Help me stock my new 55 Gallon Planted Freshwater Tank

[dcon1115]

Hey Everyone,

I am upgrading my planted freshwater tank from 29gal to a new 55gal and I was wondering how I should stock it. Currently I have 7 tiger barbs, 5 serpae tetras, 2 kribensis (1 male, 1 female), 1 rainbow Shark, 1 bristlenose pleco, 1 nerite snail and 1 bamboo shrimp. Most of the fish are young and pretty small.

I've read that Malaysian Trumpet Snail are good for tanks with a sand substrate, but I've also read that they can breed out of control. I was thinking of getting a couple more tiger barbs to get to 10 and possible an eel. Is it possible to just get one eel? The serpae tetras are kind of a boring to me and I was thinking of giving them back to my LFS. I was thinking of replacing them with boesemani rainbows but I am not sure how many. Would only 3 or 4 work? I really like the idea of getting a german blue ram, but I'm not sure if it would survive with the tiger barbs and cichlids. I think that cichlids look really cool and I was wondering if I could add some more and which varieties were the most interesting and compatible with what I already have. I was also thinking about getting a loach, maybe clown or yoyo.

I have plenty of filtration because I just bought a used eheim 2217 canister filter. My 29gal was pretty heavily planted and I am getting a much more powerful light (a dual 54 watt T5HO light for a total of 108 watts) so I am also wondering if there are any cool looking plants that I will now be able to grow. Now I only have java ferns, java moss, banana plant, bacopa and red ludwigia. I am running a DIY CO2 system but I will soon be upgrading to a pressurized CO2 system.

I am also planning on making a sand and dirt substrate if that influences any answers. Floramax capped with black sand.

I am hoping to hear about your favorite fish which are also compatible with the fish already in the tank. Any advice is welcome, thanks in advance.

 

[Mebbid]

Hey Everyone,

I am upgrading my planted freshwater tank from 29gal to a new 55gal and I was wondering how I should stock it. Currently I have 7 tiger barbs, 5 serpae tetras, 2 kribensis (1 male, 1 female), 1 rainbow Shark, 1 bristlenose pleco, 1 nerite snail and 1 bamboo shrimp. Most of the fish are young and pretty small.

I've read that Malaysian Trumpet Snail are good for tanks with a sand substrate, but I've also read that they can breed out of control. I was thinking of getting a couple more tiger barbs to get to 10 and possible an eel. Is it possible to just get one eel? The serpae tetras are kind of a boring to me and I was thinking of giving them back to my LFS. I was thinking of replacing them with boesemani rainbows but I am not sure how many. Would only 3 or 4 work? I really like the idea of getting a german blue ram, but I'm not sure if it would survive with the tiger barbs and cichlids. I think that cichlids look really cool and I was wondering if I could add some more and which varieties were the most interesting and compatible with what I already have. I was also thinking about getting a loach, maybe clown or yoyo.

I have plenty of filtration because I just bought a used eheim 2217 canister filter. My 29gal was pretty heavily planted and I am getting a much more powerful light (a dual 54 watt T5HO light for a total of 108 watts) so I am also wondering if there are any cool looking plants that I will now be able to grow. Now I only have java ferns, java moss, banana plant, bacopa and red ludwigia. I am running a DIY CO2 system but I will soon be upgrading to a pressurized CO2 system.

I am also planning on making a sand and dirt substrate if that influences any answers. Floramax capped with black sand.

I am hoping to hear about your favorite fish which are also compatible with the fish already in the tank. Any advice is welcome, thanks in advance.

I am running a dual t5ho light on my 55g and it is only giving me a medium light level on the tank so that might be something worth considering in your plant setup.

I really like the MTS in sand substrates. They do tend to breed fairly rapidly but in my experience it isn't that big of a deal. I have at least 100 in my 55g now and only ever see them when its feeding time. It's amusing seeing the sand move when they are burrowing under the substrate

One fish to look at is a synodontis multipunctatus. They naturally live with cichlids so are well suited to their company. I would tend to avoid the clown loach because they will outgrow your tank though.