60g tank - need help choosing fish

[spoogehead]

About to purchase a 60 gallon tank, have no experience of fishkeeping whatsoever but keen to learn!

My first thing to decide is what fish I want, my preferences are:

1. Peaceful community with no fighting
2. A couple of shoaling species
3. Lots of colour

I understand that I need top, middle and bottom tank fish to balance things out. Can anybody suggest how many fish would be suitable for a tank this size (I am not looking to house any 'monster' size fish, probably nothing much over 6 inches). Also what types of fish that fit into my preferences. Appreciate any help and comments.

[BrianNY]

How many fish depends on the size, species and amount of filtration. The general rule is one inch of fish per gallon. Based on your criteria, and if it were my tank....

12 Cardinal tetras
8 Rummy nose tetras
3 Black veil Angels
6 Panda corys
2 dwarf plecos

This would be a very interesting tank to me. What fish have caught your eye?

[webmoose]

Check out my signature to see what I did with a 58g.. Lots to look at and they all play along nicely...

Mooose

[spoogehead]

Originally Posted by BrianNY

What fish have caught your eye?

Went to my nearest decent fish store today and the following fish looked quite pleasing and doing a little bit more research, none seem to get too big:

Chinese butterfly Pleco
Marble Angel
Pearl Danio
Leopard Danio
Cory Trilineatus
Red Honey Gourami
Neon Tetra
Black Molly / Balloon Molly
Pentazona barb

Is there anything too difficult in keeping these? I think they are all community fish. How many of each would be a reasonable number for a 60g tank?

[BASSNMAN]

I'm not familiar with the barb you listed, but most barbs are fin nippers and will pester the angels. I have a 125 stocked similiar to your list, except a pair od dwarf inplace of the honey gourami.The angels and neons do best in small groups, 2 to 6 angels and 4 or more neons.

[Menagerie]

[center:9d050ad7aa] Welcome to AA, spoogehead!! [/center:9d050ad7aa]

The Chinese butterfly Pleco aka the Hillstream loach likes cooler water with lots of current. I lost the ones I tried to keep with tropical community fish. I suggest smaller plecos such as the Rubber Lip (Nose, Face--many names for this guy) or the Clown. I believe you would enjoy them in place of a Hillstream loach.

Depending on the reputation of the barb, you may need to switch it for something else.
What type of filtration will you be using?

[spoogehead]

Originally Posted by Menagerie

[center]
What type of filtration will you be using?

Erm, good question. I am somewhat confused by the amount of filtration devices available, I thought a 'normal' power filter would be OK. I have not actually purchased the tank yet, the only known factor will be that it must be 48" wide. I would like the depth and height to be as big as possible so this would obviously affect the capacity but assume this will be in the region of 60-80 gallons.

Does the size of the tank determine the type of filter I should use? Many thanks for your assistance!