Help me with stocking my new 55

[exodus]

Hey everyone.

Got the tank up and running as you may have seen from my other threads, and its cycling now with the help of filter and fish from my 10g.

As far as fish I want to keep, I really dont know for sure what I want, which is where I need some help. I took a shot at this before, which was somewhat unsuccessful.

I know I want a community tank of peaceful/semiagressives, looking for a colorful and active tank. Its got a few live plants in it now, which will become heavily planted over the next few weeks with low-medium light plants. It has a PFS substrate in it as well, if it makes a difference. There will soon be a second filter on the tank too, so overstocking a bit could be done.

As far as fish go, I know I'd like- (editing as we go along)

gourami (have 1 male turquoise already)
-thinking male&female golden, 2 female blue and 1 female opaline. (6 total)

a school of tiger barbs (7)

upside-down catfish(2-3)

BN Pleco

I'd also love to have 2 german blue and 2 golden rams.


So how does that look, and where does it leave me for more tankmates? I'm pretty open to suggestions, and fish with great personalities are always a plus. Maybe some others that work well as pairs?

If possible I'd also like to throw a black ghost knife in my tank. I really like them and was originally going to design the whole tank around it, but that kinda silly. If it's possible to put it in, then I'd like to, but only if it happens to work. I've read some accounts of BGK's being completely harmless to even neons, and others where every morning there are fish missing. So I thought it may be possible.

Thanks in advance, I dont know where I'd be without AA sometimes.

 

[RoK]

I'd personally skip the honey gourami because generally dwarf and larger gouramis don't go too well. The larger ones will usually pester the smaller.
Is the one you already have a dwarf? If so, you should probably stick with them and a honey gourami should be ok.
Besides that, the stocking looks good. Maybe add a dwarf pleco, such as a bristlenose or rubberlip?

 

[exodus]

I'd personally skip the honey gourami because generally dwarf and larger gouramis don't go too well. The larger ones will usually pester the smaller.
Is the one you already have a dwarf? If so, you should probably stick with them and a honey gourami should be ok.
Besides that, the stocking looks good. Maybe add a dwarf pleco, such as a bristlenose or rubberlip?

Ah yes, plecos. forgot to put it on the list.

1-2 BN plecos then, added to the list.

Gourami I have now is full size, so I guess I'll change the honey to a different female gourami.

 

[exodus]

Thinking about other fish to add, how about a redtail shark and two clown loaches?

 

[justrelax]

if you havn't yet considered a tetra of some sort, imo you should. i have 7 black skirts in my 55 and they are a trip to watch. always schooling, playing, being curious. not the brightest coloring, but their active nature makes them really great. they are also kind of big for a tetra (2-2.5") so they can hold their own fairly well. just a suggestion, i love mine! also, check out lonebluewolf's 75 gal diary. there's some serpea tetra's in there that look pretty sweet, and i'm told they're a great addition to any community as well. good luck!

 

[RoK]

Gourami I have now is full size, so I guess I'll change the honey to a different female gourami.

Well, what I was really asking is if your gourami is a dwarf gourami? They only get to about 2.5-3" while the 3 spot's can get near 6".
Dwarf: http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/gourami.jpg
3 spot: http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/other/Tricho.JPG

 

[unfamous]

a red tailed shark would be awsome..imo!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Red Tail Shark would go great. Won't bother the other fish either.

 

[exodus]

Gourami I have now is full size, so I guess I'll change the honey to a different female gourami.

Well, what I was really asking is if your gourami is a dwarf gourami? They only get to about 2.5-3" while the 3 spot's can get near 6".
Dwarf: http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/gourami.jpg
3 spot: http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/other/Tricho.JPG

The blue that I have is not a dwarf.


And I guess we get a redtail shark then

I've thought about some tetras, I've just tried to steer clear of them since its mainly what I have in my other 10g tank. If i cant find anything else that tickles my fancy though, I just might have to add a school of tetra