Small monster for a small tank?

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Solitarianknight

Solitarianknight

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 29, 2016
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This is my first post on the forums so bare with me, though i'm on plenty of other sites.

I recently acquired a new 55gal tank. I've been playing with stocking for a while now and at the moment it's a catfish tank, with banjos, upside-down, cory and the such. I'm beginning to think of turning it into a species tank for a large species of fish though. I've gotten plenty of suggestions for cichlids, which I don't really care to keep since i've been working with tilapia for all of 5 years now.

I was thinking something more serpentine. I've got a deep love for African Lungfish but I can't really keep one for obvious reasons lol. I loved my Dojo/weather loaches back in the day. I've just always been fond of the snake/reptilian like fish (bichir too). I just need tank appropriate ideas!

I know a 55 is kinda small for a real "monster" but I'll take any suggestions on the matter. The setup i'm running atm is very wood oriented for the catfish. I have a huge rootball, a bunch of branches that run all levels of the tank and some wooded cave like bottom pieces. I also have a few different java fern species and swords growing and a huge mat of ricca at the top.
 
What about a belly crawler pike?
I think, long term, a 55 is too smaller for an species of bichir. I don't know about their growth rates.
A 55 is a really limiting tank because it's only 12" wide.
 
How about a ropefish tank? Serpentine enough and mouths not big enough to eat ur other fish.
 
First thing that comes to my mind would be some rope fish. I think that they would be ok in a 55 but it is best to keep 3-4 of them instead of just one or two. 5 or 6 would be even better but I think that might be a bit much for your 55. You would just need to keep the tank extremely well sealed because they can slither out of the tiniest openings, and WILL find any openings.
 
Senegal bichirs would be fine, mine were aggressive enough to chase down minnows but never harassed anything that wasn't easily swallowed. Belly crawler pikes are a dwarf species and would do fine. I had a gorgeous female in a 55 for years. Fire eels and the like have a ton of personality, not really a monster though.
 
Shenanigans said:
Senegal bichirs would be fine, mine were aggressive enough to chase down minnows but never harassed anything that wasn't easily swallowed. Belly crawler pikes are a dwarf species and would do fine. I had a gorgeous female in a 55 for years. Fire eels and the like have a ton of personality, not really a monster though.
Click to expand...
Dude, fire eels get freaken huge lol
 
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Many people do give 75 as the minimum for fire eels but they do have a slow growth rate. I've seen some large eels in captivity but nothing massive. I should state a fire eel will probably need to be upgraded down the road. My current fire eel has grown 6 inches in the last year in my 125 and that's with him eating 3-4 night crawlers daily
 
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