What do you all think?

[Reese299]

I'm setting up my 55 gallon tank over the next few weeks and here's what I've got lined up by suggestions from many forum members.

Tank Setup:
55 Gallon tank
Fluorite substrate covered in pool sand
low light plants yet to be selected (suggestions welcome)
canister filter
bubble wall for looks and surface action
plastic stack rocks
plastic hollow log

Fish:
4 Angel Fish
1 Rainbow Shark
1 Plecostomus (after a few weeks)
7-10 Neon Tetras

I'm considering things like:
Silver spotted catfish
FW Puffer
Barbs
Swordtails
Dwarf Gourami
Loach or small
Ghost Shrimp

Suggestions on the combinations of these are welcome.

Also, comments on the tank or selections are welcome as well. I'll work on getting some pics up of my progress on this...

Thanks!

 

[theotheragentm]

The Pleco is going to mix up your substrate pretty quickly.

 

[Reese299]

point..

Thanks!
Good point... suggestions for an alternative algae eater?

 

[theotheragentm]

By FW Puffer, did you mean Dwarf Puffer? Dwarf Puffers are very aggressive.

As far as algae eaters go, I wouldn't rely on a critter to do it. They generally are either too big for tanks they can keep up with or they do an inefficient job. Most fish will dig around in the substrate, as will snails.

 

[odessadude]

The Neons are what the Angels eat in the wild, so that combo will work for a few days / weeks at best. I agree with theotheragentm above. Don't rely on a critter for algae. A lot of people will think that algae eaters will solve all of your algae woes, but in reality the the only good way to control this is with good old fashion cleaning and maintaining good water quality amongst other things. A Pleco will get to big in the long run. I have tried those little algae eaters in the past, but they also like to munch on the live plants if you intend on keeping any.

 

[Zagz]

Definately don't keep angels and neons together. Disaster waiting to happen. Look at dwarf plecos such as bristlenose. My bristlenose don't touch my plants. Skip the puffer they should be in a species only tank IMO. Also I would not get the spotted catfish for that tank. A true SAE would be nice for that tank if you go planted. They do eat algae, although not to be confused with a CAE and that is not a fish you want to get.

 

[theotheragentm]

Since the acronym translations are down, I'll define.

SAE = Siamese Algae Eater
CAE = Chinese Algae Eater

Check out this link. You definitely don't want the CAE as they get aggressive when they are larger. I would take both their names with a grain of salt though. Neither will eat much algae if the tank is well fed. They get lazy and go straight for food that you feed.

 

[Reese299]

esxcellent!

Excellent advise - thanks!!!

How about Swordtails and Angles (angels are the main stay...) or small tetras (glass?) and Angles?

Any thought or preferences on a Loach or Eel?

Do you forsee any problems with a shrimp or a Gourami and Angles ?

How about 5/6 corys and the Rainbow Shark? Any problems there?

Thanks again for the advise!

 

[theotheragentm]

I can totally read your excitement in your post. I love it.

Angels and smaller fish are not a good combination. You'll get the Angels eating them. Cories would work well on the substrate or some of the Dwarf Loaches. I'm not so sure about how well a shark would work. Someone else can chime in on that.

 

[odessadude]

I think a Clown Loach will live pretty good with about any thing you have listed. Just remember that pretty much any fish will eat another if it will fit in it's mouth.

Sword Tails and Angels will do fine with each other.

Gouramis and Angels OK with each other.

Corys will live with all of the above.

If you have time research some fish that live in the same water in the wild. I always preferred tanks in their natural settings with plants etc, but your mileage may vary.

Here are some pictures of my tanks.

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg8/odessadude/?albumview=link

1 x 135 gallon
3 X 40 gallons
2 X 29 gallons

And I bought a 55 this weekend.

The other pictures in this album are from my project when I put the aquarium in the wall.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I'm setting up my 55 gallon tank over the next few weeks and here's what I've got lined up by suggestions from many forum members.

Tank Setup:
Fluorite substrate covered in pool sand

The sand is eventually going to settle on the bottom and flourite on top. I'd do either or, but not both. If you do low light plants, you don't really need Flourite.

Fish:
4 Angel Fish
1 Rainbow Shark
1 Plecostomus (after a few weeks)
7-10 Neon Tetras

Like stated above, Angels eat Neons in the wild and in fish tanks, so you'll have to choose another tetra, or forget the Angels.

