help. need tank mates

[steeledarren]

hi there, i have just recently cycled my 55 gallon cube, after moving house, currently i have 6 peppered corys, one otto, and 3 amano shrimp, could anyone recommend a good schooling fish, also what else could i have, just after a bit of freindly advice. this is the best palce to get it

 

[Homedog98]

What are your water parameters? I like black skirts, but they shoal more then they school. Neons are cool, but are really sensitive... Maybe some rosy barbs?

 

[KevinES]

I love Congo tetras. They can be a bit pricey but reasonable if you get them small. They get up to 3.5 inches and are very pretty and active.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Glow lights, Rummynoses, Serpeas, Black Phantoms, Tiger Barbs, Neons, Cardinals, Pencil Fish, Siamese Algea Eaters
All of the above school

 

[tyspot1000]

Assuming that your parameters are fine (Since you already have an oto), I would recommend getting more oto's, they do better in schools of 3 or more.

Some schooling fish you could look into are: Neon tetra, Cardinal tetra, Black neon tetra, Glowlite tetra, Cherry barbs, Kerri tetras, or harlequin rasboras (There are many more option, but I listed the ones I like best).

I disagree adding Tiger barbs would be a good tank-mate. As being an aggressive fin-nipper, they best kept in a species only tank (Sometimes, they are even known to kill their tank-mates or even their school mates.)

 

[Homedog98]

I said rosy barbs. In my experience, they are great fish, and are good in community fish, but every fish is different... so who knows!

 

[tyspot1000]

Jason said tiger barbs....not you.

 

[HN1]

A ton of possibilities and good suggestions above.

Also, let's see... Flame, kerri, emperor, lemon, kitty, bleeding heart, etc. tetra.

Larger danios or lots of small ones... Smaller rainbows. The only barbs that I'd recommend for that footprint would be rosy, cherry, or rhombo. Depends on what you like, your patience level and budget. You've got a nice blank palette to work with.

 

[Morgie]

I agree and wouldn't go with a tiger barb. In my experience with them they've been bullies. How about a school of ghost (glass) catfish? They don't get too big and are always fun to look at. :>
I've got a growing school myself and whenever my little six year old cousin comes over he's fascinated by them. They will need some kind of hiding place/plant to hide in occasionally. They like low lighting.

Any of the above suggestions all sound fine too. (I love small rainbows)

 

[Homedog98]

Oh, my bad

 

[redruckus]

FishProfiles.com - Profile List hope this helps... also ther are a few barbs that do well if they are in schools they tend to be more agressive if they arnt in schools of at least 3..also 55gal cube seriously get a couple discus or angels...discus are 100x more hardy then every one leads on get 2-3 of them about 3-4" in size same with the angels and they will do amazing in your tank the angels i would put in right away because they are very harty but i would give it another week or so befor i added discus both angels and discus do well together and have been known to shoal as a group this would give the tank balance alot of nice small fish with a few larger ones just make shure you have a few plants so the smaller fish can hide if they need to but that would only be a problem if you under feed and the big fish go looking for little fish to eat

 

[KevinES]

Are you looking for a large group of small fish or a small group of medium size fish?

 

[steeledarren]

Thanks. Never thought about discus before. I like rosy barbs. There're are so many choices. What about barbs and cardinal tetras

 

[Jason7894561230]

Jason said tiger barbs....not you.

Lol, i was really just putting segguestions out there. Lol

 

[steeledarren]

Today I bought 6 diamond tetras. They look awesome. Could I add some angels. Or would dwarf gouramis be better?

 

[tyspot1000]

That cool. Would love to see some pics
You could probably do an angel or two.

 

[redruckus]

if you have that large of a tank i would defently go with angels get one all black and one all white and call them both michal jackson.. your tank is big enough for at least 5 angels if you dont want discus in the future i would go with 3 smaller angels about 3" then get 3 discus in a few weeks with those numbers you may even get a breeding pair of angels discus or both! just remeber to buy them smaller like 2-4" and not to get a big plate sized fish get them small and they grow to the tank.. also adding larger fish will almost garantee that any smaller fish you get in the future will school ..but on a side note a few barbs i know do well in group of 4 or more and are not bullies are cherry barbs make shure you get the yellower/paler female or the males will loose ther nice red clolour, red line barbs, checkered barbs, odessa barbs, and gold barbs all wont bully other fish in a big tank like yours in they are in at very least a group of 3 preferably 4 no fish in the general size range will bully other fish in aquariums if they are fed properly ther may be a few exceptions but if you stick with tetras barbs angels and discus pluss the fish you already have you wont have any problems

 

[tyspot1000]

if you have that large of a tank i would defently go with angels get one all black and one all white and call them both michal jackson.. your tank is big enough for at least 5 angels if you dont want discus in the future i would go with 3 smaller angels about 3" then get 3 discus in a few weeks with those numbers you may even get a breeding pair of angels discus or both! just remeber to buy them smaller like 2-4" and not to get a big plate sized fish get them small and they grow to the tank.. also adding larger fish will almost garantee that any smaller fish you get in the future will school ..but on a side note a few barbs i know do well in group of 4 or more and are not bullies are cherry barbs make shure you get the yellower/paler female or the males will loose ther nice red clolour, red line barbs, checkered barbs, odessa barbs, and gold barbs all wont bully other fish in a big tank like yours in they are in at very least a group of 3 preferably 4 no fish in the general size range will bully other fish in aquariums if they are fed properly ther may be a few exceptions but if you stick with tetras barbs angels and discus pluss the fish you already have you wont have any problems

Discus need to at least be in groups of 5 or more. Personally, I dont think the tank is big enough for 3 angels, 3 discus, and her current stock.

The thing about buying discus smaller (as in young), you would most likely have to do a water change once a day (They need pristine water conditions when young). The older one are much more easy to take care of because they do not need as many water changes (Probably 1 50% a week or 2 25% a week).

 

[redruckus]

people are so crazy about "pristine" water with discus they are 100x hartier then every one thinks even when small sure you wont get the super colour full dinner plate sized discus but it will be a smaller still perfectly healthy discus none the less ive had almost exactly her selection minus the shrimp and the otto in a 45gal long tank with 4 redline barbs, 4 checker barbs, 8 bloodfin tetras, and a school of 12 mixed glowlight/black neon/neon tera and a gibicept with 3, 3-4" discus and a breeding pair of angels that i sucessfully got 3 broods from. shure a 20% water change was needed twice a month to keep paramiters down but if you have a decent bio filter and dont kill it with 50% changes once a week your tank will have higher then average paramaters to start but it will naturaly level it self out floating plants help alot with keeping them down aswell it doesnt need to be 0-0-0 all the time thats rediculous with the discus not doing well in groups the angels do the same thing as the other discus ive seen the shoal together on many occasions

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Odessa barbs get some great color and mine haven't been bullies in the least bit. If you're looking for a kind of centerpiece fish I would suggest a blue lyre tail killifish. They don't get that big and have very, very beautiful colors. Some lfs (excluding petco and the like) will have them. Just saying. And I agree that 3 angelfish 3 discus and the rest of your stock will be fine when young, but you'll soon find it a wee bit cramped in there...