What would you do with a 55 Gallon tank?

I'm getting a 55 from my uncle in the next week or two!!!

What would you put in a new 55 ???

Give me some suggestions!!

 

salt water with some live rock and a couple of oscillaritus clown fish + a lion fish + anemone

just me.

 

o a pirahana or oscar or maybe a school of fish or a bichir 1st choice would be a bichir

 

make a big tropical community tank

 

If it were me my first choice would be full of kuhlis ;D ;D with lots of holey driftwood and stuff...or I would put angelfish in it...or it would be cool to have a huge school of neon /cardinal tetras...

 

I do samething similer

 

I have a 55 with a community set-up and I love it.

 

I agree with Emma, I would make a tropical community tank with lots of big branching driftwood.. I love the way that looks

 

o a pirahana or oscar or maybe a school of fish or a bichir  1st choice would be a bichir

That's good point. never see the pirrananhs in the fish places anymore. Did they eat too many owner's hands? I think those Oscars are real pretty fish. A lot of the other fish that people seem to like are kind of ugly to me like zebran dan rosey barbs, and coreys. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder right? For me the pict cats and tiger barbs are real pretty. 8)

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions!! ;D

Oscars are hilarious.. They are just like dogs.. They will follow you when you come into the room, My dad used to have one, lol

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I think I'm leaning towards a tropical community tank. Now it's just a quesiton of what will make up the community.

 

am I the only one that likes saltwater?

 

Saltwater is like 10x the price per fish.

 

but the fish are 10x purtier ^,^

 

Saltwater tanks are definitely gorgeous.. I would love to maintain one one day, but I don't recommend them for a beginner. I think you should be somewhat of an expert in fishkeeping to attempt on of those.. Definitely a lot costlier, and way more advanced. You really have to know exactly what you're doing. That's what makes them so special, you kind of have to work up to be able to keep one healthy

 

saltwater tanks aren't that much harder...

although I haven't set up mine yet my brother had a 55G with a lion fish an eel and some clownfish... there are some differences with having to use an R/o filter preferably and w/ protein skimmers and hydrometers and higher expenses... a saltwater tank looks great though! clearer looking water and brighter neon fish with greater variety and some very unusual types.

saltwater tanks are as easy as you make them out to be imo. it doesn't take too much care to take care of a small one like 29 gallons with some hardy fish like clownfish

 

My LFS has a huge 2000 gallon Saltwater with every possible coral and reef setup you could think of, with the most gorgeous fish I have ever seen in my life.. It's just amazing how much brighter the colors are and how much more interesting the tank looks. I do agree with you Jon, to a point where it is as hard as people make it out to be, but I also think that some people just aren't ready for a step up to SW.

 

wow you must have a nice lfs lol but I guess your right saltwater tanks are pretty tough but most people can handle em if theyve ever owned fish and take the time to study up on there stuff

 

True -- as long as they are willing to do the required research and are willing to spend all the time it takes.

Yes, I got pretty lucky, My LFS is set up very nice, there are over 3,000 tanks in there, with like 5 workers constantly maintaining them, and they don't try to anybody - they give really good advice - and won't sell you a fish if they don't think it's good for your tank

 

wow I thought I had a nice enough lfs I gotta see that place... are any of their tanks acrylic? id guess if they have a 3k its gotta be acrylic

 

Saltwater tanks are the bomb. My LFS has two huge Saltwater display tanks on display and they look so awesome. I completely agree that Saltwater fish are stunning to look at but I'm just not ready for it yet. One day perhaps but for now onto the tropical community tank.

 

Yeah, I am not ready for it either, but I am hoping one day that I will be able to.. I would love it!

Jon - I am guessing they are acrylic? How can you tell for sure?

 

acrylic is thicker, clearer,has more scratches in it, is easy to scratch,sounds different when you tap it ,is lighter, doesn't have the green tint, is usually in all big tanks, isn't sealed with silicone but is bonded chemically thus resulting in nicer seams, acrylics have wierdo tops

 

IT sure does sound like that's what they are.. Is acrylic supposed to be better than glass? Both of my tanks are glass

 

yep acrylic is 1/2 weight up to 17x stronger...

 

darn lol. Well I will get an acrylic next time. LOL I want to get a 200 gallon when I move into a bigger house. ((I'm too excited for that day to come))

 

yeah lol main downfall is acrylic is 2-3 times more expensive and is usually custom made

 

wonderful.. lol this hobby is gonna take me broke and I'm not even gonna be able to help it.. :-\lol

 

Well I got the 55 from my uncle last night!!

Since then I have cleaned it out and moved it into its final destination. I filled it with water tonight and have both filters and heaters running. I'm going to start cycling (fishless, with some gavel from an existing tank) the tank tomorrow.