4 Angels might be a lot in a 55g. Its always a gamble keeping a group of Angels together, as you may have some pairing off which leads to aggression. My suggestion would be to start with 4-5 small Angels, let 2 pair off and get rid of the extras.

I'm considering things like:
Silver spotted catfish
FW Puffer
Barbs
Swordtails
Dwarf Gourami
Loach or small
Ghost Shrimp

I'm not sure what you mean by Silver spotted catfish. Do you mean Cories by chance? Or could you link me to a pic of what you are referring to?

*Puffers are out. They don't play nicely and are nippy/aggressive, so really need a species tank.
*Most Barbs are nippy, so I'd replace them with a peaceful tetra or rasbora that isn't too small to get eaten. Cherry Barbs are an exception. You'll want to keep them in a ratio of atleast 2 females per male.
*I'd skip the Dwarf Gourami. They are like little dogs and have big attitudes (like they think they are big and bad). You could try Pearl Gouramis with Angels, but since you plan on having more than one Angel, I would skip the Gouramis. They can live peacefully sometimes, but alot of times it doesn't turn out well.
*Angels will eat Ghost shrimp for sure. You can pretty much rule out shrimp if you plan on Angels and/or Loaches.

How about Swordtails and Angles (angels are the main stay...) or small tetras (glass?) and Angles?

Any thought or preferences on a Loach or Eel?

Do you forsee any problems with a shrimp or a Gourami and Angles ?

How about 5/6 corys and the Rainbow Shark? Any problems there?

I haven't heard anything negative about Swordtails and Angels, so they should be fine.

Some small tetras would work with Angels, but make sure they are large enough to not get eaten (bigger than a Neon). Rummynose tetras, Black Neons, Lemon tetras, Pristellas, Flame Tetras, etc....are some that would be fine).

Most eels will eat small fish and almost all of them hide 90% of the time, so you'll never see them. Loaches would be fine. For a 55g, I'd choose something that maxes out at 4-5", since you'll need a group of them. Zebra, Polka Dot, Kuhli, Yoyos and Dwarf Chain Loaches would all work. I'd have no less than 5. If you want Cories as well, I'd skip the Yoyos, as they can be kind of pushy and usually outcompete cories for food.

The Rainbow shark shouldn't bother the cories. Usually they mind their own business, from what I've read. They can be aggressive towards other Rainbow sharks though, so just stick with one. I'd bump the cories up to 8-10. They'll be happier the more you have.

Sorry its so long!

 

[Skyrmir]

Excellent advise - thanks!!!

How about Swordtails and Angles (angels are the main stay...) or small tetras (glass?) and Angles?

Any thought or preferences on a Loach or Eel?

Do you forsee any problems with a shrimp or a Gourami and Angles ?

How about 5/6 corys and the Rainbow Shark? Any problems there?

Thanks again for the advise!

Small tetras tend to be sensitive to water parameters, and tend to fit in Angel mouths. I've had good luck with Rasboras myself, and they make for good schools. Swordtails/Mollies/Platies all work as well, they tend to be dirty fish though, so go light on how many you put in there. Plus they're live breeders, so you may end up with more if they're are safe places for fry to hide.

Loaches are really cool fish, though they tend to be shy. Not a big deal, unless you get the rainbow shark. The cories are always a great fish, fun to watch when they get playful too.

The gourami's and angels don't get along so much as learn to ignore each other. They're too big for eating and too dangerous for fighting, so they tend to avoid each other. Both great fish though, and the gourami's have some nice colors you can go with. Just watch out for the dyed ones.

 

[Reese299]

wow

Wow - excellent advise all of this... really appreciated...

Since the Angles are a must for me (childhood favorite), I'm going to go with about 4 of them to start anyway. I read a posst where the Gourami was like a watchdog in the tank and sort of kept others at bay... I had some blue gouramis a while ago and they got HUGE (5" or so) and were very nippy so I don't like them much - thought a dwarf might be better and not get so big - definatley not a 'must' for me though and I'll drop that.

Interesting about the floutrite/sand mix... I'm picking up the sand tonight and the flourite is in the mail from www.drsfostersmith.com - it was under $15 there and $25 at Petsmart both were 15 lb bags and the shipping was a flat $10 - so I saved some cash that way. The Sand is cheap so maybe I can just mix it? I have been reading and understood that Flourite was a good substrate for plants and that enough sand over top worked out well too - thought is sounded like a good alternative to eco-complete for the money anyway.

