Schooling fish for a 55g?

[Rosenweiss]

I need to get a picture of one of mine next to a tape measure. One of mine I've had for around 2 years now.. A friend had given me hers and I added to it, and my other 5 are getting up there in age too and don't hold a stick to this cat. He's at least 5 inches, probably closer to 6. I think he's just got really good genes.

Do you have any pics of him up? =]

 

[Morgie]

@Rosenweiss : Ahh I love mine too. They like to cuddle with each other. When one of them was in a bit of shock from a dramatic move (he pinned himself inside a bubbler) the others came over and pushed him upright and took care of him, it was really sweet.

@Khalix : Wow! Those are beautiful! I'd only be a little weary of them bothering my angelfish. I'll do some more research on them and compare them to the rainbowfish I'm considering. :>

 

[Rosenweiss]

@Rosenweiss : Ahh I love mine too. They like to cuddle with each other. When one of them was in a bit of shock from a dramatic move (he pinned himself inside a bubbler) the others came over and pushed him upright and took care of him, it was really sweet.

I *love* it when they cuddle... that's such an amazing story! They have such personality and love to be together!

Edit: Also wanted to share, I'm getting 2 more! So I'll have 5 total!

 

[Morgie]

I need to get a picture of one of mine next to a tape measure. One of mine I've had for around 2 years now.. A friend had given me hers and I added to it, and my other 5 are getting up there in age too and don't hold a stick to this cat. He's at least 5 inches, probably closer to 6. I think he's just got really good genes.

Probably the rare REAL Glass Catfish! Pretty awesome that you have one.

 

[Khalix]

Probably the rare REAL Glass Catfish! Pretty awesome that you have one.

He looks more like what stores refer to as a ghost catfish. He's just really big. The friend that gave him to me came over a few weekends ago and was completely in awe of how big he'd gotten.

I need to charge up my camera and try to get some shots of him soon. He's usually got his posse behind him but they never seem to come to the front when I'm prepared with a camera. Buttheads.

 

[xfactor6699]

Bleeding heart tetras are amazing and they do great with angels and they get about 2-3 inches

 

[Morgie]

I used to have those when I was little! I'll definitely look into them again!

 

[siva]

Hey I just got back from Petco..I saw the neon rosy barbs and thought of you. They had gold ones and rosy-pink ones and they were just beautiful! So brightly colored and shimmery. And even in that little display tank they schooled beautifully. Not sure if they are compatible with your tank but thought it was worth throwing out there.

 

[Morgie]

I've been looking at a barb site and I really want some. I could get a school of like 10-15 of them in my tank butttt... my catfish. I know my 4-Line leaves smaller fish alone, but he's a mature adult and nearly full grown. My little juvie sun cats may grow up and decide they want to eat their old friends. :I
Odessa barbs are my favorite that I've seen so far, but it says they're quite hard to find. Challenge accepted.

 

[siva]

LOL I just ordered something yesterday I've been looking for forever. It's quite rewarding when you finally do get your hands on them!

 

[Shadowraven]

I favor neon, cardinal, lemon, head-and-tail-light, serpa or glowlight tetras. White clouds, harlequin rasboras, any danios, cherry barbs are also good. Checkerboard barbs make a particularly spectacular display as well.

 

[siva]

Oh she's looking for larger fish like 3" at least or they won't survive in her tank.

 

[Shadowraven]

Oh she's looking for larger fish like 3" at least or they won't survive in her tank.

I see that now. It might be a good idea to read the thread a little closer in the future, eh?

Maybe I was just thinking of the other fishes lunch!

 

[HN1]

I've been looking at a barb site and I really want some. I could get a school of like 10-15 of them in my tank butttt... my catfish. I know my 4-Line leaves smaller fish alone, but he's a mature adult and nearly full grown. My little juvie sun cats may grow up and decide they want to eat their old friends. :I
Odessa barbs are my favorite that I've seen so far, but it says they're quite hard to find. Challenge accepted.

Odessas are very cool fish. Check out aurulius (sp?) as well. The odessa are pretty readily available, the aurulius only come around once in a great while from what I've seen. I had a school of 6 in a 55 with a festivum and loaches. They schoal nicely and show much better coloration in person than I expected. The only caution I'd offer is that they are VERY aggressive eaters.

 

[Morgie]

Odessas are very cool fish. Check out aurulius (sp?) as well. The odessa are pretty readily available, the aurulius only come around once in a great while from what I've seen. I had a school of 6 in a 55 with a festivum and loaches. They schoal nicely and show much better coloration in person than I expected. The only caution I'd offer is that they are VERY aggressive eaters.

Wow! Aurulius barbs have amazing coloration and their fins are beautiful! I'll just have to be sure to feed the barbs and my angelfish at separate ends of the tank. My angel's becoming a great eater even though I've only had him a week or two. ;>
I'm definitely now either going to get a school of Odessa or Aurulius Barbs, I love that they have a minimal bioload and get up to 5", which sounds perfect for my tank as they won't be seen as lunch once my cats are all grown up. I'm still keeping Boesmani Rainbows on my list, but they cost like 10-15$ a piece and I could only keep five in my tank.. so these larger barbs are looking like a better option at the moment! Thanks for the help, keep the advice coming!

I'm going to a large LFS today that claims to have a huge FW fishroom with over 100 species, including some large oddballs, which are super fun to fantasize about haha. I'm hoping they'll have some Rams and rarer barbs, like the Odessa and Aurulius! I've been there before and remember FW stingrays being sold there, but that was years ago and I'm hoping their quality is good and they have good stock! I'll post updates when I get back from petstore hopping. (I'm also applying to like, all of them in the area.. I need a PT job and I'd love to be the single friendly, knowledgeable chick at a chain store haha)

 

[Morgie]

I seriously lucked out today :] Went to the Local Shop and they had a ton of amazing and rare fish! Unfortunately, they didn't have any barbs I was interested in, but I did get a bumblebee catfish for my 20g! He was only 4$ as well, it was a pretty awesome place and good timing, as they said they rarely have bumblebees.
Then I went to the chain store because I needed some reptile supplies for cheap and they had new arrivals.. Odessa Barbs! They were very washed out color-wise, but hopefully I'll be getting them back to their natural color. I bought 5 of them today, and if all goes well I'll be going back in a few days to buy 5 more. They already make such a pretty school in my tank. My angelfish has been avoiding them, but I haven't had any problems yet.
Now I just have to hope my catfish doesn't decide they're lunch. They've been hanging around his territory, but he doesn't seem too keen on attacking them, just a little annoyed. They're about 1.5" now, and quite round, so I don't think any of my cats will try them for lunch. ;>

I'll upload some pics of mine soon, but here's a shot of one I found on google, hopefully mine will get this pretty.

Yay.. now my 55 is complete :]

 

[Morgie]

Here's a picture of my little school after I just added them to my tank.
They've already gotten more color in them after a few feedings. :>