recommended cichlids for 55-gallon?

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Freshwater Fish Lady

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 10, 2008
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Colorado
Hi - I'm new to Monster Fish Keepers. I'm considering adding cichlids to my established 55; currently I have:
- 1 redtailed tinfoil barb (8"; 6 years old)
- 1 redtailed black shark (6"; 6 years old)
- 1 common pleco (9"; 6 years old)
- 4 gold gouramis (3" and growing; may trade in 3 or all, but I do really like them)

- small pebble gravel substrate, under-gravel filter, fake plants, big complex hollow log that shark & pleco hang out in, driftwood, biowheel filtration, bubble wall; will add caves & rocks
- 10-20 ppm nitrates (was sky-high; got the tank in July & it was filthy, have been gradually cleaning it up; I do weekly water changes, 20-50%; am starting to do biweekly changes to cut the nitrates, want them down to 5-10)

I'm considering adding one or both of:
- a pair of Firemouths
- Severums (probably just one)
- ? (open to other suggestions)

Your recommendations would be very much appreciated.

Also have:
- 29-gallon planted with 1 pair Blue Rams, 6 Bloodfin Tetras, 1 Gold Gourami, 4 Otos, 4 Yoyo loaches (I started this tank a couple of months ago; the Blue Rams are locally raised here in Colorado in regular tap water, they're awesome)
- 20-gallon partially planted with 1 pair Blue Rams (did I say I love these guys?), 2 Otos, 6 Neon Dwarf Rainbows, 5 White Clouds, 6 Corycat Juliis
 
Did you get the tank used, with the fish? Tinfoil barbs are supposed to get like 12 inches.
 
Tank is way over stocked. Tinfoils can grow to 12'' and need to be in groups. So they'll need 75 gallons or above. Plecos can grow huge! The black shark gets huge so he'll need a 75 atleast. You could keep a few of those gouramis in there. So bring 2 back. You could get one severum(but we need to upgrade later) and a few angelfish. If you don't like angels then you can get some keyholes or dwarf cichlids.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
 
Big Severum Fan;2519154; said:
Tank is way over stocked. Tinfoils can grow to 12'' and need to be in groups. So they'll need 75 gallons or above. Plecos can grow huge! The black shark gets huge so he'll need a 75 atleast. You could keep a few of those gouramis in there. So bring 2 back. You could get one severum(but we need to upgrade later) and a few angelfish. If you don't like angels then you can get some keyholes or dwarf cichlids.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Click to expand...

Mostly I agree, but its a red tailed black shark. I've always just called them red tail sharks, but red tail black shark means the same thing.

There are a lot of cool peaceful cichlids you can get that will work well with the other stuff. Check out eartheaters.
 
Definately not a pair of firemouths. Its overstocked, plus if they happen to spawn, you may have deaths. If I was you I would add 1 small cichlid like a firemouth, convict, Acara, or Jewel. But that is if you lighten the load you have now. Barbs will grow big, pleco will grow big etc.
 
Personally, the undergravel filter thing is not the greatest. I believe they trap more bad rather than filter it.
I have the same tank set up in my bedroom. I also have the red tail shark, hes awesome, tinfoil barbs get monsterous! Trade him for a way smaller one and that should work for now!
 
Oh and welcome to MFK!!!
 

Thanks for all of your feedback; I'm trying to figure out how this works (responding). Ok, so I’ve read that redtailed sharks get to just 6” and redtail tinfoils to just 8”, so I was under the impression they were both full-grown now, at 6 years … could you please confirm that that’s bogus info, thanks. I plan to trade in the common pleco for probably a bushy-nose down the line.

When I got the tank there were:

- 2 redtail sharks: a huge no-go! I put one in another tank but then lost her due to aggression and a suicidal jump out of a bucket.
- 2 redtail tinfoils: one with an air bladder problem that ended up interfering with his ability to eat, so I euthanized him :-( ; there had been a 3rd but it had died years before
- 2 common plecos! - my research has of course told me they get up to 24”! I gave one to the LFS.

So, the tank was very wrong to start with! With just a little research on the part of the original owners, there would have only been 1 redtail shark, a smaller algae-eater and no redtail tinfoils. But ... I'm so grateful to them for starting me in this wonderful hobby, they gave me the whole set-up free. I added the Gold Gouramis; they’re thriving.

So the eartheaters … are you talking about the Pearl Cichlid for example? I love the look of the Juripari but I know they get huge.
 
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