Max Fish Size in 55g

O

Opicana

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May 13, 2006
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Toledo, Ohio
Hi,
I am planning for my 55g that I will be starting up in a few weeks. It will be a "biotope" and I am considering 3 different biotopes. I am reviewing the stocking options for each tope, and I want to know when I look up each fish, what is the max adult size I should consider for the tank? Obviously, when I pick a biotope and come up with my stocking list I will consider the sizes of the fish I place together and such. Right now, I am just looking for a general rule to see roughly how many species/what kinds I could have for each tope. So, basically...I am looking for "I wouldn't go more than X inches in a 55g".
Thanks,
Kara
 
The inch/gallon rule is garbage. You need to post what type of fish you want to keep and then we can help.
 
Yep While you do not want to keep huge fish in a 55 there are may other factors to consider besides size. You need to know what your bio load will be and what kind of filtration you will have.
 
As others have said, it's not so much the inches of fish to worry about when setting up a new tank.

i.e. my 55 Gallon I just sold due to moving across country. it was a South American biotope...had 6 Bolivian Rams, 4 panaque maccus(Clown Panaque-dwarf plecco), 3 Blackskirt tetras, a couple Bloodfin Tetras, and 8 lemon tetras. Some might say that the lower levels were over-populated while the upper levels were empty.

Also, Avoid potential tank busters like the Common Plecco that can grow to around 2 feet in length.

The key is having fish at several different levels in the tank and none that will be too big for the tank. like Rams or other bottom dwellers, some mid-level dish like Angels or discus, and some top dwelling fish like hatchets. Then you can also include some fish that will cruise all over. the key is making sure the fish are all community type fish so you don't wake up one morning and find that you only have 1 fish left.


Hope this helps clarify things for you!


PEACE!

-TF
 
Thanks for your quick responses! Unfortunately, I have no idea what kind of fish I am looking at here...I have a large list of fish that are present in the biotopes- not necessarily ones I want to keep...and I have to go through the listsm and see which ones I will consider. As I said, when I come up with my the fish I am *interested* in, I will do more research and find out there compatabilities, bioload etc...and see what I can fit in my tank. However, right now when I read the fish info, I want to knock fish off the list that are too unreasonable- likely completely ridiculous- for a 55g, and then I will won't look into them further, cause there is no point in it.
 
What are the biotypes? If you tell us that maybe we can suggest some representative fish from the type that would be large (but not too large) for a 55 gallon.
 
jennypenny said:
What are the biotypes? If you tell us that maybe we can suggest some representative fish from the type that would be large (but not too large) for a 55 gallon.
Click to expand...

At a guess, I'd have thought south american, african, and asian.

SA: Hatchetfish, 2 schools of tetra, 2 pairs of dwarf cichlids, and some cories.
African: Mbuna (nice and colourful imo)? or butterflyfish, congo tetras, kribs and jewel cichlids - an elephantnose?
Asian: Barbs, Danios, Gourami's and loaches

and a 4th - Australian, with rainbowfish and gobies maybe...
 
I kept an Oscar with a Gibbiceps for about 10 years in a 55. When I finally took the tank down the Oscar was about 12" and the gibby was around 18".
I used an AC 500 with a biowheel 330 and never really had any problems, just remember if you go with a larger size fish be prepared for some suprises, namely don't underestimate how strong they are...
 
If you want a VERY GENERAL size guide, the length of the tank should be around six times that of the largest fish, the width should be at least twice the length of the largest fish, and the tank should be high enough to stack 2 of the tallest fish on top of each other.

NOTE: Active fish like danios need a longer tank, inactive fish like farlowellas can make do in a shorter one.
 
The general suggestion about Oscars, Dempseys, etc. is 1 per 55 gallon tank. So going by that I would say no more than a 10-12 inch fish in a 55 by itself....but that wouldnt be much of a biotope. If I was doing a 55 biotope I wouldnt include any fish over 6 inches. This allows you to have some larger fish representative of the area as well as the other small ones that will be relatively safe...depending.
 
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