55-90 gal. Ideas?

Dean

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Nov 4, 2003
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i know its a bit premature but for Christmas iam planning on getting a 55-90 gallon aquarium, dont know what size yet because iam planning on buying a used one. My problem is i dont know what to put in the tank. Here are a few thing i know; it's going to be freshwater, and have silk plants, larger rocks and driftwood. I dont want a hundred small fish or a couple huge fish, nor do i want overly agressive or shy or slow fish or cichlids. I would like it to be kinda like a biotope aquaria (fish from the same location). The fish must be fairly hardy and not that expensive. All sugestions are welcome, go wild! Thanks
 
I'd say wait for the biggest one you can comfortably afford and fit in your living space. O.k., forget the second part of that. Anyway, I've seen used 90 gals for sale (not as common as 55 or 75) and being an owner of one, I'd say it's worth the wait!
 
Bigger is almost always better, but for the fish you're looking at not needed. The tank will be understocked (not a bad thing at all), and calming. The dwarf gouramie will spend most of their time in hiding. I would maybe look at one of the other rainbows--the neons are pretty, but they will seem tiny in a large tank with so few. So, either get one of the bigger rainbows, like the iranians, or double the number. You may also want to add something to clean up the bottom--bristlenose will fit in well, and a trio will be active and help clean the tank of algae while young. Since you don't plan on having real plants, a chocolate pleco is a possibility, but they get rather larger, 12+ inches on average, and are very shy. Very pretty though (in that ugly, bottom feeder way).
 
Bosemani or trifasciata rainbowfish would make a nice school and you could include some kind of loach. You could get giant danios or some medium-sized gouramis (ie Three-spot).
If you want biotope you could consider some of the Amazon basin rivers or maybe something more eastern, like from India.
It's up to you :).

Graeme
 
Loaches(Clowns, Zebras)..along with Tiger barbs, a Redtail shark, and Three-Spot Blue Gouramis.
 
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