Going to the petstore today

[Orbitorly]

I am going to the pet's store today, I wanted to get some fish for my 55 gal, I transfered my frish from my 29 gal which where 4 blackskirts. I wanted to get a few more fish, some more black skirt, neons? And if you where wondering the tank has been cycled for over a year so, just cuz of my post count I wouldnt want you to think it's a newly set up tank.


BTW: A few people said I would need more filtration, I already have a Emperor 280 on it, I know I need more, I was thinking another 280, but does it have to be now ?

[Orbitorly]

I also have a small Eclipse 2 galllong that came free with the 37 gal I got, any fish suggestions for this tank.

How about some cories for the 55 ?

[kveeti]

I like blackskirt tetras. They like to be in groups. I think you should get a couple more. After that, I have no idea.

[Harry Tolen]

kveeti is right that a few more black skirts would be a good addition to your new tank, as the fish do like to school. They are also peaceful and hardy, and would go well with a number of other tetras, such as neons (which you yourself suggested) and head-and-tail lights. If you don't mind breaking the South American "theme", harlequin rasboras would be another interesting addition. With a tank as large as a 55, you could get 7-9 each of three groups, and not be stressing your tank out at all.

With all of the fish listed above, corydoras would do well as bottom fish. Otocinclus would be good for algae eating, but they suffer during shipment to fish stores and there is fairly high mortality after they get into hobbyists' tanks, so for that job you might want to consider one of the fairly small peckoltias (another type of algae eater that looks something like a pleco) or a chaetostoma species (sometimes sold as the "rubber" or "albinus" pleco).

Floating plants and a fairly dark substrate will make all of these fish feel more comfortable and enhance their colors. Also, your Emperor 280 will need a little help, although you don't have to buy that at the LFS. There are on-line retailers such as Big Al's or Drs. Foster & Smith that sell those units for 50% less than any LFS (I would personally suggest that you supplement your Emperor with an Aquaclear 300 loaded with nothing but sponges, which will give you additional biological filtration, better mechanical filtration, and you won't have to buy filter cartridges for. You can get one of those for $23.00 on-line).

Also, if you really only have 4 black skirt tetras right now, you don't need to worry about the quarantine thing, as there isn't really an existing tank population that you are putting at risk. However, expecially when buying the neons, look carefully for any lighter/whitish colored areas on any of the fish in the tank, as that would be a sign of neon tetra disease, for which there is no cure.

Good luck!

[latazyo]

I think that a group of 5 or 6 cories in your tank would be great...they would potentially group together and be VERY interesting to watch, cories are EXCELLENT fish, I love watching them

[NJ Devils Fan]

I think you should get en Emp 400 from Big Al's and use it together with the Emp 280. Excellent filtration with a 12x turnover rate.

You should get a bristlenose pleco sinse they are great algae eaters and it would like to suck on the piece of driftwood in your tank. Also, a school of Tiger Barbs would be nice.

[latazyo]

would the tigers menace his other fish?

[Orbitorly]

I used to have tiger's, they will nip at the black skirts fins.

[waterspirit]

a school of about 6 or more cories of the same species would look really good in the 55g. That way they will act naturally. And they are a pretty efficient clean up crew in their own right, though you need to supplement them with other foods as well.

[Orbitorly]

I got 6 black skirt, and 4 cories.

[NJ Devils Fan]

What kind of cories.

[tyler]

i think i'm going to try and locate some pygmy cories into my 29. either that or panda's, which i'm hoping you got.

next time you go, i suggest starting another school. anything reccomended earlier would be great.

also i suggest frogbit, duck weed or salvinia(sp?) as a quick growing floating plant.