My Husband approved an up to 55 gallon tank for our new home

[TheTenthDoctor]

recently my husband and I moved to our new home in even more backwoods Pennsylvania. I asked about starting a larger fish tank and he approved (as long as I don’t spend too much cash) and up to 55 gallon tank.

So what do I put in this tank? I was thinking a guppy colony, or maybe angelfish finally. Let me know what you think. I’ll get water parameters soon from the new house, right now just looking for inspiration!

 

[MaloK]

Do you know your water parameters hardness, General and Carbonate ?

It's a good starting point to find what fish would be compatible and happy.

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

Do you know your water parameters hardness, General and Carbonate ?

It's a good starting point to find what fish would be compatible and happy.

Haven’t had a chance to find that out, it is well water though, just looking for suggestions about what would be happy in a 55 gallon

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

@Essjay and @JuiceBox52 I was thinking of doing 5 males from distinct lines, one white, one endler lyretail, one dumbo and 1 endler fancy guppy. Then getting, 1 female endler, 2 fancy females, 3 tiger females. I think that should give me enough diversity of bloodlines.

 

[Back in the fold]

Since it’s well water it’s apt to be hard so a Guppy colony might be nice . Recently I saw a 55 with a sizable Guppy population in it and it was cool . A lot of visual activity .

 

[Essjay]

Assuming the water is suitable for them there should be a lot of interesting fry from that assortment

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

Assuming the water is suitable for them there should be a lot of interesting fry from that assortment

Thats really why I am doing this, I love seeing all the unique fry and I used to sell off the males and females to local fish keepers, I may even start my own strain of endler guppy hybrids. Who knows!

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

Since it’s well water it’s apt to be hard so a Guppy colony might be nice . Recently I saw a 55 with a sizable Guppy population in it and it was cool . A lot of visual activity .

I agree, I think they would thrive. But I'm also drawn towards larger species of fish, like perhaps an angel fish or 3 or maybe even some discus.

 

[Death by Fish Tanks]

I asked about starting a larger fish tank and he approved (as long as I don’t spend too much cash) and up to 55 gallon tank.

First, rather than a 55 gallon *aquarium,* might I suggest a stock tank/tub? They're sturdier, and a tub with a sponge filter costs far less than an aquarium kit(of the same size) does.

Lastly, you can never go wrong with good old fashioned guppies! Their lovely to view from all angles, they're low maintenance and they readily make more of themselves!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

(as long as I don’t spend too much cash)

I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're doomed.

Congratulations, on both your marriage (that's a relatively new development, right?) and your new fish tank. 55 gallon is probably my all-time favorite size. You can do so much with them. If the idea of guppies lights you up, go for it! If your water's hard, how about a school of gold barbs or padamyas (aka odessa barbs), and a bunch of panda garra to round it out? Or some of the smaller rainbowfish? Turquoise or dwarf neons would do well in a 55.

 

[anewbie]

First a 55 (imho) is a badly shaped aquarium - i'd go with one of the following 40b, 50 gallon (tall 40b), 75 gallon (just tell the hubby it is an oversized 55).

All of the above alternatives to 55 have greater width. While a 20 long and 29 are 12 inches wide - they are 'smaller'. The 55 has is pretty tall but narrow so in a sense it begs for a larger fish with that extra height while restricting the fish size by the narrow width. You want pancakes for a 55 such as discus, angels, .... or some fish you flattened....

Of course you can do layers in a 55 with bottom, middle and top tall fishes but not so many people do that sort of thing. also if you have hard water your options will be more constrained though guppies make great top fishes and rainbow cichild make bottom fishes and for the middle swordtails i guess but this isn't a stocking that excite myself (even if the rainbow cichild is a decent bottom fish). Of course i am not you so.....


The water hardness makes a big difference - while most well water is hard there is actually very soft well water in parts of the country.

Assuming it is hard you can either go with live-bearers, ca fishes (and there are some pretty nice smaller ones), lake whatever fishes, shellies.

Once you decide which path you want to take you can go from there.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

55 gallon is probably my all-time favorite size. You can do so much with them.

First a 55 (imho) is a badly shaped aquarium - i'd go with one of the following 40b, 50 gallon (tall 40b), 75 gallon (just tell the hubby it is an oversized 55).

