Decisions, decisions......

[fishcrazy]

Hi all,

Well no one can be more surprised than me that I already got the 55gal I posted earlier that I was wishing for... guess hubby was still in the Christmas spirit! :spend:ha ha... I am SO SPOILED!! :happydance:

We have got it all set up and it is on its first full cycle day.... I now have a dilemma I need to start pondering.. what the heck to put in it???:confused: I have humbly come to this group for some much needed advice.

I really want some color as we put in a lava rock and some gray rocks for hiding places and used a small/med type gravely (is that a word???) substrate. So the tank leans on more of a brownish/greenish natural color scheme. Fake plants... I am still a bit leary of going live.... I have seen some brilliant blue and yellow cichlids, but I really want to have several specimens and since the cichlids get kinda big, that would limit my # of scaley friends. I have heard of a dwarf variety, but not having any experience with any cichlids, not sure how colorful they are or easy to keep.

My 29 gal has some green and regular neons, rios, black skirts, Siamese algae eaters and a green cory. So I don't want to stock those again. It will be a FW tank, though I LOVE the colors of the salties! Not sure I want to go to all the trouble setting one up like I did years ago... sigh.

So, here are the criteria in a nutshell.... FW species, colorful and easy to find, 4" maximum at adulthood. The Poll is now open. :hehe:

TIA for all your advice... looking forward to learning a lot more here!

[biggin]

If by Dwarf you are thinking Apistos you will be disappointed to know that 2-3 pairs will be all you can handle....and they like a lower PH and live plants... nice thing is they stay to be bottom layer and you could do other dither fish in the mid and top layer.

You could go with some of the smaller cichilds and get some nice color....

Just a few...

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=707
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1733
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1371

[xtc]

boy do I envy your position!!

IMHO- if you've already put the plants and substrate in- you've almost completely narrowed down the available fish you plan to keep. It's gunna be hard to do Malawi/Tang. cichlids (and them look good/right). Plus, you'll have to work at keeping the PH up.

But the dwarf Apisto's could be fun- although not as hearty a fish. Since they require softer water, you might have that range now. They certainly have some good color...but they can be pricey. Go easy on the Kribensis- while cheap and colorful- they can bully anything else you might put in there.

You might also consider a "pet" type fish like an Oscar, or a Acara or some other "pet" type fish, then throw some barbs and that SAE in.

IF I were in your shoes, based on what you are saying you'd like- I'd back step and change the substrate to cheap pulverized limestone and some holy rock and do a tanganyikan cichlid tank. a 55 is about perfect for a couple shell dwellers, some Calvus and a few mid level fish.

Otherwise, I'd keep the substrate, get a good light and plant it- then put 3-4 types of Apisto's, Acara's, mollies and enjoy.

Either route will work out fine- enjoy the journey.

[AndrewH]

On a note other than cichlids, my personal preference for colorful fish are the gouramis and dwarf gouramis. Most species stay near or below 4" at adult and there are many color varieties to chose from. They stay peaceful except around breeding time when the males can get a little aggressive (my blue gourami only chases the other fish away from the upper corner were the eggs are and only when there are eggs in the nest).

They're great, hearty fish that will accept most water conditions (high-low pH, lower oxygen level, etc.).

http://www.dfwfishbox.com/forumdisplay.php?f=73

Check out this section of our forums for some idea of these species ;)

[biggin]

The Blues and Opilines I have kept in a 55g have been killers....

I kinda think Andrews 90g gives enough space....

On a note other than cichlids, my personal preference for colorful fish are the gouramis and dwarf gouramis. Most species stay near or below 4" at adult and there are many color varieties to chose from. They stay peaceful except around breeding time when the males can get a little aggressive (my blue gourami only chases the other fish away from the upper corner were the eggs are and only when there are eggs in the nest).

They're great, hearty fish that will accept most water conditions (high-low pH, lower oxygen level, etc.).

http://www.dfwfishbox.com/forumdisplay.php?f=73

Check out this section of our forums for some idea of these species ;)

[kewlkatdady]

if you want to go shellies....change the substrate to sand or something finer than gravel...

they'll act more natural in a sandy substrate

[tsunderl]

What??? Nobody's suggested aligators like was suggested to me when I asked this question??? Grrrr!

