55g planted tank multi species combinations

[Squatching_Fish]

I just got a new 55g tank (ordered an aquarium coop 48” light woot! 1befire they’re gone.

 

My question being. I want to have multiple species in one tank that are simpatico. But I want so many. I want clown loaches and will rehome them donate when they get too big. I want schooling fish, I want a red tailed shark, I like angel fish. I’m looking for a setup where you get a little bit of each .

(show fish) bottom guys, and schooling

 

do yall have any combos that you would recommend. I’m excited to hear what yall suggest.

[Beach Cruiser]

A community tank can be great if you plan well & don't overstock. 

My advice would be to pick a fish type that you REALLY want and then plan the tank mates/aquascape around that. A 55g has good height so you can technically have bottom, mid & top water fish. Generally, you want to pick some of each that don't naturally compete with each other.

First i would consider what type of water parameters that you naturally have and plan around that. Most captive born fish will do fine in everything but the extreme ends of the pH scale. It is much more work to adjust your water to picky fish. The ones you listed are pretty easy. 

BUT, here's where compatibility comes in.  For instance, red tails can become aggressive & territorial when they mature. And they are fast! Slow moving fish with flowing fins (angels) can be harassed if they aren't much bigger/dominant. Predator fish like most bigger cichlids will eat anything they catch. 

If you had to pick a favorite that you really want... what would it be? 

[knee]

On 9/17/2024 at 2:54 PM, Squatching_Fish said:

I just got a new 55g tank (ordered an aquarium coop 48” light woot! 1befire they’re gone.

 

My question being. I want to have multiple species in one tank that are simpatico. But I want so many. I want clown loaches and will rehome them donate when they get too big. I want schooling fish, I want a red tailed shark, I like angel fish. I’m looking for a setup where you get a little bit of each .

(show fish) bottom guys, and schooling

 

do yall have any combos that you would recommend. I’m excited to hear what yall suggest.

You can do a pair of angels as centerpiece fish then build your stock list around that. When I kept angels before I remember keeping them with glolight danios (danio choprae), harlequin rasbora, 2 pairs of laetacara curviceps, a few honey gouramis, panda cory and BN pleco. I might have added some more fish that I can't remember but they all got along great except for when the angels are spawning. 

Not too sure about the red tail shark but I do know @nabokovfan87 keeps them and he can provide more info regarding the red tail shark

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/17/2024 at 5:08 PM, knee said:

Not too sure about the red tail shark but I do know @nabokovfan87 keeps them and he can provide more info regarding the red tail shark

It works, but they like to have space and room. You'll see them swim properly fast and think to yourself, yep, with the tank had more swimming space. They need the distance..... Front to back and left to right. all of it.

[mynameisnobody]

Personally, I don’t prefer raising fish to a certain size and then getting rid of them for 2 reasons. Unloading large fish is difficult. The market of people with large aquariums willing to take them may be few and far in between. What happens then? Also if you did this, once they were removed, it throws the whole dynamics of the aquarium off. Things that weren’t an issue are now an issue. I always purchase fish that I know can live out their life in an aquarium. As for wants, I want a Great Dane but I don’t have to room for it so I don’t have one. Keep researching fish species and you’ll have so many options that fit your tank that it’ll confuse you even more. 

[NOLANANO]

On 9/19/2024 at 8:55 AM, mynameisnobody said:

Personally, I don’t prefer raising fish to a certain size and then getting rid of them for 2 reasons. Unloading large fish is difficult. The market of people with large aquariums willing to take them may be few and far in between. What happens then? Also if you did this, once they were removed, it throws the whole dynamics of the aquarium off. Things that weren’t an issue are now an issue. I always purchase fish that I know can live out their life in an aquarium. As for wants, I want a Great Dane but I don’t have to room for it so I don’t have one. Keep researching fish species and you’ll have so many options that fit your tank that it’ll confuse you even more. 

I agree with this take. You wouldn't get any other pet with the intention of getting rid of it when it becomes an adult, so I tend to think we shouldn't do that with fish either.  Thats not to say that its wrong to trade in fish at all. I have a planted tank and one of my Plecos started rasping at the plants so he got traded in. I also used to have Amazon Puffers but they started nipping and harassing my other fish so they got traded in.  But with both of those situations, I intended to keep those fish for the entirety of their lives, it just didn't work out.

I am not here to get on a soap box and say you are a bad person if you get fish you know will eventually outgrow your situation, but I do caution against it. Its hard to find someone to take the fish and LFS don't always have room for bigger fish. So if you do get the clown loaches, I'd suggest figuring out what you are going to do with them prior. Either get the LFS to agree to take them back when they get too big or find a friend with a bigger tank that will agree to take them.

[mynameisnobody]

@NOLANANO 100%, also there are times out of our control where a fish must be rehomed and that is what it is. Other than that, I suggest stocking the fish you want to keep for the long run. 

[Tony s]

Yeah, I think you got your topic a bit derailed there with the clown loach rehoming. But there are other loaches that would work and only get 4-5". Namely 2 species of botias. kind of the same behavior as the clown but smaller packages. The yo-yo loach and the golden zebra loach (botia histrionica.). The scientific name by itself speaks volumes. Who names a fish after histrionics. Okay, now I want some. 🤣

I haven't done either one, but Dan's fish had the golden zebra botia as something you could want. gregarious and peaceful. and a group of these on the bottom would be enough of a show peace on the bottom. You could definitely do a couple of angels on top. I wouldn't get more. They can get very aggressive with other angels when breeding. I had to banish a pair from the big tank because of that. you could add in 1 electric blue acara for a real showpiece. You have a ton of options for a schooling fish. 55g is the right size for a small group of congo tetras. Diamond tetras would work. I have rasbora borapetensis with my angels and a few praecox rainbows. Snakeskin barbs. As long as they're big enough not to be eaten the options are wide open

[NOLANANO]

On 9/19/2024 at 11:55 AM, Tony s said:

But there are other loaches that would work and only get 4-5"

There is also the Hillstream loach which has a few aliases so look for any of these names at your LFS: Borneo Loach, Butterfly loach, Hillstream loach, or Borneo Sucker.  I have 3 in my 75G planted tank and they are awesome little fish, Kind of look like little stingrays and they are constantly on the move.

[knee]

I'm currently keeping Pygmy Multi Stripe loaches (Micronemacheilus cruciatus) in my 60 breeder and have about 12 of them. They stay smaller but they're big enough for the angels not to bother them. Very curious fish and will inspect every crevice in your aquarium, and they're really fun to watch specially when they school after a water change. If you're doing angels I would suggest getting these first just to avoid any issues that might come up.