55 gallon fish tank now what????

[cichlidsguy]

i got a 55 gallon fish tank which is a home to 2 jds and a pleco.jds are about 3-4 inch pleco is like 2 inch.

What else can i add to this tank??????
how many more fish can i add???
What do you guys think i should add??????

 

[cichlidsguy]

Also would it be save to add a 2 inch firemouth with these cichlids???

 

[sandtiger]

I would not add anything, I would even consider removing the pleco or one of the Jacks. Jack Dempseys can reach between 8-10", plecos (I assume you have a "common") can grow even larger. Not only may you run into bio-load issues but should your Jacks decide they don't like eatchother then you will run into aggresion issues as well.

 

[cichlidsguy]

thanks man.

I heard overstocking can decrease aggression issues????

Also your suggestions are welcomed,but would you really have a tank with just one fish????that sounds boring i know you would advise this but seriously i doubt even you would keep a jd by himself right...
i was maybe hoping of adding more cichlids instead of decreasing my tank???

 

[Merbeast]

Well, when you get that 150 gallon you are looking for in your sig, you can keep multiple large cichlids in it. Until then you need to remember that happy healthy fish are better than an overcrowded tank of unhappy, unhealthy fish. The golden rule is 1 cubic inch per gallon of water, and your fish will soon be well over that.

 

[sandtiger]

I don't like keeping tanks with a single fish no but when you choose a larger growing fish and place it in a smaller tank that's sometimes what you have to do. The goal is to keep the fish healthy and sometimes that's what it takes. Besides, you can keep more then just the Jack in there. You can keep just the two jacks or alternativly get rid of one jack and the pleco and add something else. Even still you will have to be on top of the water quality and do frequent water changes.
As for stocking reducing aggresion yes, it's a method that sometimes works. The price for this however is lots of water changes. More fish equal more waste. Even overstocking a tank though will not always work, sometimes it can make aggresion worse.

 

[cichlidsguy]

i see?

good point

 

[voss345]

can deffinitely keep the two jd;s with eachother maybe theyll start breeding for ya, deffinitely bumb it up a notch the the water changes, i have a piar of jd's in a 55 so it should work for ya

 

[cichlidsguy]

my whole vision of my tank,now seems to be a poor vision,

i wanted to have cool looking cichlids like jack dempseys and firemouths and green terrors in my 55 g tank...now you can agree or disagree but i think it would have work.

If these cichlids were little one like 1-2 inch,but i see you guys have a point that they will grow quick and not always be small so they will need a better home or bigger one that is..

 

[cichlidsguy]

can deffinitely keep the two jd;s with eachother maybe theyll start breeding for ya, deffinitely bumb it up a notch the the water changes, i have a piar of jd's in a 55 so it should work for ya

yea i think my jd are both males and since its just them and a pleco the bigg one spents his day chasing the little one while the little one spents its day wondering if he is going to get killed.....

thats another reason why i wanted to add more fish because i hate seeing this jd at the top of the tank in a corner sometimes it seems like he wont eat...?