need help with picking new fish for community tank!

[shanna4013]

Ok...so I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank medium planted and all my water perimeters are great! right now we have
6 guppies
6 black skirt tetras
3 juli corycats
3 green corycats
5 zebra danios
5 black neon tetras
2 khuli loaches
1 keyhole cichlid
I love all the small schooling fish but my boyfriend is more into the cichlids and oscar type fish because he thinks they look so much "cooler" lol. that's where the keyhole cichlid came in...we went to the lfs to get a different type of fish that he was picking out and i could not have stressed enough that i didn't want any kind of aggressive fish because i have given soo many away already that just didn't work out in our tank because i cant stand to look in the tank and see them fighting.so of course as soon as we got there he picks out the keyhole cichlid and the guy at the store assured me that he would be fine in the tank..and to my surprise he really has...he always trys to school with the catfish or the tetras and i have never had a problem with him going after any of the other fish.So my question is what other kinds of fish can you put in a community tank? my boyfriend really wants an angel fish but i have been reading that they can be somewhat aggressive.Does anybody have any ideas of different kinds of fish?( Non-aggressive of course lol) That would work out in my tank? Thanks in advance!

 

[Penguin]

Ok...so I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank medium planted and all my water perimeters are great! right now we have
6 guppies
6 black skirt tetras
3 juli corycats
3 green corycats
5 zebra danios
5 black neon tetras
2 khuli loaches
1 keyhole cichlid
I love all the small schooling fish but my boyfriend is more into the cichlids and oscar type fish because he thinks they look so much "cooler" lol. that's where the keyhole cichlid came in...we went to the lfs to get a different type of fish that he was picking out and i could not have stressed enough that i didn't want any kind of aggressive fish because i have given soo many away already that just didn't work out in our tank because i cant stand to look in the tank and see them fighting.so of course as soon as we got there he picks out the keyhole cichlid and the guy at the store assured me that he would be fine in the tank..and to my surprise he really has...he always trys to school with the catfish or the tetras and i have never had a problem with him going after any of the other fish.So my question is what other kinds of fish can you put in a community tank? my boyfriend really wants an angel fish but i have been reading that they can be somewhat aggressive.Does anybody have any ideas of different kinds of fish?( Non-aggressive of course lol) That would work out in my tank? Thanks in advance!

2 german blue rams (peaceful dwarf cichlid)
1 bolivian ram (semi-aggressive)
more corys you can never go wrong with corys
you can get 1 gourami and 1 double full red cockatoo
but you can't have the bolivian ram and german blues together unless you want a blood bath

 

[shanna4013]

Thanks for the reply! would the ram and the and the cichlid be ok together?I wanted to get a gourami but i was also just reading that they will go after any other kind of fish the same color as them and they can also be aggressive.I just worry about the existing fish in my tank...most of them,when we originally got them were crammed in a little 10 gallon tank and i went and added all new stuff(filters gravel decorations ect.)of course,after ruining all the good stuff in the tank i discovered the nitrogen cycle and went through almost 2 months of daliy water changes (No test kit at first, so i had to be better safe then sorry lol)just to keep them alive and well until we got a bigger tank for them.now they are all thriving and doing extremely well so i just dont wont to disturb their happy little lives with some fish thats gunna bully them...I know it sounds a little "crazy fish lady" haha but after all the back breaking water changes i got a little attached to them lol but gotta keep the boyfriend happy too i guess

 

[Penguin]

Thanks for the reply! would the ram and the and the cichlid be ok together?I wanted to get a gourami but i was also just reading that they will go after any other kind of fish the same color as them and they can also be aggressive.I just worry about the existing fish in my tank...most of them,when we originally got them were crammed in a little 10 gallon tank and i went and added all new stuff(filters gravel decorations ect.)of course,after ruining all the good stuff in the tank i discovered the nitrogen cycle and went through almost 2 months of daliy water changes (No test kit at first, so i had to be better safe then sorry lol)just to keep them alive and well until we got a bigger tank for them.now they are all thriving and doing extremely well so i just dont wont to disturb their happy little lives with some fish thats gunna bully them...I know it sounds a little "crazy fish lady" haha but after all the back breaking water changes i got a little attached to them lol but gotta keep the boyfriend happy too i guess

The ram should be okay with the keyhole cichlid as long as you keep a big enough tank. Thing is rams are very sensitive to fluctuations in water quality also they need water temps of 80-82 degrees. You really have to be on top of water changes with the rams if you want to be successful with the rams. By the way welcome to Aquarium Advice!

 

[NigelK8485]

I'd skip the rams and go with an acara, either blue, electric blue, or port.

With cichlids it'll always be a toss up on if aggression comes out. Right now your keyhole may be peaceful but he's probably claimed the entire tank as his. With the introduction of another cichlid there will be a threat to his territory so the chances of aggression rise significantly. Rearrange the tank when you introduce the new cichlid, if you need to separate the keyhole from the tank and let the new fish get a feel for the surroundings for a day before putting the keyhole back. They'll need to establish a pecking order, just make sure it doesn't get out of hand.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Marvin4o9]

Sword tails for sure, great community fish, very active and come in different shades of colors, you can also breed them easy and they arnt small or big, honestly my first fish I bought were the glofish tetras, and bought a couple of different tetras, great at first but once I bought u a sword tail or two and saw how active and fun they were, I'm thinking about only having a swordtail/platy tank now


Located in Groves Texas

 

[Coursair]

Black Skirts can be very nippy with long finned fish like Angels.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[NigelK8485]

Black Skirts can be very nippy with long finned fish like Angels.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Or swordtails.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[shanna4013]

I dont think i really want to put another cichlid in the tank..I would almost consider out keyhole the king of the tank but hes atually a big baby..when we got out khulu loaches i was really worried because they were really tiny and i was sure he was going to think they were food but hes pretty scared of them,,,they come out and start swimming around and he backs away from them! I just dont want to have another cichlid and worry about those 2 getting into it

 

[shanna4013]

I think I might give the sword tails a go! my boyfriend actually agrees on the haha Thanks for all your help! and thank god for these forums!!! No offence to them...put the people at most of the pet stores have no idea what they are talking about so its great to get real help from you guys!

 

[Marvin4o9]

You won't regret it! Very fun to watch and you can try to breed different pairs to get a new color hopefully


Located in Groves Texas

 

[Marvin4o9]

Also if you want platies can breed with swordtails, I bought two sail fin platies yesterday, now time to wait till the male breeds them and hope to get some swordtails with sail find


Located in Groves Texas

 

[NigelK8485]

I think I might give the sword tails a go! my boyfriend actually agrees on the haha Thanks for all your help! and thank god for these forums!!! No offence to them...put the people at most of the pet stores have no idea what they are talking about so its great to get real help from you guys!

Just be careful if you want to maintain your peaceful tank. Be sure to get a good male to female ratio otherwise they will terrorize each other. In my experience swordtails are little jerks. I kept all males and I had one guy who would constantly go around nipping the others. Also, as Coursair pointed out, black skirt tetras are prone to be nippy towards long fin fish.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[ImACoolguy]

Black Skirts can be very nippy with long finned fish like Angels.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

I have 5 skirts and an angel in the same tank. They avoid each other and no signs of nipped fins...yet..


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS