55 gallon - stocking suggestions

[mctypething]

I'm hoping to complete my fishless cycle soon and I'm trying to map out how I'm going to stock my 55 gal. I'd like to start out with angel fish and go from there, but I have a few questions. Any help you can give would be appreciated.

1) How many angels are ideal? I'd like to get 3 or 4, which number would be better? I've read with too little angels the strongest picks on the others. But I've also read not to get too many because they don't like to be in groups.

2) What other ideas for stocking with angels can you give me? I'm open to anything. I'm also interested in bala sharks but haven't really looked into compatibility with angels.

3) Does every tank need a pleco? If so, how many do I need for a 55 gal?

Basically, I know I want angels, but after that I'm sort of stuck. Any complete stocking suggestions you can give me would be great.

 

[mfdrookie516]

not sure on the angels, but i can tell you that most plecos do more harm than good. The regular old black plecos get humongus and they produce alot of waste. Something like corys would be better imo. Also bala sharks get too big for a 55, so regardless of whether theyre compatable with angels, it wouldnt be a good idea to get any

 

[spoonman]

I started my 84G with 7 angels. I am now down to 3 and 1 of those is getting picked on. 2 of the angels paired off and have systematically killed off the others. That is what angels do. You may not see it right away but you will eventually. It took mine almost 8 months. I do have 2 rather large balas in with them (about 4 inches right now) and they dont bother each other. The balas, like rookie said, will eventually be moved to a larger tank though because they will get 12-14 inches. If you must have a pleco, wait until the tank is more established and get bristlenose or something that stays small. I also like corys as an alternative to plecos. Plecos make more mess than they clean up.