Now, we're going to confuse the poor young lady. I agree that a 75 is more versitile, and I'd probably like one of those even better if I had one. But I like the length of the 55, and how it doesn't take up too much space in the house. The long, narrow shape makes it easy to produce directional flow, as in my current incarnation, so they make great river/hillstream tanks. I agree that they're pretty narrow for big fish. But for smaller fish, up to 4-5" or so? They're just about perfect. For me, anyway.

They all have their pros and cons. Figure out what works for you, Erin.

 

[Bamf Comics]

Why settle for one type, do both. Unless you're getting into the guppy business you'll need something to thin done the number of guppy fry. A couple angels along with the guppies will work wonderfully and I've seen them housed together in everything from super soft acid water to hard alkaline which is more likely in your region. Here we can have both types in houses right next to each other depending on whether it's a bored well (surface water) or a drilled well set deep into the granite. If you're not getting into angel breeding either then you'll be fine with both types once they're acclimated to whatever comes out the tap. Worst thing you can do is start trying to alter and fiddle with numbers chasing wild caught conditions the fish you get may be generations away from having been in. I've got 3 trios of gorgeous guppies arriving today, Blue Grass, Albino Blue Topaz Ribbons and Purple Dragons. I've already got a couple other types doing great and two tanks full of angels growing out nicely in the same unfiddled with water source used for all the tanks.

I'll vote against downgrading to a stock tank. They work but take a lot of the pleasure away from viewing guppies from the side. I just set up 2 more 20 highs last week to be ready for the new arrivals prefering them to the top view tubs already in progress for some types here and much cheaper than glass.

 

[Bamf Comics]

Just grabbed a picture of the two new 20 gallon high guppy homes for two of the three trios arriving today. Cheap sponge filters from Amazon retro fitted with less than $2 worth of 3/4 PVC pipe and elbow so they pull more water thru the sponges and direct the flow where I want it. Two green mats of grass for baby guppys to hid in held down by 4 rocks each out the pile next door. $10 each. Hunk of hornwort I expect to see keep growing and filling the tank for guppys that are suicidal and want to play up high. I used a free small plastic container in each with holes drilled and added a stalk or two of anacharis and a free inclusion from the anacharis order I'll identify later if it lives. It can root there and brings over more bacteria from the established tanks I stole the gravel from to fill the tubs. A hunk of java moss inserted randomly in each. $14 four foot light from Walmart since it was cheap. No lids cut yet since I'm starting less than topped off to see how the light does in 24/7 mode. I'll make adjustments based on results, maybe even topping the tanks off and adding lids.

Now about why you're having to ask the husband permission? It's usually the other way around down here. If mama ain't happy, nobodys happy! For reference, that's roughly the length and close to the height of a 55. Sometimes Petco has them for a buck a gallon. Sometimes you can find a good price on places like craigslist. Everything else in the picture came cheap from Walmart or Amazon. I stock the background scene myself so it's a low cost addition for me since I don't want to be staring at the kitchen spices behind the tanks. Air pump is located 10 feet away. It's half the output of one I wasn't maxing out. Added some airline and dialed the flow rate up some.

Snails already added as well. Bare bottom was to make cleaning easy in the future. I can add more tubs of gravel for rooted plants as needed.

 

[anewbie]

Now, we're going to confuse the poor young lady. I agree that a 75 is more versitile, and I'd probably like one of those even better if I had one. But I like the length of the 55, and how it doesn't take up too much space in the house. The long, narrow shape makes it easy to produce directional flow, as in my current incarnation, so they make great river/hillstream tanks. I agree that they're pretty narrow for big fish. But for smaller fish, up to 4-5" or so? They're just about perfect. For me, anyway.

They all have their pros and cons. Figure out what works for you, Erin.

I have no problem with small fishes in a 55 the problem is with small fishes is how to use the full height as it is a fairly tall aquarium. Obviously there are some pretty decent dwarf cichild for the lower/lower middle regions and there are tons of schoolers for the upper regions but capturing the area between the two is more difficult. There are 48 inch aquariums that are only 12-13 inches wide that are shallower and there are aquariums of similar height that are wider - the 55 while extremely common is just that sort of tank that i personally never really liked. There is a 50, 60 and 75 as well as a 30 long and 40 long that covers most of what i mentioned. Of course each person has their own preferences and can buy what they choose but don't let the '55' be the driving factor - think about how you will use the space.