Help me decide!?!?!?

Tommy Gun

Tommy Gun

Fish Fanatic
Aug 1, 2006
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Wisconsin, USA
Hey everyone!

In a couple of days, I will be losing the current residents of my 55 gallon freshwater tank (they are all getting too big!). What I really want to do is get into keeping some cichlids, however I am not really sure where to start and I have lost confidence in my LFS employees because the fish they sold me origonally (bala sharks and tinfoil barbs) are a bad choice for this sized tank.

My questions include any spacific water parameter changes I will need to think about (right now I am running at 0 or close to zero on ammonia, nitrite and nitrate with a Ph in the neutral range according to my test kit). My specific needs are also to keep my chinese algea eater and two peacock eels in the tank.

What I would like to do is keep around 10 cichlids in the tank (so I am thinking smaller species) that will add color and character. I am not really opposed to a species tank, but I would rather like a variety of fishes. What I am wondering is if anyone already has a tank like this and around this size and what your ideas may be. This tank is used primarily as decoration in my living room so appearance is as important as function and of course, my interests in keeping and possibly breeding cichlids.

I realize this is a really broad topic and I am not expecting to learn everything I need to know from this one thread. I am just looking for a good place to start my research as well as real experiences and lessons learned by other fish keepers.

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
I think you have enough creatures in there already, even without the balas and barbs. you could stand to lose a peacock eel, and that CAE is going to be 10" long full grown and may be agressive towards your eels. anyway, if I had the tank, i'd return 1 eel and the CAE, and just be happy with just one peacock eel in the tank forever, since one eel would consume the whole bioload, although you may be able to squeeze a giant apple snail in with it. and you must be absolutely sure you have 0 ammonia/nitrites, and less than 20ppm of nitrates.
 
Macrognathus aculeatus, the peacock eel, grows to 15 inches and will be plenty of fish for a 55 gallon tank. unless you get rid of both eels and the CAE, you can't fit anymore fish in there and certainly not cichlids.
 
also, I suppose if you got rid of the two peacock eels, you could keep the CAE in there by himself.
 
Well, there is no real benifit in having an empty tank since these eels are never above the gravel or out of their hiding places. I was told that this algea eater was already at its max size (around 5 inches right now) and I do have a pretty large apple snail in the tank sometimes. (I move it about once a month between my two 55 gallon tanks.

I do have the option of returning all of my fish for a store credit which is actually pretty fair (about 75% of the retail price, which is a lot higher than I paid for the fish since they are a lot bigger now).

I am somewhat dissapointed right now because I see alot of people who have 55 gallon tanks or even less with a lot more than one eel in them. Is this because everyone is over stocked or just because of the potential size of my eels?

As for bioloads, I do not understand how if one eel can use up the maximum load I can have in a tank when right now I am potentially stocked for a 900 gallon or larger tank and keeping my water perameters fine. (The store which I purchased my tank from sold me 6 bala sharks, 2 tinfoil barbs, and four loaches, which have already been moved to a large discus tank)

Ok, lets start over then. If I was to completely clear out my tank, what is the maximum amount of fish I could have (assuming that I would like to have around 10 cichlids of various colors around 3 to 4 inches. Is that even possible?)

Or would I be better off sticking to platties and swordtails? (I already have one of these tanks though) What size tank would I need to purchase in order to have what I want as far as cichlids go?

Again, I just want some advice on where to start researching spacific species of fish before I dive into another unworkable situation with fish I cannot keep for very long. Thanks again.
 
you could keep a group of 10 shellies, A.K.A lamprolongus spp. cichlids, 8-9 rams, 3-4 keyholes, doors open for you once all the fish are gone
 
Since you stated clearing out your tank and starting over...

You also mentioned you wanted some color and character. Well.......I admit, I'm biased.......I love Malawi cichlids. My 55g is a saulosi species tank. Here's what the fish look like....

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/tanks/displaytank.php?tank=2205&group=owner

This is not my tank, but it's what made me want these fish. You could do 20-25 of these in there, or mix and match some various other mbuna in a 55g. There are many possiblities for a 55g.

Just a thought.....
 
Wobble,
You may have just created a new fan for those fish of yours! That is exactly what I want to have. Take a look at these vids of the tank that I am talking about (keep in mind that I am not an expert videographer though please!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qm6UdhCgiw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjFMi5i-2GI

I know that it seems like I am throwing these vids around alot in this forum lately, but it is not to brag but to gain some ideas and information on what to do. I admit that I got into this hobby brazenly and went for the gusto too quickly. I should have waited to learn about what I was doing so I could be responsible like I am trying to be now.

My goal is easy, to keep a great tank with great and HEALTHY fish. This includes an appropriate size home for the speices I keep.

Do you think that I could keep the type of fish you are talking about in the tank as it is decorated now or should I completely start over? (I am sorry, I forgot the name of the fish and I dont want to go back in case I lose what I have typed so far) Do these fish need hiding places? Real plants? Hard/soft water? or anything else in particular?

Thank you all so much for the information. At first I was a little disheartened at the idea that I could only keep one fish in this tank as I already have a tank full of 'normal' type fish (platties and mollies) and I would really like a tank full of something more interesting.
 
Tommy Gun said:
P.S. I am sorry, I made a mistake when listing my fish, the algea eater is a Siameese Algea eater.
Click to expand...
if you have a SAE, why not just leave him in? they only get, like 5" long, and he'd got great with a peacock eel. why get rid of all the fish? you've got a good thing going. just have a peacock eel, the SAE, and the snail, and be happy, man! :D
 
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