Reccomendation please

[justrelax]

I have always thought catfish were super cool. I'm wondering if my 55 gallon can handle another larger fish, and if so, hoping I could get some reccomendations from people. This is what is in there now:
1 apple snail
2 mystery snails
2 otto cats
1 common pleco (soon to be none)
1 albino bn pleco
4 almost mature angelfish (soon to be 2)
7 black skirt tetras
4 penguin tetras (soon to be none)
I'd like something in the 4-8 inch area if possible. For filtration I use the xp2, and I keep pristine water. pH 7.6
Thanx, looking forward to the opinions.

 

[WaterPond]

Most catfish grow more than 8 inches, I think you have a nice stock as is. Personally i wounden't add anything new. But if you really want to, i think the only onces that would fit in that tank would be sqeakers, upside down catfish, or Rapheal striped catfish. I personally like the sqeakers the best. I dont even know the agression level of these fish either, so you would have to do some more research.

 

[Jchillin]

I hesitate to offer a suggestion due to the "common" pleco. Now if you were going to upgrade and move the pleco, then a syndontis would work. Waterpond's suggestion of the squeaker is good. Take a look in the fish profiles, there's a profile of them there.

 

[justrelax]

Edited the post to reflect the future of the common pleco. I knew when I bought him that he would end up too big for that tank, so I have a buddy with a 125 lined up to take him anytime.
I do like that featherfin squeaker. One profile i found mentions possible aggression towards pleco's. Can anyone validate this? It would be housed with an albino bn.

 

[Alshain]

If you were to get rid of what you say your going to, I think you could hold a few cory cats. They are my favorite.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Striped Raphaels are very pretty fish, but I think they hide most of the time. What about some of the larger cories? Paleatus, Bronze, Albino, or Emerald would be nice...they do stay smaller than what you are looking for though.

 

[justrelax]

I thought about going with cories, but decided I wanted something bigger. What about pictus cats? Anyone familiar with them? I'm finding conflicting profiling. Some say 50+ gallons, some say 70+...

Anyone???

 

[ksfishguy]

My neighbor has a pictus cat. His pictus is always hiding and I have hardly ever seen him. I hear he comes out at night and is fun to watch.

What about a pair of columbia sharks? These guys are wild and fun!

 

[hc8719]

arent pictus/columbian sharks bw fish when they age?

go for some upside down cats or glass cats

and btw relaxer, apple and mystery snails are the same thing

 

[physicsdude]

There is a few plecos who stay in a reasonable size range, according to Dr. Foster and Smith. Heres a link of some of the species that are often sold at pet stores close to where I live:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?pCatId=837

The candy and tiger plecos stay in a reasonable size range. Just my 5 cents...

 

[RoK]

What about pictus cats? Anyone familiar with them? I'm finding conflicting profiling. Some say 50+ gallons, some say 70+...

Anyone???

A 55g should be fine for a pictus cat.

arent pictus/columbian sharks bw fish when they age?

Pictus cats are different from colombian sharks. Pictus cats are FW and always FW. Colombian sharks go from FW to SW.

 

[hc8719]

Pictus cats are different from colombian sharks. Pictus cats are FW and always FW. Colombian sharks go from FW to SW.

do you mean bw water, or really sw?

 

[RoK]

The colombian sharks need saltier water until full SW when adult. Definitely not a beginner's fish IMO.