Restocking 55gal

[ArkyLady]

I'm not going into all the details because it's just too upsetting to admit that I made a stupid mistake and killed all my fish. I added some fish to my established tank without quarantining them and now every fish I had is dead except for 1 pl*co. Never again, cycling a quarantine tank right now. Depressing lesson that I'll never forget :(

Now I need to decide what I'd like to do with this tank. I will of course be waiting a few weeks to make sure the pl*co is truly disease free. I definitely want to make this a planted tank, so an oscar is out. I would rather have a large variety of small fish for this tank and hubby likes that idea as well so that will help me be able to get a tank later for the oscar I've been wanting :)

I know that if my pl*co survives, he will grow quite large. I'm assuming there will be no issues with having a large pl*co in the same tank as small 2" or so fish?

Any suggestions for colorful, interesting fish that will work well together in a planted tank and soft water with a PH of 6.5-7.0 are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[irishspy]

Originally posted by ArkyLady
Any suggestions for colorful, interesting fish that will work well together in a planted tank and soft water with a PH of 6.5-7.0 are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'm sorry to read about the wipe-out. I've been there and know how bad it feels. :(

As for tankmates, I don't know how aggressive large plecos can be, since I've never kept any. But, if you like colorful small schoolers, you can't go wrong with any of the tetra family. Bleeding Hearts get to be about 2.5" in size and are quite pretty. Congo Tetras, about 3", would also fit well in a 55. And you can always have a big school of my favorites, Cardinal Tetras. The water conditions you describe are just right. :cool:

Once you settle on the schooling fish, you might also want to onsider a pair or trio of Dwarf Chichlids. Apistogramma Cacatuoides and A. Borelli are both relatively peaceful and exhibit interesting parental behaviours. These same behaviours (defending territories and young, &c.) will encourage schooling in the other fish.

Good luck, and good job for being willing to try again. :)

--Anthony

[GobyGuy5]

irishspy pretty much hit the nail on the head, the only other fish I could think of for that tank would be some types of barbs, also consider gouramis and loaches

[famman]

I like my black ruby barbs (puntius negrofasciatus). They're not as aggressive as the tigers, and my 6 school nicely and breed frequently.
good luck
:)