I'll give it a shot - I'm thinking about 1 1/2 to 2" of flourite with about 2 inches of sand over it - maybe 2" of sand on top in front and 4" on top in back or something... I've already got it so I'll try it and see how it goes... worst case I can clean the flourite and remove the sand right?

The silver spotted catfish are another childhood favorite and I see them at the Walmart, PetsMart and lfs all the time (note that I would not buy the fish from Walmart!). I looked up the ream name on-line and found it at

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/pictus.htm

This is a great site for information about all freshwater fish - some I've never heard of or seen before!

So no barbs, no neons (I actually read about them and angels after posting), no shrimp, no gouramis, no puffers and no eels. I can live with that. I'm leaning toward the black tetras now...

Odessadude, you got some awesome tanks there! I wish I had the time and money to do it up like that! I'd love a 75 or 100+ gallon!

Looks like the tank will have:

4-5 Angels
5 or 6 Swordtails
5 or 6 Black Tetras
1 Rainbow Shark
6 Cories

I'm on the fence on the Loaches... I had a Kuhli once - just one, and I never saw it - it pretty mcuh lived under the gravel in the undergravel filter but wiggeld out once in a while.

If I could, I'd like to ask about snails... I've been 'infested' with snails before and had to remove them from the tank as there were eggs everywhere and about 5000 snails. Do apple sanils or 'mystery' snails have this problem? How many would you recommend for the 55 gallon tank?

Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions! It is greatly appreacted. I'm taking pictures and will start a diary-thread soon...

 

[itafx]

I'm doing 6 angels, 7 Cherry Barbs, and a couple corys in a 55. I added the Cherry Barbs in the last week to pick up crumbs from the angels. Everything seems to be going ok. Anyone have any ideas whether that's a stable configuration?

 

[odessadude]

Reese just to let you know I really don't have a lot of money in any of these systems and for everyone else looking to get in the hobby neither do you. I am pretty conservative with my money and always look for the deals. What I do have in these systems is a lot of time and labor and on the job training (OJT). I also have a considerable amount of time maintaining these tanks, for I really take care of the fish and plants.

The first project which is also my main tank went like this. I was thumbing through a local weekly publication that lists all types of stuff for sale and noticed an ad for a 75 gallon tank. I went over there to investigate and the seller also had the 135 gallon Oceanic system which I purchased for $600.00. It included: The tank, the stand, an Ehime filter, a hood, lights including metal halides and 48" fluorescents , timers, an Ikawa pump, air pumps, heaters, a 75 gallon sump and everything else one could imagine. The guy raised star polyps and had one heck of a system in his house. I added all of this up a week or so later and figured for $600.00 I saved over $2400.00 had I bought this retail.

The glass I found at a local glass shop which is also our customer. We maintain their 650KW generator he uses for his tempering machine. He had a bunch of glass sitting in a corner and I asked him what he was doing with this. Well he said they throw it away! I didn't know what I was going to do with a piece of 1/2" glass that was 127" long and 22" wide, but I got it for free and it sat in my basement for six months until I decided what I was going to do with it. All of the beer coasters which were sitting in a box came to good use under the glass. The stainless steel shelve I found on another job site and thought it would be good for the other side of the tank. As it turned out I just designed all of the trim work around the shelve.

I say just take your time and let your mind be creative. If you go to the LFS and just lay down the cash, to me it is not that exciting, plus you are going to pay far more then you have to spend.

I paid $30.00 a piece for the open top breeder tanks and built the stands, added a few Home Depot 4' lights and planted the plants.

The 29 gallon tanks were from a garage sale and I think I have 30 bucks each in them for complete systems.

I just bought a 55 last weekend for 25 bucks off of an add on my local craiglist.org

You can do the same thing I have and I guarantee you will find just as good, if not better deals!

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg8/odessadude/

 

[Reese299]

Very cool Odessa - I don't think my luck is that good... my luck I'd but a huge tank for $600 and it's have a leak or something...

I might start keeping my eye out though... the kids want a beta tank now that I'm working on my big(er) tank. Could a beta go with the other fish I picked out?