Birthday Gift

[troublesum]

Tomorrow is my B-Day and my wife bought me a 55 gallon tank this weekend i put the stand together and painted the back black i will have PFS and a AC70 with a large sponge filter and fake plants, cant do live plants.
I thought about Convicts, HRPs, Apistos, was also thinking some angel fish but i think i want a more calm relaxing tank with community fish or what i would really like to hear is some cool oddball fish that could live in a 55.
But pretty open to all suggestions and ideas my water is neutral and tank will get 2 WCs per week

 

[Deadeye]

Top of my list for a new setup would be an African riverine tank.
African butterflyfish for the top, Congo or African redeye tetras, pair of jewels or kribs, smaller synos, and maybe sub in a peacock or half banded spiny eel (since African spinies are harder to come by).

 

[troublesum]

Top of my list for a new setup would be an African riverine tank.
African butterflyfish for the top, Congo or African redeye tetras, pair of jewels or kribs, smaller synos, and maybe sub in a peacock or half banded spiny eel (since African spinies are harder to come by).

Those sound cool especially the jewels i use to have a pair. How many of each fish would you recommend? i know the Jewels just a pair. As for the spiny any special requirements? for feeding?

 

[Deadeye]

Those sound cool especially the jewels i use to have a pair. How many of each fish would you recommend? i know the Jewels just a pair. As for the spiny any special requirements? for feeding?

I guess it depends on what your water change routine and preferences are. I tend to stock heavier because I never know when to quit…
I would say:
Jewel pair
6-8 tetras
3 ABF
1 spiny
Depending on the cat you could either do a small school, solo, or just do no cats if it seems to heavy.

I also forgot to mention in the first post smaller bichirs like sens, but I would personally pick either that or the eel.
Frankly, I’m still learning with eels. I had a lot when young but that was when everyone was fed flakes and I wondered why they didn’t last long. I have a new one I got a little over a month ago. I haven’t seen it eat but it must be eating something. They aren’t super picky, most meaty foods will do. It seems to be more an issue of confidence. Getting it feeding in a qt or having multiple can help.

 

[troublesum]

How about a pair of Jewels or Kribs might try kribs as i had Jewels before. so a pair of Kribs 10 Congo Tetras 10 Julii Corys and a bristlenose
Will that work? i like the having a pair of small cichlids dont matter if they breed my Festae and Midas will eat good or any combo of those i prefer same continent
how about a pair of EBA the 10 Juliis 10 Tetras and bristlenose?

 

[Deadeye]

Any of the above would work imo.
I like my colony of kribs, personality-wise they remind me of convicts. Generally they are pretty well behaved, but when breeding will turn into little terrors. Mine routinely claim half of a 75 gallon. They won’t get terrible unless something gets too close to the nest (mine killed a rainbow shark for that). Probably nothing near what you’d see with a jewel (going off reputation, I haven’t had any long-term myself). The nice thing I’ve noticed is that unlike convicts, they are pretty good at self-regulating their population. At first the group skyrocketed, but now I only really see 10 or so with minimal intervention on my end. I haven’t seen babies in a long time (but that could also be due to the loaches).

If you want the same continent, the EBA would be best (though technically EBA are manmade and the parent species is from a different region).

 

[bkfamus]

A pair of Ivanacara bimaculatus, 12-15 tetras or pencilfish, BN pleco and 10+ otos after the tank matures some..

Or replace the bimacs for maybe 5ish Mikrogeophagus altispinosus (or maculicauda if you can source).. or similar number Dicrossus species.. or laetacara dorsigera, araguaiae or curviceps.. or pair of Cleithracara maronii with high bodied tetras and skip the otos

or go with dwarf crenicichla with high bodied tetras

on the CA side, if you can source Cryptoheros chetumalensis, a pair should work w/ some livebearers or tetras..

 

[justintheodd]

I personally wouldn't go for the jewels, as when breeding they will most likely kill some of your other fish. I would personally go with the kribs, but if you are open to experimentation you can always try the jewels. hope I was able to give some decent insight.

 

[troublesum]

My boss is mad at me for googling all day i have always liked Geos after all my browsing on google today i saw that people keep Red Head Geos in 55s as they are a smaller geo.
I do 3 WC a week Mon, Wed, Fri. do you guys think i could keep 4-5 red heads in a 55 with maybe 5-6 neon tetras and 5-6 cories or scratch the cories and get a BN
Can this be done? I've read it can and cannot but don't really trust the internet people to much

 

[mindstate]

I tend to stock lighter than others but I do think the other recommendations are better than a small group of Geo's. A 55 is a nice tank but also has a pretty limited width. I have 6 tapajos red heads in a 100 gallon with angels and I think that will be the smallest I would go at adult size, maybe a 75.

A 55, I would probably stock with a small group of dwarf cichlids, corydoras and tetra's. Could go Apistogramma or Altispinosa for SA or Amatitlania Nanolutea for centrals. Or Thorichthys Aureus.