55 gallon stocking

Rav_Roth

Feeder Fish
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Jan 14, 2015
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Hi guys! I will be getting a 55 gallon tank soon, and was wondering if anyone had any stocking suggestions?
This won't be my first tropical tank, but it will be my first larger one, so any advice is appreciated.

I would prefer larger fish that would interact more with people outside their tank, rather than a bunch of smaller fish. I've mostly been looking into cichlids, but I'm open to anything :)

Also, I'm pretty sure that this is in the right place, if not I apologize and would appreciate it being moved, I'm new on here, so please bear with me.
Thanks guys!!
 

convict360

Potamotrygon
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Dec 9, 2013
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I'd look at Texas cichlid, Green Terror personally. Anything else such as red devil would likely end up cramped; unless you had upgrade possibilities in future.



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divemaster99

Dovii
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Jan 10, 2014
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How about a school of Redspotted Sunfish, like cichlids only better (in my opinion. So as to not upset other members).
 

axs377

Polypterus
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Dec 17, 2006
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Maybe a sajica or firemoth or flag cichlid along with several smaller tankmates. Or if you want something larger, a carpintis (green texas), green terror, jack Dempsey, or Cuban cichlid.
 

Rivers2k

Plecostomus
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Dec 27, 2011
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If you dont have the tank get a 75 they are just a little wider but open up more options. But anyways for a 55 I would go with central american cichlids. Very interactive with people and other fish. I have Fire mouth, Thoricthy Passionis, Honduran Red Points, and convicts. I recommend any of them. I find Jack dempseys to be reclusive. Green Terrors are nice but htey take a while to get big so I recommend getting a subadult if you can.
 

Rav_Roth

Feeder Fish
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Jan 14, 2015
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convict360
I'd look at Texas cichlid​
I looked up a little bit about the Texas cichlid, the profiles said it usually stays smaller than 12in, but didn't give a number for 'smaller', could you tell me about the size to expect? Also, what kind of tank mates would you recommend?

How about a school of Redspotted Sunfish, like cichlids only better (in my opinion. So as to not upset other members).
I'm in the process of reading up on those guys, could you tell me a bit about them?

axs377
Maybe a sajica or firemoth or flag cichlid along with several smaller tankmates. Or if you want something larger, a carpintis (green texas), green terror, jack Dempsey, or Cuban cichlid.​
I looked up a picture of the Cuban cichlid, it is absolutely beautiful. I'll be reading up on it for sure, in the meantime, could you tell me a bit about it and what kind of tank mates you would recommend?

Rivers2k
If you dont have the tank get a 75 they are just a little wider but open up more options.​
I would love one, however, this 55 is free, haha. When you say go for a subadult Green Terror, what size range would that be?

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!!;) By the way, I'm looking at an AquaClear 110 (40-70 gallons) filter for the tank, would it be suitable for the bigger fish ya'll have suggested?
 

Fish on Fire

Polypterus
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Jul 7, 2007
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If you got a Cuban, you won't be able to keep any tank mates with it in a 55. It will kill them all eventually unless you overcrowd the tank like people do with Africans; however, that's not exactly optimal if you want healthy fish.

You can go with a nice active tank and still have that interactive element (sajica pair, firemouth, angels, red shoulder severum, nics, EBJD, etc) with some dithers or more of a wet pet (solo green texas, green terror, Cuban, grammode, Flowerhorn, etc) where you can't really put anything else in there with it.
 

divemaster99

Dovii
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Jan 10, 2014
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I'm in the process of reading up on those guys, could you tell me a bit about them?
They get about 6-8" and have an outward personality. Zimmermans fish is currently the only place that sells them, ask Brian there about them if you're still interested, he's a sunfish expert, I've personally only kept green sunfish (another great, but more aggressive fish) but I'll be keeping and breeding plenty more soon. http://www.zimmermansfish.com/Price.html
 
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