1 fish, 2 fish, old fish. new fish... I may go non-native

[KittenFishMom]

I was reading "Fish I wish I bought sooner" and posted this there, but thought I should really just start it as a new topic.:

I have been thinking about going non-native for my inside tank.  My current native fish seem to only be willing to eat frozen blood worm, scud, and brine shrimp. My scuds colony had a collapse of some sort. I am trying to build up the population because it is too cold to get them in the lake now. I am also starting up a brine shrimp colony, but it will take time to get enough to feed all my fish adult shrimp. (Note: The bigger/older "shiners" have a dark spot on their dorsal fin, so now I think they are blunt nose minnows, but am not sure) 

I was thinking about thinning out the tank to just the very smallest of the fish and add some endlers or guppies, but I am beginning to realize the even the tiny fish will get bigger and probably eat whatever fish I add. All the native fish are skittish.  Reading this thread about friendly fish makes me wonder if that might be more fun.  It would also be nice to have fish that would eat a wider variety of foods.  I want to visit a Mom and Pop pet store, that has been around for decades and see what their fish are like and what they (the fish, not the owners) will eat. 

There is a person near here with a spring fed pond he has built that will give any native fish a good home, so I could send him  what is in my tank and start fresh with domesticated fish rather than trying to tame these fish to live in a 55 gallon inside an active home. I do think the fish were happier in the 120 tank in the quiet garage.

Yesterday I stopped at a Petco and asked what food they had for mystery snails. (I caught a bunch in the lake, including huge ones). The Petco employee said "Oh you don't feed them. They eat algae and stuff".  That is why I want to try this old pet shop that isn't part of a big chain.

I would love your input on options for the future of my 55 gallon indoor tank. 

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

Rope fish are pretty cool. They can be gregarious with their own kind, and aren't fussy eaters. So long as you don't have anything small enough for them to eat, you can keep other things with them too. Live bearers would be cool with ropefish, as they will provide a steady supply of supplemental live food for the ropefish in the form of babies. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

55g allows you a lot of opportunities. 4 feet length gives a lot of swimming room. Height allows for some larger easy growing plants (valisineria, aponogetons, swords), and you can use bigger hardscape pieces. @Expectorating_Aubergine went right to the odd balls which are awesome - ropefish have cool personalities. SA puffer community could work, Angels + medium body tetras, rainbowfish tank, African cichlids (mbuna, small group of haps, Lake Tang setup with some cyprochromis), smaller CA cichlids like A. Myrnae or firemouths, livebearers a gaggle of guppies( or endlers or mollys) + swordtails or platys (I seperated them as they can interbreed), etc. The options are endless.

I usually start with my showpiece/centerpiece fish and then build the stocking and scape around them. Example: Angels like long leaved plants and cover to make them feel safe, you want tetras or other fishes that are larger as they will otherwise get eaten and that will school using all the swim room, it would be very tranquil, wood is helpful for buffering the pH and filling in the space as well as creating sight breaks, you may want a dirted tank (cheaper) or use some aquasoil ($$ for a 55g) to buffer and keep the pH down, etc. Opposite would be Mbuna tank loads of color and activity, you would wants to increase the pH with crushed coral and aragonite substrate, texas holey rock or other rocks that would help buffer and create sight breaks, and plants that can handle those conditions with pH >8 - anubias, val, java fern, hornwort, guppy grass, etc.

George Farmer is someone I look to for inspiration as he has had angel tanks and mbuna tanks. Have fun, take your time. Planning out a tank build is more fun than the actual build in my opinion. I have tons of notes in my phone about tank setups, fish stocking ideas, scaping ideas, etc. Enjoy it and think of it as a great opportunity.