50 gallon aquarium stocking - jack, green terror, blue acara, etc.

[What is a fish??]

One consideration that hasn't yet been brought up yet, is what kind of tap water do you have.
Is it soft with a low pH?
Is it hard with high pH?
Is it neutral, pH around 7?

If soft, with a low pH (below 7), then dwarf cichlids from S America, or west Africa (like kribensis) are generally a great idea.
If it's hard with pH 7.5 and above east Africans from Tanganyika or Malawi are great.
Hard with pH above 7.5, Mexican or Central Americans work well.

If its neutral, you are an almost open book, with typical aquarium strain fish, like common angels, or most bred species.

Testing it yourself would be good aquarium practice using strips or liquid tests such as the API,
or.....
if you look at your water bill, or go to your drinking water providers web site.
Water bills usually provide common parameters like pH, and hardness.
The web site gets more into detail.

I don't think it will really matter because all of them are breed in the same water parameters as j am going to put

But my water ph is between 7 - 8 and water hardness can vary from 50 - 150 ppm.

 

[duanes]

Just because a few generations of fish are bred in a certain water, doesn't mean that negates millions of years of evolution.
And many successful breeders cater to the needs of those species, by altering water chemistry.

If your water is between 7 and 8 (quite the range) some S American species may over time, exhibit chronic maladies.
Rams and Apistogramma are often thought to be poorly bred, because they flounder in conditions provided, but much of US tap water is just too hard, and the bacteria that thrive in higher pH, mineral rich water, are not resisted by these soft, low pH species.
Central Americans and Africans have evolved a resistance to these bacterial species, so may be a better option for you.
Your most important limitation is territorial footprint.
But......do what you want,....and over time post your results good or bad, it will be interesting to see if most of the advice experienced posters have given above are wrong or right.

 

[What is a fish??]

You could still do what you were thinking earlier, a severum, acara, firemouth, apistos would be fine with most sevs, with any fish sometimes you get a moody one but most sevs are very chill. You could do some corys or maybe a couple dwarf loaches, and you could do dithers if you want, but they're not necessary, you're tank should be busy enough already. And these are all possibilities, doesn't mean you need all of them or start with all of them. Get a few you really want and enjoy them for a few months, then decide what to add next and enjoy that for a few months, until you decide your tank is full enough. And keep testing your water to know what maintenance schedule you need. And if you're going to upgrade to a 75 i'd suggest going to a 90, same footprint just taller and gives more water volume. Once grown the sev will be a bit cramped in the 50 though, he'd be much happier in a 75 or 90 within a year

Just because a few generations of fish are bred in a certain water, doesn't mean that negates millions of years of evolution.
And many successful breeders cater to the needs of those species, by altering water chemistry.

If your water is between 7 and 8 (quite the range) some S American species may over time, exhibit chronic maladies.
Rams and Apistogramma are often thought to be poorly bred, because they flounder in conditions provided, but much of US tap water is just too hard, and the bacteria that thrive in higher pH, mineral rich water, are not resisted by these soft, low pH species.
Central Americans and Africans have evolved a resistance to these bacterial species, so may be a better option for you.
Your most important limitation is territorial footprint.
But......do what you want,....and over time post your results good or bad, it will be interesting to see if most of the advice experienced posters have given above are wrong or right.

From this whole thread I think these should work and I will add them as babies with a lot of hiding space. Let me know know if I should swap out something :-
1X Severum
2X Blue Acara(hopefully both males)
1X fire mouth
1X pair of a apistograama(swap the pair for something else ?)
Couple plecos(BNs, or smaller l numbers)
Some smaller fish(what would you guys recommend?)

I a happy with all the fish I have listed

 

[Deadeye]

This is coming from the guy who tried packing a bunch of big cichlids in a 55 - don’t do it.
You’d be much better off picking one of those options and building around it as the centerpiece. Both the acaras and sev fill that role, and the tank is only big enough for one of them.
One pleco is enough - they are very messy.
Firemouth comes from very different water so really shouldn’t be mixed.

 

[neko1]

This is coming from the guy who tried packing a bunch of big cichlids in a 55 - don’t do it.
You’d be much better off picking one of those options and building around it as the centerpiece. Both the acaras and sev fill that role, and the tank is only big enough for one of them.
One pleco is enough - they are very messy.
Firemouth comes from very different water so really shouldn’t be mixed.

i must agree with this tbh.
I would go with the acaras since you can keep them as a pair in that tank size and you wont need to upgrade (as you would for the severum).
and 1 bn ancistrus and maybe some dither fish or corydoras.

sounds like an awesome tank. 2 big cichlids, group of fish on the bottom (corys), and some smaller fish that are schooling.


you can try multiple cichlids but they probably start beating eachother up. If you do multiple dont get a pair atleast that makes your chances a bit better in keeping a communty.

but first get rid of the knifefish before adding any other fish.

 

[What is a fish??]

i must agree with this tbh.
I would go with the acaras since you can keep them as a pair in that tank size and you wont need to upgrade (as you would for the severum).
and 1 bn ancistrus and maybe some dither fish or corydoras.

sounds like an awesome tank. 2 big cichlids, group of fish on the bottom (corys), and some smaller fish that are schooling.


you can try multiple cichlids but they probably start beating eachother up. If you do multiple dont get a pair atleast that makes your chances a bit better in keeping a communty.

but first get rid of the knifefish before adding any other fish.

