Stocking a 55gal need help

[Tulip_Sniper]

I'm going to be buying a 55gal tank in a few months to be the centerpiece of my room which I'm currently redoing. I'm also going to keep my 29gal running too (multi tank syndrome has kicked in). I would like the centerpiece of the 55 to be a BGK. As far as stocking goes I have a rough idea of what I want but I'm not sure if what I have in mind would work.

Here's the list I have so far
1 BGK
1 tire track (i've read they can live in a 50 for life if thats false please tell me)
1 or 2 plecos
assorted dwarf cichlids I really like the way apistogramma cacatoides and blue rams look.

Thats really all I would like in the tank. I'm just unsure of putting dwarfs in a tank with a BGK since the BGK would get much bigger than the dwarfs. I don't want missing fish. Would this mix work? Any stocking suggestions are welcomed.

 

[dmed]

Congratulations on your new tank, and I am so pleased that you want to build it around a BGK, which happens to be one of my favorite fish!

The problem that I see with your plan is too many large fish and too many bottom-strata fish in particular.

Putting aside the cichlids for a moment, the eel will grow to over two feet, and the BGK and pleco will each grow to at least 1 foot (unless you are planning on using a smaller, exotic species of pleco).

Both the BGK and the tire track eel will prefer the bottom of the tank, and as they get larger there will probably be "turf wars" between them. The pleco will want to spend a good amount of time on the bottom also. I have heard of tire track living in a 55, but I can't say if it's ideal. Also, be careful, many vendors have confused tire tracks with zig zag eels (and a zig zag grows a full foot longer).

I think the BGK would be fine with dwarf cichlids as long as you grow them out together so the cichlids stay larger than BGK's mouth (i.e. don't get a fully-grown BGK and juvenile rams and put them together).

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

get some fish for the middle portion of the tank, maybe an active cichlid like a blue acara or rainbow cichlids. Or a school of rainbowfish

 

[dmed]

I have a 55 with a BGK, two ropefish, and 8 turquoise rainbows. Very nicely balanced IMHO

 

[Tulip_Sniper]

thanks for the input everyone. The eel isn't a deal breaker so I can cross it off the stocking list. As far as the plecos goes I was thinking of getting some more bristlenose plecos since they don't get too big. A blue acara is on my radar but I don't know how well that mix would do

 

[haysanatar]

ever heard of a glass knife fish..
look at a pic of them they are rediculous