Centerpiece fish

[Abiduwhabi]

Hello all,

Been around this site quite a bit doing research and I figured why not join up, so here I am.
I've got a 55 gallon freshwater tank that I finally finished fishless cycling around two weeks ago. Let me just add, I don't know how people could possibly do that without the API master kit. Any who, last weekend I went and loaded up on some fish to put in my tank. Though I meant to take it easy starting out, I may have gotten more excited than when I heard Star Wars Episode I was coming out. Of course my fish are a alot more rewarding than that..Jarjar. So, here is my stock as of right now.

2 Blue Rams (Male & female I do believe, but I could be wrong)
11 Green Fire Tetras
5 Neon Tetras (Went for cardinals but the store was out so figured I'd give them a shot.
5 Kuhli loaches
1 albino birstlenose pleco

All were drip acclimated and are doing great.

My tank as stated before is a 4 foot 55 gallon, sand substrate, moderatly planted with hardy plants (Amazon swords, anubius, duckweed and a few others), 54X2 t5 lighting, and dosing flourish + excel. On the back I am running two HOB Aquaclear 70's which so far have been pretty great.

Now that all that is out of the way, I am looking for a centerpiece fish for this setup. My mind of course went straight to Angelfish, but that's just kinda, well, boring, and my neons would thank me if I didn't. Next I thought about getting Discus, sure they are harder to take care of but I'm not new to aquariums. I think I could get by with staying on the lower end of their prefered heating since of course I would be catering to them. Then I was thinking that five discus may be alot with what I have now. Aqadvisor put me at about 128 stocking, but I take that site with a grain of salt.

Let me know what you guys think, or if you have any other ideas about a fish that will fit in with my family let me know. If it will be a danger to the tetras I do have a little smaller tank that I could fit them into nicely if need be.

 

[rmiller]

Why not let the rams and your schools really shine? I warn that a lot of folks have trouble keeping neons, but I find them to be very hardy once you build your school. I have kept as many as 24 neons in a 30 gallon tank and they were impressive. A couple good size schools would look really awesome in your tank. Get more Khulis too, they are more confident in larger schools.

 

[azmodan]

I agree about adding to the schools. I'd also recommend a pearl gourami.

 

[Rivercats]

Personally I wouldn't do discus but there is nothing wrong with a pair of angels. If you get small angels (dime to nickel body size) and raise them with small fish there is usually no issues. I have 12 large adult angels with a ton of small fish. If you had Altum angels or wild caught ones then yes they would eat the neons as they are a natural food source in the wild. A pair of Pearl Gourami's would look great with your stock or you could so a school of say 6 rainbowfish. There are so many great colors to choose from too. They would add alittle size and color to your tank and would do fine with your stock.

 

[allysonwonderland]

I'm going to third the pearl gourami(s). Gorgeous fish and what I'm planning as my centerpiece! Apparently they're hardy little beauts too, so an added bonus.

 

[Abiduwhabi]

Hey, thanks guys for the replys. I really like those rainbow fish but I think what I'll do is go for the pearl gourami and work on my schools.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, with the Kuhlis I can mix a black Kuhli with a Kuhli and they don't really care. Kuhlis a Kuhli? Thought I might mix it up and they are fun fish.

Next, will I have a problem if the Gourami breed? Should I stick to like two females or perhaps a ratio?

Any way, I figure I can get 10 more neons, 5 more Kuhlis, and probably a pair of Gouramis and I'll be set.

 

[Bichir Bro]

Gouramis should be kept {if kept in groups} in a one male to two female ratio. Now rainbow or red tail sharks are amazing centerpiece fish but can become aggressive when they age. Not aggressive I guess just really territorial. A way to combat this it to have the tank with lots and lots of caves and plants to make sure the shark won't see any of the other fish when he's going around the tank all sharky.

 

[Abiduwhabi]

Gouramis should be kept {if kept in groups} in a one male to two female ratio. Now rainbow or red tail sharks are amazing centerpiece fish but can become aggressive when they age. Not aggressive I guess just really territorial. A way to combat this it to have the tank with lots and lots of caves and plants to make sure the shark won't see any of the other fish when he's going around the tank all sharky.

When I first set up the tank a Red Tail Shark was what I was working around. Then right before my tank finished cycling I went a completely different direction with a pair of Firemouths, but there were to many complication with the other fish that I wanted so I decided to save those for a different tank setup.

 

[Mebbid]

I would suggest against the red tailed shark. Although increasing school sizes is almost always a good plan. Have you thought about praecox rainbows?

 

[Abiduwhabi]

I would suggest against the red tailed shark. Although increasing school sizes is almost always a good plan. Have you thought about praecox rainbows?

Oh yeah, I would never put in a red tailed shark at this point. The Dwarf neons are an option, I'll have do some more research on them.