I was thinking that, The flowerhorn was 1 of the first fish I was interested in The only thing is most people say they need big tanks for just 1 and until recently I've been trying to get tanks big enough where I don't need to switch the fish into but have discovered that Is unreasonable with certain fish. I've seen on videos that short body flowerhorns can go into 40g breeders so I might put 1 the 75g I might get in a few days. What are the short-body flowerhorns usually called.
Best Solo fish for a 55 gallon freshwater tank.
- Thread starter ShovelNinja
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I was thinking that, The flowerhorn was 1 of the first fish I was interested in The only thing is most people say they need big tanks for just 1 and until recently I've been trying to get tanks big enough where I don't need to switch the fish into but have discovered that Is unreasonable with certain fish. I've seen on videos that short body flowerhorns can go into 40g breeders so I might put 1 the 75g I might get in a few days. What are the short-body flowerhorns usually called.
Depends, they would most likely be sold simply as balloon or short body flowerhorns. Unless you mean Kirin parrots, which are a hybrid between parrots and flowerhorns.
Okay I was making sure if they went by short-body flowerhorns if they were called something else. Cause when I looked them up bonsai flowerhorns pop up and ive never heard of tose types.
Lots of good answers so far. I think a short-body flowerhown would be a good choice if you want to go the single larger fish route. A 75 is the minimum I would put a normal FH in, and depending on the fish it may outgrow that eventually. Oscars and big bruisers etc, I would forget about in a 55. 75 even will be a bit too small for life.
If I were in your shoes though, I would go for the biggest tank you can get, and keep multiple smaller fish as opposed to trying to get the largest fish you can in the tank. It will be more enjoyable most likely, as a new hobby you may want to keep adding things, and get bored of a single fish after a while. Something like a pair (or nice solo male) of Sajica cichlids in a 55 or 75 with a bunch of smaller fish would be a fun setup.
If I were in your shoes though, I would go for the biggest tank you can get, and keep multiple smaller fish as opposed to trying to get the largest fish you can in the tank. It will be more enjoyable most likely, as a new hobby you may want to keep adding things, and get bored of a single fish after a while. Something like a pair (or nice solo male) of Sajica cichlids in a 55 or 75 with a bunch of smaller fish would be a fun setup.
You have plenty of options if you like cichlids there have been some good suggestions. I think you will like the SB flowerhorn if you go with it. There are some others that might be fun as well. Some may disagree with the size fish, but what else is a forum for if everyone agrees all the time. Sajica are a nice fish that stay smaller. In fact most of the criboheros would be a good fit. Many of the acaras would be nice. Bartoni might be pushing it but that is a stunning fish. Don't underestimate the value of one male firemouth. One buffalo head cichlid would be fun. I used to keep them and they were very interesting. A regani pike could be fun in there. The big problem with them is people usually try to keep more than one.
Since you are so open minded and I don't know what you want out of the tank. Below are a few other options that would be very different experiences. How you scape it will make or break how nice some of these fish are.
If you go the leporinus route I would go with Leporinus granti as they stay smaller. Abramites would be in the same category.
Some that seem strange to me to keep alone, but fit the space requirement would be the peacock cichlids.
The arrowhead or hairy puffers would be fine in there.
If you went brackish you could have green spotted or figure 8. If you went brackish you could also do a mudskipper, but if you wanted to go that route you probably wouldn't have put this in the general freshwater forum.
Depending on your thoughts about a very flexible fish in a 12" wide a peacock eel could be fun in there. They are very interactive once acclimated. A dragon goby would be a similar situation.
One clouded archer could work in there.
African brown knife
African butterfly fish.
If you really like catfish a bumblebee cat could be interesting. Or for an active catfish hoplos or megalechis are cool.
Snakeskin gourami because they move so slow could work, but any of the other small/mediums would work like moonlight, leeri, blue, gold, opaline. If you have ever seen a huge opaline it is a much nicer fish than most people realize after looking at them at 1.5" in the store.
One everyone will make fun of is a Chinese algae eater. If you have ever seen one at 8" it is pretty impressive. They get tiny horns on them.
One cool pleco isn't something to rule out either. I like the king tigers.
A non fish option would be an African Clawed frog. They are big and fun to watch devour food.
I could jump in and recommend a larger tank and you will be happier with it, but your constraints are real and it doesn't answer the question you asked. I do agree a 40B is a better tank with the added depth. If you do get that 90 your options are very wide.
Since you are so open minded and I don't know what you want out of the tank. Below are a few other options that would be very different experiences. How you scape it will make or break how nice some of these fish are.
If you go the leporinus route I would go with Leporinus granti as they stay smaller. Abramites would be in the same category.
Some that seem strange to me to keep alone, but fit the space requirement would be the peacock cichlids.
The arrowhead or hairy puffers would be fine in there.
If you went brackish you could have green spotted or figure 8. If you went brackish you could also do a mudskipper, but if you wanted to go that route you probably wouldn't have put this in the general freshwater forum.
Depending on your thoughts about a very flexible fish in a 12" wide a peacock eel could be fun in there. They are very interactive once acclimated. A dragon goby would be a similar situation.
One clouded archer could work in there.
African brown knife
African butterfly fish.
If you really like catfish a bumblebee cat could be interesting. Or for an active catfish hoplos or megalechis are cool.
Snakeskin gourami because they move so slow could work, but any of the other small/mediums would work like moonlight, leeri, blue, gold, opaline. If you have ever seen a huge opaline it is a much nicer fish than most people realize after looking at them at 1.5" in the store.
One everyone will make fun of is a Chinese algae eater. If you have ever seen one at 8" it is pretty impressive. They get tiny horns on them.
One cool pleco isn't something to rule out either. I like the king tigers.
A non fish option would be an African Clawed frog. They are big and fun to watch devour food.
I could jump in and recommend a larger tank and you will be happier with it, but your constraints are real and it doesn't answer the question you asked. I do agree a 40B is a better tank with the added depth. If you do get that 90 your options are very wide.
I plan on getting a smaller tank around a 30g long (maybe) for a community tank and I already have all the fish planned for it so Im not to worried about not having a lot of fish. The 30g will have 8-10 cardinal tetras, 2 bolivian rams, and either 6-8 kuhli loaches or a pearl gourami.
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Im most likely will be getting a 75g If i find a good deal. The reason I want a single fish is I feel that I would get more attached to it than the community tank. It would be a more personal thing That I feel I would enjoy And I would like to have I fish that I can take care of and that will be with me for awhile. and yeah im in texas and im slowly finding out how many interesting fish that are illegal here.
Short body flowerhorn
Catch yourself a single true Texas cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus) for the 75-90g.
Catch yourself a single true Texas cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus) for the 75-90g.
if you have a petco in your area - 75g is $100 during dollar per gallon sale - the 75g with stand and lights at petsmart black friday is $299
GL!
