tank is well broken in, needs new fish, but some questions..

[thetmaxx]

My 55 gal has been running well for a while now, I started with 2 corys, now there are 6 corydoras, LOL (like bunnies) but i had to save some fish my brother was killing and, basicly i have:
6 corydoras
2 CAE
1 SAE
1 OTTO
4 Tetras (columbian, Lemon)
1 Tiger barb
1 cherry barb

I am going to probably get rid of all corys but the newest baby, the cae's as they are older now(2yrs) and worthless. I want to keep the otto, the sae, and im up in the air about the rest. Mainly I want a larger fish, more of a centerpeice, so I'm thinking of a rainbow shark, and a black angelfish. I really wanted a discus until i saw the price. I was curious though if the angel, ranbow, and maybe later a discus would be good community tropical fishes.

I had gourmi's but they all got sick in like 6 months, and it was the same thing killing them, couldn't figure out what it ws because it kille dthem so quickly there was no time for and meds to work. so i'm kindda off gourmis. are they difficult to keep normally?

BTW I'm not disposing of my older fish, I'm going to donate the to Petco, as they take in u8ndesired fish, and give them to people who are intertested in them.

if anyone has some ideas of neat looking cats, or sharks, or something please suggest!! Thanks for any info you can help out with!!

 

[TCTFish]

If you ever plan on having discus, read up on them extensively before ever doing so. Not only are they expensive, but very delicate and difficult and rather demanding in special care. Also...angels and discus should never be housed together. Angels carry a bacteria that can kill discus. Granted they are from the same South American Amazon river, but they do occupy different areas of the river.

Gouramis are one of the more easier fish to keep. They are designed to withstand low oxygen (due to their labyrinth organ allowing them to breathe surface air) and seem to be quite durable in a variety of different environments, so long as the water quality remains stable. Without knowing details of what killed the gouramis you have, it's impossible to know what killed them, but doesn't mean the family of fish is difficult. So keep gouramis in mind for tank mates, but you don't want to have so many gouramis. They are a semi aggressive fish where males are relentless in attacking other male gouramis. They need their space. Depending on species, yellows, blues and opalines...no more than a pair in a 55 gallon tank. Dwarfs like the cinnimons and blues maybe up to four males or two pairs. The true dwarfs such as the honey dwarfs are the least aggressive and one of the smaller species getting only 3". Still don't want to over crowd them, but they are more docile and less likely to cause aggression problems.

You mentioned about getting rid of all but one cory. Cory cats should be in a school of at least three.

Pictus cats are neat and don't get too big (6" to 7"). Sun cats, synodontis cats, upside down cats, are cool. Stay away from silver tips. Though they are neat looking cats, they will outgrow the 55. They can get about a foot in length. Keep the bottom feeder population to a minimum to avoid aggression among them.

Have you thought about rainbow fish? They are one of the most beautiful!! of freshwater fish next to discus. May be a nice alternative to discus if you are not into doing what needs to be done to keep discus alive.

 

[thetmaxx]

thank you for the excellent info. i'll definatly read up a little on some of the fish you mentioned.

btw, i had a upside down catfish before, and all it did was hide. i never saw it!! quite frustrating, as it was a very cool fish!!

 

[TCTFish]

Most catfish are nocturnal so daytime is generally spent resting in their caves or holes. They wake up after the lights are out. You can observe nocturnal activity with a moonlight. Looks cool too

 

[Guest]

cory catfish and oto's both like to be in schools. So do barbs and tetras.

The rainbow shark is a good idea with your current setup but if you want angelfish you will probably want to at least get rid of the tiger barb. If you do get angels i would suggest you up teh school of tetras and if you really want barbs.. up the school of cherry barbs. Both schools should be at least 6-8 fish.


Get rid of both CAE--- they are as you say worthless. YOur better off just keeping the SAE
Rainbow shark- I think its an excellent idea.. i love my rainbow shark!
Corys---keepp all the ones you have.. they do best in schools and excellent bottom cleaners
Angels-if you decided you want angels start by buying at least 4 so that way if one dies it willl be ok and you might get a nice pair that do well together and might even spawn. Sometimes angels can be delicate so don't be frustrated if your first batch dies out on you. YOu may want to buy them a bit bigger to ensure hardiness.
Tetras/Barbs- choose carfully.. they should be in schools. Choose what you want to keep but remmeber tiger barbs are tough to keep with angels. Sometimes if you get a large enough school they may be fine but they are fin nippers and i tried it with angels without luck. Tetra's are really great to have with angels as long as they are big (EX-no neons.. they will get eatin)

 

[thetmaxx]

thanks for the great information, i'm taking your advise, and picking up a few angels, some more ottos, and probably getting rid of the barbs, although my tiger barb thinks he is a columbian tetra, LOL and the cherry barbs, kindda hang out with them selfs... but who knows that they would do with the large fins of and angel...