55 Gallon Tank New community setup

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forums but not to the hobby and I'm needing a little help. For the past 2 years I've had two Jack Dempsey cichlids but they got too big for my tank. An unfortunate mistake I made by taking someone's word for my 55 being big enough for the two of them. I managed to find a really cool fish store that a friend always goes to that took them for me and put them on display in a 150 gallon tank (I still go by and look at them) so it's a win win.

What I am wanting to do now is create a new community in my 55. I have a Cascade 1000 canister filter, a good heater and tons of decor to use. What I'm wanting advice on is good fish to put in with dwarf gourami (probably 3 because my wife LOVES them) to create a new environment. I was thinking maybe a couple Cory catfish and maybe some tiger barbs? It's been a long time since I've created a mixed tank so I want to be sure I don't make a mistake. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice

 

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forums but not to the hobby and I'm needing a little help. For the past 2 years I've had two Jack Dempsey cichlids but they got too big for my tank. An unfortunate mistake I made by taking someone's word for my 55 being big enough for the two of them. I managed to find a really cool fish store that a friend always goes to that took them for me and put them on display in a 150 gallon tank (I still go by and look at them) so it's a win win.

What I am wanting to do now is create a new community in my 55. I have a Cascade 1000 canister filter, a good heater and tons of decor to use. What I'm wanting advice on is good fish to put in with dwarf gourami (probably 3 because my wife LOVES them) to create a new environment. I was thinking maybe a couple Cory catfish and maybe some tiger barbs? It's been a long time since I've created a mixed tank so I want to be sure I don't make a mistake. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice

I wouldn’t keep male DGs together, they will fight and females are difficult to find. But If you could find females it would look pretty cool to have a planted community tank with 10 female DGs and maybe some neon or rummynose tetras With 10 Corys to cover the bottom?
Honey Gouramis are much much more peaceful and easy to find so you could probably do a lot in there with some tetras and a huge school of Corys! I'm not sure one exact numbers for the honeys but they are just way more easier to handle than DGs (also cause of DG disease, I forgit the actually name ).
If any of what I said is wrong, feel free to correct it still learning!

 

1. At least 8 of a single variety of corydorus.
2. Skip the dwarf gouramis and get a male and two female pearl gouramis instead. They may not look like much in the store, but after they get comfortable in your tank and mature they're stunning fish, and generally don't have the health and aggression issues like the dwarves.
3. Fill in with one or two varieties of schooling fish; at least 10 of each. I really like serpae tetras. Their bodies are an odd mixture of pink, orange, and red, with darker red fins, some with white edges, and black markings on the fins and body. They have a reputation of being fin nippers, but I've never seen that with mine. I believe most of that has come from too few in the tank. If there's enough of them they'll focus on each other instead of the other fish.

 

1. At least 8 of a single variety of corydorus.
2. Skip the dwarf gouramis and get a male and two female pearl gouramis instead. They may not look like much in the store, but after they get comfortable in your tank and mature they're stunning fish, and generally don't have the health and aggression issues like the dwarves.
3. Fill in with one or two varieties of schooling fish; at least 10 of each. I really like serpae tetras. Their bodies are an odd mixture of pink, orange, and red, with darker red fins, some with white edges, and black markings on the fins and body. They have a reputation of being fin nippers, but I've never seen that with mine. I believe most of that has come from too few in the tank. If there's enough of them they'll focus on each other instead of the other fish.

Thank you for the reply. If I'm reading this correctly then I should be able to put the following into a 55 gallon tank and have it not be overcrowded?

8 Sterba's cory
3 Pearl gourami
13 Serpae tetra

It seems like a lot but they are mostly smaller fish I guess, I just don't want to run into the issue I had with the others

 

Thank you for the reply. If I'm reading this correctly then I should be able to put the following into a 55 gallon tank and have it not be overcrowded?

8 Sterba's cory
3 Pearl gourami
13 Serpae tetra

It seems like a lot but they are mostly smaller fish I guess, I just don't want to run into the issue I had with the others

No, you will not be overstocked with that list.

 

No, you will not be overstocked with that list.

Awesome, thank you. Would I have room for another 10 - 15 of another small schooling fish? I spent so long with just the two fish that I don't remember a lot of this

 

Awesome, thank you. Would I have room for another 10 - 15 of another small schooling fish? I spent so long with just the two fish that I don't remember a lot of this

I think so, but it would depend on the fish and filtration. I know nothing about canister filters, but I assume yours will be adequate. I'd suggest nothing bigger than rummy nose tetras (which might be a great option), and start with 7 or 8 and see what that does to your water parameters. I'm interested to see what others think about it.

 

Honey gourami are very social and are a great addition.
I think 8 cories are a lot on the bottom as a 55 has limited depth.
I suggest khulies or dainty cories.

I also would advise to look at diamond tetra for your schooling fish & / or chilI rasboras.

Are you planning on adding plants ?

 

Honey gourami are very social and are a great addition.
I think 8 cories are a lot on the bottom as a 55 has limited depth.
I suggest khulies or dainty cories.

I also would advise to look at diamond tetra for your schooling fish & / or chilI rasboras.

Are you planning on adding plants ?

I'm not sure if I will be adding any live plants, the last time I did that I ended up with a snail infestation which is just an absolute pain to fix. I've got a couple of large faux wood items and a large hollow rock I was going to put in. I may add some of the silk plants in spots for hiding places though.

 

Get 3-4 assasin snails and your pest snail problems are fixed.

Personally if you really want DGs, try to find a nice healthy one which you can usually find online. Wetspot has healthy ones I think.

I have another suggested stock which could work well.

First with more of a South american theme
pair of apistogramma
6 otocinclus
15 green neon tetras
15 rummynose tetras
8 pepper/sterbaI cories

asian theme
10 kuhlI loaches or alternativly 15 rosy loaches
4 honey gourami or 4 pearl gourami (1m/3f ratio)
10 harlequin rasboras
10 lambchop rasboras

 

Get 3-4 assasin snails and your pest snail problems are fixed.

Personally if you really want DGs, try to find a nice healthy one which you can usually find online. Wetspot has healthy ones I think.

I have another suggested stock which could work well.

First with more of a South american theme
pair of apistogramma
6 otocinclus
15 green neon tetras
15 rummynose tetras
8 pepper/sterbaI cories

asian theme
10 kuhlI loaches or alternativly 15 rosy loaches
4 honey gourami or 4 pearl gourami (1m/3f ratio)
10 harlequin rasboras
10 lambchop rasboras

The gourami I just want because my wife really loved the last two that we had and she enjoys watching those while she studies. The more I look at the cories the more I'm intrigued by them, very pretty and seems like most are pretty peaceful. Of those two suggestions though the asian theme looks pretty cool, especially with the honey gourami and kuhlI loaches