Here's what I'm thinking about stocking it with:
1 Angel
3 Yoyo loaches
2 Cherry Barbs
1 Redtail shark (from my 20 gal)
2 Red Dwarf Gouramis
10 Neon Tetras
1 Bristlenose Pleco

Any thoughts?

 

red tailed sharks are hostile towards smaller fish so think about that
gouramis are hostile to other gouramis so maybe consider only getting 1

 

Gouramis are only hostile to other gouramis if they are forced to share the same swimming space. My tank has a lot of hiding places, so my 2 gouramis get along fine together. And they are both also male.

I don't think you should have a prob. with the gouramis in a 55, especially if you have a lot of plants and such

 

My LFS has a huge 2000 gallon Saltwater with every possible coral and reef setup you could think of, with the most gorgeous fish I have ever seen in my life.. It's just amazing how much brighter the colors are and how much more interesting the tank looks.  I do agree with you Jon, to a point where it is as hard as people make it out to be, but I also think that some people just aren't ready for a step up to SW.

I think that may be true empleco. Plus I have always wondered does salt leave hard water deposits? I hate when you get those at the top of the tank. Although I have much less now because didn't know any better before and used 100% hard water. Now use about %25 hard the rest soft. Also when I go to the fish stores and see that salt mess it kind of turns me off. But ya never know maybe one day I will step up to the plate and give it a shot. But I do think a lot of viewers here are a little intimidated by the thought of salt.

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions!!  ;D

Oscars are hilarious.. They are just like dogs.. They will follow you when you come into the room, My dad used to have one, lol

When you mentioned this it really reminded me of my goldfish. They follow me also and sometimes (I know you shouldn't do it) but I will clean my little finger off real well so not to pollute water ect and play with them while I am online. Sometimes they nip at my finger and seem curious as to what I am doing. I think this is a strange way that I bond with my fish. My tropical never seemed interested usually hid when I came into the room. I did that once at a pet store with some oscars and they bit me. It kind of scaird me.
that reminds me I have to get to the fish store to buy 2 of those rings for the aquarium. I have an upgraded 15 gall that doesn't leak but those rings are cracked. I wonder if they are hard to replace?

 

LoL JI'm - I do the same thing with my zebra danios -- all 6 of them with swirl around my finger and nip a little bit.. It feels so cool, (their bodies are a lot harder than I thought they would be!) I know they are doing it just because they are hungry, but it is still cool that they associate me with the person who feeds them.

Also, with the Saltwater tank, that kind of stuff intimidates me just because I haven't yet mastered everything that it takes to keep a thriving freshwater aquarium (although all of my fish are doing really good), I just don't want to make that huge step and then I will have to continue learnin how to take care of freshwater and then add everything I need to learn about saltwater at the same time.

IN the future, I hope to keep my 10 and 20 gallon up and running, but Ihave such Multiple Tank Syndrome (as a lot of ppl mention on here, lol) and I also hope to have an 8 Gallon BioOrb Bowl to keep another baby betta in, a 125 gallon community freshwater tank (with clown loaches, bala sharks, plecos (lg and small), lg angelfish and some kind of medium sized schooling fish. Of course I would have to further research these compatibilites ) And I also hope to conquer a 40 gallon NanoCube coral set up with clown fish (My favorite!!) But these will have to come later

 

am I the only one that likes saltwater?

I would love to have a sw tank--If I won the lottery! They are so pretty but so EXPENSIVE! I can't really afford to shell out a couple grand for an aquarium...

 

Fifty five gallons.....

I'd put in a school of adonis tetra -- adonis are tiny, and a school of 30 or more would be neat to see.

Then some kind of nice bottom feeder, and a pair of some larger show fish - hopefully one that wouldn't eat the tetra's!

Mostly I'd want to use the opportunity to keep a large school of something small, and really see that schooling behaviour.

Anna

 

That's always something I wanted to do I love zebra danios, so when I get my 125 galllon freshwater, I hope to be able to put like a school of 50 zebras in there. that would be awesome!

 

Planted Freshwater Schooling tank with bright light and lunar lights....natural looking.....that's what I would do.

 

red tailed sharks are hostile towards smaller fish so think about that
gouramis are hostile to other gouramis so maybe consider only getting 1

Gouramis will swim together -if they get a pair -better to get male/female.....The only time they will get bullish is when they feel their territory is being invaded.....But they can co-exist with one another with minimal problems. They need their space so it's best to make sure there is plenty of overhead cover for them (floating plants, etc.) some distance apart so if they do quarrel they have their own place to go to. Eventually they will pair up again.

 

some discus fish