"Cool" fish to put in a 55G

you should be able to seed the new tank with filter media or squeezins from the current tank ..so cycling should not be a big issue.

I would suggest bumping the tiger barbs,..5 is a low end for a shoal of tiger barbs.
cory cats are also a schooling fish..maybe bump that up.
I'm not big on oto's tho they are a cool fish.
oto's can tend to be a bit difficult to keep in a young tank..tho they do love brown algae.
I prefer BN's to them.
 
His son has a Siamese Algea Eater in his own tank, and my SO likes that one so much that he has declared that he will get one of those AND a red tail shark, citing that "aggressive fish leave the algea eaters alone." (this is based on him watching the opaline gourami, who is boss fish currently, keeping his distance from the catfish he already has).

Just want some back up. Siamese Algea Eater + Red tail shark = massacre, right?
 
AquariaCentral.com