Anyway, I'd do a nice community tank... Similar to how I have my 135. I've got mollies, swords, platies, neons, cories, skunk botias, dojo loach, striated loach... Just a nice mix of color and movement, easy to find, easy to keep.

I like the gourami idea, but some can get aggressive. The guy at Exotic Aquatics is a good source on who likes who. Maybe an angel tank...

As you said, decisions, decisions. I'm still pondering what to put in my 180 and change my mind hourly. Good luck!

[fishyjoe24]

rainbows,or rasboras

[Haiven]

If you could live with 5" fish, I think you should do a Malawi tank with Peacocks, Electric Yellows and Haps. They'll be peaceful and colorful.

[Shayman10]

I think Biggin had some good suggestions. Yellow Labs, Rusties and some Afras.

If I had a 55 laying around........15 Demasoni, 4 Acei and 4 Yellow Labs!!

I love cichlids....what can I say.

Good Luck on the decision!

[REYREY]

PIRAHNAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUST KIDDING...not really...but for this post I am...

on the tank and mates...

color... blood parrots... jack dempsys,,, mbawis.... have lots of movement....

OR... good old goldfish!!!! about 5 or so...they will grow up nicely in that tank!


pirahnas.... come on.... good color!!!!

[kewlkatdady]

mbuna means lots of color and movement...


haps and peacocks are another neat tank...

you could prolly get 10-12 full size mbuna, haps, and/or peacocks in your 55 as long as you have plenty of rock or other hiding spots.

[fishcrazy]

Thanks for all the ideas... will surely keep them in mind when the tank finished cycling. We have to take one of the light fixtures back to EA cause once we finally got a bulb for the fixture, we have found it does not work.. Checked the bulb in the other fixture and it does... sigh.. oh well looks like another long, long road trip back to Plano... ugh!

[fishcrazy]

Sorry if this is not the correct section for this, but it is about this same tank...... I have been on the cycling job now for 2 full weeks.... fishless, of course, but it does not appear to even be starting.... never had this large of a tank before. Is there something I can do to jumpstart it? I thought of maybe adding some TurboStart bacteria, but my Ammo is at 0 so there is nothing for it to eat.... is this just tanking longer because of the large size of the tank? I would have thought I'd see some sort of budge in one of the test tubes...sigh....

What do y'all think of adding some shrimp at this point... would that help or just endanger the little guys????

My params are:

PH 7.8
Ammo 0
NitrItes 0
NitrAtes 0


Has been this way since day one.

I put a filter cartridge in the filter from my 29 gal I have going. It was in that filter for about a week, wouldn't it have enough bacteria in it or did I kill them by not having any Ammo in the new tank for em???? Sorry for all the dumb questions, just never had this issue before or this big a tank.

Thanks for all y'all's help!

A

[AndrewH]

These aren't dumb questions!!! These are the questions every aquarium keeper has :).

There has to be nitrogen in the water before you can grow or maintain bacteria. There are two different bacteria that grow in the tank. 1 than eats ammonia and turn it into nitrIte and 1 that eats nitrIte and turns it into nitrAte.

If there is nothing in the tank to provide ammonia (or an external ammonia sourse) then there is nothing to keep the bacteria alive.

Most people put in some "starter" fish to provide the ammonia the bateria need. Since you're using established filter pads, you can more than likely stock the 55 with 5-10 fish without putting them in danger. The main thing is to just keep an eye on your readings and if one or more get outta wack, do water changes to bring it back (but you do want the readings to be higher than 0 to keep the bateria alive).

Right now, your bateria probably died off. I would recommend taking the filter media you put onto the 55 back onto the 29, and putting a different one from the 29 onto the 55 (swap em out so to speak). Then add some fish to the 55 so to keep the bateria alive.

I'm not too sure how shrimp would do in the tank right now (they don't provide much bio load for the bateria to eat). Maybe get a few fish in there then add some shrimp later, unless this is going to be a shrimp only tank.

[fishyjoe24]

try turbo start. cost about 10 to 20 bucks if i remember right.