Some say it's possible some say it's don't. I fell like better be safe then sorry.

Can I do more than 2 acars ?

 

[jjohnwm]

When you read about people who combined this cichlid and that cichlid and that other cichlid as an experiment and it happened to work out...at least until the point where they wrote about it...bear in mind that it was an experiment. Most of those folks had multiple tanks set up and were able to remove fish as required if and when aggression crops up. And, with cichlids...aggression almost always crops up, eventually.

If you've got one tank, in your living room, and it is allowed by your parents as long as it doesn't become an eyesore...your options are limited. When your tank is 50-ish gallons, but you want "monster" fish...your options are even more limited. You have got to be realistic about what you can and should do.

If you try an experiment, and it doesn't work out because Fish A is beating the snot out of Fish B...what will you do? You have no other tank to use to separate them. Do you just say "I guess I will have to rehome one of them?" and then begin looking for a new home? In mild cases of aggression, that might possibly work...but in many cases Fish B will be a mutilated white floating corpse the next morning. Your parents will love that.

Do yourself a favour and listen to the people above; most of them have been there and done that and have the T-shirt. Your tank is 50 gallons, not 500. Keep a few appropriately-sized fish of compatible species and you will have an attractive tank that will be fun to own and to look at. If a dozen people say this, but that one guy with a video says that...maybe you should listen to the group. Don't seek out the one source that will tell you what you want to hear...because if you look hard enough, you can always find someone who will say almost anything...but those guys are almost never worth listening to. Good luck!

 

[What is a fish??]

When you read about people who combined this cichlid and that cichlid and that other cichlid as an experiment and it happened to work out...at least until the point where they wrote about it...bear in mind that it was an experiment. Most of those folks had multiple tanks set up and were able to remove fish as required if and when aggression crops up. And, with cichlids...aggression almost always crops up, eventually.

If you've got one tank, in your living room, and it is allowed by your parents as long as it doesn't become an eyesore...your options are limited. When your tank is 50-ish gallons, but you want "monster" fish...your options are even more limited. You have got to be realistic about what you can and should do.

If you try an experiment, and it doesn't work out because Fish A is beating the snot out of Fish B...what will you do? You have no other tank to use to separate them. Do you just say "I guess I will have to rehome one of them?" and then begin looking for a new home? In mild cases of aggression, that might possibly work...but in many cases Fish B will be a mutilated white floating corpse the next morning. Your parents will love that.

Do yourself a favour and listen to the people above; most of them have been there and done that and have the T-shirt. Your tank is 50 gallons, not 500. Keep a few appropriately-sized fish of compatible species and you will have an attractive tank that will be fun to own and to look at. If a dozen people say this, but that one guy with a video says that...maybe you should listen to the group. Don't seek out the one source that will tell you what you want to hear...because if you look hard enough, you can always find someone who will say almost anything...but those guys are almost never worth listening to. Good luck!

I meant no offense, I just something in mind and trying to get as close to as I can without destroying the life of the fish or the look of my tank. As I mentioned before it's a tank in the living room and I want ot to be eye catching as my mum is really picky about whatever I do with the tank.

But I see where you are coming from and I am just trying to figure out the best mix of fish.

Sorry if I have offend

 

[jjohnwm]

I meant no offense, I just something in mind and trying to get as close to as I can without destroying the life of the fish or the look of my tank. As I mentioned before it's a tank in the living room and I want ot to be eye catching as my mum is really picky about whatever I do with the tank.

But I see where you are coming from and I am just trying to figure out the best mix of fish.

Sorry if I have offend

No, no offense taken by me and I am sure no one else either.

What you say about your mum wanting the tank to be suitable for the living room absolutely reinforces my ideas. Keep her happy...which means having a peaceful and attractive tank, not a Colosseum-style arena...and you will be happy as well. If you fish are stressing each other out...then you get stressed...and your mum will get stressed...which will stress you even more...I think you see where I am going with this.

Save the experimental community combinations for later in your aquarium career when you have more room, more tanks and more experience.

Everyone else has made specific suggestions, so I'll throw my oar into the water here as well. If that tank were mine, I would likely install a small group of Firemouths (which do well in groups), a small group of Swordtails and a small group of Corydoras. This will look beautiful and will be interesting to watch. The first time your mum sees a pair of Firemouths guarding their newly-hatched fry...she will melt.

 

[neko1]

you could probably keep 3 acaras but i got no experience with it myself. What i would recommend is to get 1 male and 2 females if you try this.
2 males will not end up well.
you might wane reduce the ph by adding oak leaves (which is also natural and fun for the fishes) or something else.


i do read online : 'An aquarium with base measurements of 120 cm x 30 cm or equivalent is just about sufficient to house a pair. '
so maybe 3 acaras is a bad idea. But im not sure since i got no experience with it. You will maybe have to see for yourself, i think it will normally work but im not sure how it will end up if they get to breeding. What would help is a lot of plants and hiding places etc . And if they start breeding and it turns bad you can always rehome the 1 female acara and keep the pair.