55 gallon fish suggestions + compatibility

[Hawaii Predator]

I just got a 55 gallon tank about a month ago. i currently have:
1 albino cory
4 panda corys
2 pearl gouramis
4 neon tetras
im looking to add about 5 more corys (prefferably albinos), an opaline gourami, a blue gourami, 2 clown loaches, 3 or more tetras, (a female betta or 2 fantails, either one for my mother since its in their house), a red parrot fish or some calmer african cichilids, a pleco if there is a species that stays small, some glass ghost cats if they dont eat the other fish, and some hatchet fish.
any suggestions for fish (top water mostly)? and do these fish get along with eachother? my parents want a calm tank so thats what its going to be:silly:. thanks in advance for the responses.

 

[LeahK]

Aloha! I'm in Hawaii, too. And I have 4 clown loaches in a 55 gallon tank. Learn from my mistakes
Let me tell you, they grow quicker than you'd think. They can reach a foot long. I wouldn't get them unless you plan to upgrade to a 120+ size tank. And they need to be in a school of 6 or more, so just 2 wouldn't be enough.
Anyway, your tank now sounds great. If you want more fish, I'd probably start by adding to the cory and tetra schools.
I don't know if cichlids mix--some other expert here will let you know!
And, btw, if ever do end up getting clown loaches and then having to find them new homes like I'm having to do, lemme know, because I've met several guys around here who keep BIG tanks (one guy's is 600 gallons), and they love to adopt loaches.

 

[Virtuoso2K12]

add some endlers or otos.

 

[Hawaii Predator]

Aloha! I'm in Hawaii, too. And I have 4 clown loaches in a 55 gallon tank. Learn from my mistakes
Let me tell you, they grow quicker than you'd think. They can reach a foot long. I wouldn't get them unless you plan to upgrade to a 120+ size tank. And they need to be in a school of 6 or more, so just 2 wouldn't be enough.

thanks for the advice, but ive only seen loaches the orange ones get up to 7 inches. you must have giants.

 

[jpappy789]

I just got a 55 gallon tank about a month ago. i currently have:
1 albino cory
4 panda corys
2 pearl gouramis
4 neon tetras
im looking to add about 5 more corys (prefferably albinos), an opaline gourami, a blue gourami, 2 clown loaches, 3 or more tetras, (a female betta or 2 fantails, either one for my mother since its in their house), a red parrot fish or some calmer african cichilids, a pleco if there is a species that stays small, some glass ghost cats if they dont eat the other fish, and some hatchet fish.
any suggestions for fish (top water mostly)? and do these fish get along with eachother? my parents want a calm tank so thats what its going to be:silly:. thanks in advance for the responses.

I wouldn't add an opaline. Those things can get aggressive. especially to other gouramis.

Clown loaches will definitely get too large in the long run.

You have room for more than 3 neons. I would try to get the school to 12 or so.

I wouldn't add a BP and definitely not africans. Both don't fit into a peaceful community. If you want a cichlid look into rams or apistos.

A good plec to look into is the bristlenose (or BN) plec...Ancistrus sp.

Ghost cats could work, but they can be delicate fish. Hatchets could work nicely for the top of the tank.

So a good final stocking:

10-12 neons
2 pearls
10 corys
pair of rams or apistos?
BN plec?

 

[paperdragon]

thanks for the advice, but ive only seen loaches the orange ones get up to 7 inches. you must have giants.

Clowns definitely can get larger than 7 inches, unless they're in some pretty bad conditions (doesn't always mean they will, but you just can't tell how big they'll get when you buy them).

Check out the link here, There's a video of a couple of very large clowns in a bit of a fight, one of which is about a foot long if I recall correctly.

Even at 7" a 55g is too small, they need a lot of space.

 

[jpappy789]

:iagree:

Try 10" minimum most should grow past a foot unless stunted.

 

[lucy42083]

Wow, yeah, clown loaches definitely grow above 7", even in less than perfect conditions. They aren't super fast growers, but really need to be in a group of 5 or more, need a lot of space, and I've seen many that are in the 12" range. So I would stay away from them in your 55G. I also agree that a blood parrot or any African is a bad idea with that mix, if you want cichlids either rams or apistos are an option as jpappy said. Also a bristlenose pleco can work in that setup and stays relatively small. I'd not go with any more gouramis, as the blue and opaline tend to be quite aggressive to other gouramis (pearls are the most peaceful of the larger gouramis). Perhaps hatchetfish would work for the top, I don't know a lot about them though. I'd definitely up the tetra and cory schools as a priority.

 

[Blueiz]

I'd be careful putting the gourmais together, as another poster said, they can be aggressive to each other. I have 5 gouramis in my 7 gallon tank, two are pairs and one is on its on. They do get into "fights" but nothing serious. It depends on the type of gourami that you choose. I did have two male moonlight gouramis at one point. I had requested the pet store to order me a pair, I didnt notice until I got home that they were both males. The biggest one ended up killing the smaller one.

 

[Hawaii Predator]

wow. didnt know that about the gouramis and the loaches. i thought that only happens if you put them together in a relatively small tank. and my loaches are 8 inches right now. but ive had them for a while, so i thought that i could throw them in my 200 gallon tank with the rest when they get too big. Im not sore if the LFS's over here on the big island carry bristlenose cats and ram/apistos cichilids. even the glass cats are a stretch for the shops here. id get lucky if you can special order them through the dealers that supply them. and is it typical for a male gourami to peck a little and chase the female around for a maximum of maybe 2 seconds at a time? they still hang out together though so im thinking its only fish play.