[clossboss]

i just picked up a 55g tank, 2 hoods, 1 light, a tetra whisper 60, 2 boxes of filters, a 200w heater and a bunch of misc. stuff for 60 bucks on craigslist. just needed a good cleaning and the owner had no time to clean it after she lost her fish in a power outage. finished cleaning it out today and got it filled and started on cycling. im wanting to set it up as a south american tank but cant decide on stocking, can anyone give suggestions on what i can fit in a 55? *** read the cookie cutter list but would like some other options. thanks!

p.s: some of the fish im interested in are angelfish, firemouths, flowerhorns, texas, EBJD, bigger fish in general i suppose.

 

[Isis24]

That's a pretty sweet deal!!!!

Most of the fish in your list are too big for this tank. Firemouths may work, but I don't know much about them. A good set up might involve a pair of Angels, since you said you like those. I'd get 6, wait for two to pair off, and then return the rest. This tank will be too small for all 6 angels.

Then, you could also have a pair of dwarf cichlids for the bottom of the tank. A great species is Mikrogeophagus altispinosus. Bolivian Rams. They're great--I have two pairs in my 50 gallon, but they're the only cichlids in there.

Then, for extra action in the tank, you could add a school of tetras. Angels are known to eat small tetras, so be careful about which ones you choose. Since I assume you'd be getting young angels, it will be quite awhile before they'd be big enough to try to eat any tetras.

So, in summary, this would work:

A pair of Angelfish
A pair of Bolivian Rams
15-20 tetras

 

[cichlid_kid96]

firemouth, flowerhorns,ebjd, and texas are central american. firemouths only get about 6" long and the texas get 12" and most flowerhorns get about 15". if u were to get a flowerhorn u could maybe get away with one. if u got texas if female u could probably do two females if males u will have a death because in my experience males are very intolerant of other males and get very aggressive when females are around. you could put like 3 ebjd's because they dont get quite as big as regular jd's or as aggressive. with the firemouths maybe 4 but it all depends on whether u get males or females. i would probably do 1 texas with 2 firemouths.

 

[Isis24]

That is cruel. Would you like to live in a glass box where you can only take at most 2 steps left and right, and only one step back? That's what he'd be doing to that poor flowerhorn. I wouldn't even keep one in my 125G. A firemouth might work, but even then, I think that's pushing it. a 55 gallon is only 12 inches wide.

I'm not trying to be mean, but I think people that keep fish in such small enclosures need to open their eyes and realize what they're really doing to these fish.

 

[adam79]

That is cruel. Would you like to live in a glass box where you can only take at most 2 steps left and right, and only one step back? That's what he'd be doing to that poor flowerhorn. I wouldn't even keep one in my 125G. A firemouth might work, but even then, I think that's pushing it. a 55 gallon is only 12 inches wide.

I'm not trying to be mean, but I think people that keep fish in such small enclosures need to open their eyes and realize what they're really doing to these fish.

I agree that a tank width equal or less than the length of a fish, should eliminate them from consideration, but I think firemouths are an excellent choice. If a 6 inch firemouth is pushing it, then a 6 inch angelfish would too.

 

[Valous]

Stocking a 55 has many options. but as stated the best option I would think is the firemouth, ebjd, or angel. I have not kept angels but I do have a firemouth and ebjd. they are slower growers so you wont think that they need a bigger tank for a while.