tetras, corydora cats, and otocinclus, I want to keep it a community tank so any suggestions would be awesome! Also feel free to let me know if you see any errors I have made (ie; if I listed fish that are nowhere near compatible with each other please let me know)

I'm sorry after rereading this I see I completely left out the fact I successfully have kept the 10 gallon and now am moving up to 55, looking for 55 gallon stock ideas

I have cycled my new 55 gallon tank got the pH stabilized staying between 7 and 7.5, I have moved my fish that were in my 10 gallon to my 55 gallon and they are thriving so I'd like stocking ideas based on compatibility with the fish I have already; 1 Male Dwarf Guorami (I know they can be aggressive but he was literally the first fish I purchased and he hasn't shown aggression except towards another male dwarf guorami which I ended up taking back), 2 Fancy Guppies, 2 Black Mollies, a Sunset Platy, 2 corydora cats (already planning on making that number more like 6) and an African Dwarf Frog

 

[AJE]

What type of Cory?

 

[Islandvic]

Here is a sugggestion...

Throw in 2x peacock eels and a dozen khulI loaches.

Finish it off with 3x male BoesmanI Rainbowfish and 3x male Millennium Rainbowfish.


My peacock eels get along fine with all their tank mates in my 75 gallon community tank, even with the kuhli's.

 

[jaydivingboard]

What type of Cory?

Green is what I have, I really like the look of peppered though, is it okay to mix them up?

 

[AJE]

Green is what I have, I really like the look of peppered though, is it okay to mix them up?

They really would prefer have a larger school of one species more them 2 small schools of different species, and it also looks better if you have 1 larger school, what temp are you running the tank?

 

[jaydivingboard]

They really would prefer have a larger school of one species more them 2 small schools of different species, and it also looks better if you have 1 larger school, what temp are you running the tank?

77

Here is a sugggestion...

Throw in 2x peacock eels and a dozen khakI loaches.

Finish it off with 3x male BoesmanI Rainbowfish and 3x male Millennium Rainbowfish.


My peacock eels get along fine with all their tank mates in my 75 gallon community tank, even with the kuhli's.

I've read loaches will eat fish that are smaller, I have corydoras and a dwarf frog as current bottom dwellers so I don't want them to be snacked on

 

[AJE]

I would say, up the Cory school to 10, a school of maybe 20 neon tetras and maybe a trio of vampire shrimp

I've read loaches will eat fish that are smaller, I have corydoras and a dwarf frog as current bottom dwellers so I don't want them to be snacked on

They are just like any other fish, if it fits in there mouth, they will eat it

 

[Islandvic]

jaydivingboard , Sorry, I originally posted "khakI loaches". I didn't catch the auto correct.

I edited it and should have read "kuhlI loaches".

They are small, growing about 4" in length, no wider than a pencil, and have tiny mouths. They eat left over food off the substr

I think you might have read about larger clown , botia or yoyo loaches, which full grown examples could probably eat smaller fish.

I have 12 total java kuhlI loaches between 2 tanks. I've never even seen them attempt to eat their tank mates, even ghost shrimp!

I'm not sure what type of fish would be small enough to fit in their mouths.

If you give them places to hide so they feel comfortable, they come out during the day often and are very playful and interesting to watch.

Here is a LINK about them.

 

[MicG]

large fish will eat small ones
livebearers expand fast
you will have a full tank of guppy/molly/platy
when I sold my 55g, I took 20+ fry out, and left the rest 60+ in the tank, plus 5 adult molly and 3 adult platy
so if you keep livebearer, it would be fun to watch them giving birth and grow
but you are bound to them

 

[BottomDweller]

African dwarf frogs won't do well in such a large tank. They need quite shallow water, ideally no taller than 12". They are also social so you should have more than one. They generally do best without any fish. I would move your frog back into the 10 gallon and get it 2 more friends.

What gender are your guppies, mollies and platy?

Are your cories bronze cories or emerald green cories? The emerald cories get much larger.

Green is what I have, I really like the look of peppered though, is it okay to mix them up?

Different types of cory can live together but they will not school together. Peppered cories like very cool water, below 73f, so would not do well in your tank.

How about something like this at 72-75f
5 guppies
2 mollies
3 platies
1 dwarf gourami
15 neon tetras or zebra danios
15 bronze cories or 10 emerald cories
1 bristlenose or rubberlip pleco

 

[Islandvic]

I've got a dozen healthy and plump Peppered Corydoras in my 75 gallon community tank (+ 1 lone juliI cory who thinks it's a peppered) that I keep at 78°f. They have been in there over a year. Many times after water changes, the females will lay eggs all over the glass.

I have no doubt they prefer lower temps as BottomDweller advised, but mine in particular have adapted and appear to thrive. They probably would prefer a lower pH, as mine runs consistently at 7.8 pH.

Every tank is different for every particular cicumstance.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

Can you list the fish that you have already, well the ones that you will keep in the 50, and how many do you have? Thanks

 

[LeahsTank]

I’m not sure if you have moved everything from the 10 gallon and/or if you still have it running as well as the 55. It would be best if you keep the 10 set up and growing algae for a while and let the inhabitants of the 55 settle in. Use the “seasoned” 10 gallon as a quarantine for the otos. Most are wild caught and should definitely be qt’d, but they only eat algae so using a clean bare bottomed tank is risky for them. By the time they’re qt is finished, you should have some good algae waiting for them in the 55.