Need help choosing a largeish fish for new 55g.

Loutre

Registered Member
Feb 18, 2006
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I'm starting a 55 gallon planted FW tank. I already have all of the equipment and am confident I'll be able to care for it and it's inhabitants, so now I'm picking the fish (and plants, but that's not a problem.) for the tank. I have not yet started anything with it, however.

So far, I've decided on 6 rainbows (Bleheri or Boesemani, depending on LFS) and 6-8 corys, but this leaves a good amount of room open, and I feel one (relatively) large fish, a while down the line, would finish off the tank nicely without crowding things.
A Black Ghost Knife would have been good, but of course it would quickly outgrow the tank, so something that won't get longer than about 6 inches at max would be nice.

I'm not staunch on it being one big fish, so other stuff like say a few fish a bit larger than the rainbows, whatever, I'm open to suggestions.
 
What about a pleco? You could start off with a smaller one (less expensive) and it would grow to be quite large. The benefit would also be to have a tank cleaner.

They aren't the neatest fish to watch, but it would be a larger member of your tank community.

Joe
 
I would not go with a pleco, they are so messy, you really are counteracting any cleaning they may do. Plus they need special food of their own. What about a gourami of some kind? A 55 should be a nice size for one or 2 of the medium sized ones.
 
Six to eight rainbows of that size and one specie is about all you should put in the middle water column.

Rainbow fish never stop growing. Once they reach their adult size, they continue to grow. They will grow slowly, but they do continue to grow.

Boseman grow to 4" TL as adults, Bleher's to 5.5" TL. Ten year old 5"+ Boesemani are not unheard of.

Rainbows are very active fish and most like a medium to strong current to swim in.

Roan
 
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