Hey Chadley
Your tap water will partly narrow down the choices for you.
If you have hard water and you're not willing to go to the trouble of softening it:
1) Altolamprologus Compressiceps
2) Altolamprologus Calvus
They grow slow, but they sure are exotic and spectacular when they get to about 2". Most people just do not have the patience to wait for them to grow and blossom. Both are from Lake Tanganyika. They eat baby fish in their natural home. But they are not picky once you get them acclimated. Mine ate Tetra Bits.
If you have soft water:
1) Leaf Fish (Monocirrhus polyacanthus). Very cool. But they can be sensitive to water quality and would prefer "quiet" tank mates. I had my two in a densely planted tank all to themselves. These are "stealth" predators. They hardly move and really like to hide in floating plants. Wait until your tank is stable.
2) Ornate Bichir (polypteris ornatippinis). This is a very slow predator. I believe he hunts by scent. Very peaceful, but will eat other fish that would fit in their mouths. I used to feed him shrimp. But he hasn't tasted live food in over two years. He does very well on Jumbomin and f/d krill. He used to only come out of hiding at night when I first got him. He slowly decimated his tankmates of White Clouds, rainbows, and cory cats. This fish is hardy and not at all particular about his water. Just keep the conditions stable or he will refuse to eat.
3) Crenicichla Xingu. I believe you can have one specimen in your 55 gallon. This one is sort of sensitive to his water quality. This one might take a while to accept pellets. Mine would only eat feeder fish for a while, but I got it to eventually take jumbomin, dorored, and sinking carnivore. Do not buy one until your tank is mature and stable.
I would not recommend a fish to you that I have had no experience with. I'm like you. I go for the unusual. It's just coincidence that they all ended up being carnivores.
Your tap water will partly narrow down the choices for you.
If you have hard water and you're not willing to go to the trouble of softening it:
1) Altolamprologus Compressiceps
2) Altolamprologus Calvus
They grow slow, but they sure are exotic and spectacular when they get to about 2". Most people just do not have the patience to wait for them to grow and blossom. Both are from Lake Tanganyika. They eat baby fish in their natural home. But they are not picky once you get them acclimated. Mine ate Tetra Bits.
If you have soft water:
1) Leaf Fish (Monocirrhus polyacanthus). Very cool. But they can be sensitive to water quality and would prefer "quiet" tank mates. I had my two in a densely planted tank all to themselves. These are "stealth" predators. They hardly move and really like to hide in floating plants. Wait until your tank is stable.
2) Ornate Bichir (polypteris ornatippinis). This is a very slow predator. I believe he hunts by scent. Very peaceful, but will eat other fish that would fit in their mouths. I used to feed him shrimp. But he hasn't tasted live food in over two years. He does very well on Jumbomin and f/d krill. He used to only come out of hiding at night when I first got him. He slowly decimated his tankmates of White Clouds, rainbows, and cory cats. This fish is hardy and not at all particular about his water. Just keep the conditions stable or he will refuse to eat.
3) Crenicichla Xingu. I believe you can have one specimen in your 55 gallon. This one is sort of sensitive to his water quality. This one might take a while to accept pellets. Mine would only eat feeder fish for a while, but I got it to eventually take jumbomin, dorored, and sinking carnivore. Do not buy one until your tank is mature and stable.
I would not recommend a fish to you that I have had no experience with. I'm like you. I go for the unusual. It's just coincidence that they all ended up being carnivores.
