today my mother dropped off 2 55 gallon normal size and 1 30 gallon normal size also
so I am wondering what should I do with them I am also going to use 1 55 for my 2 7 inch monster goldfish and I am open to anything but preferably cichlids and a type of catfish bottom dweller possibly synodontis petricola or synodontis lucipinnis also the fish need to be under 10 bucks depending on many fish are in there also no shell dwelling cichlids or guppies
I have a 30 gallon community tank / female betta sorority, and it feels like the perfect size for that. Stocked with kuhli loaches and neon tetras, and a group of female bettas. Lots of hiding places via caves and rocks and plants and floating plants. People say the minimum # of bettas for a sorority is 5, and that might be true in a 10 gallon, but I've found in a 30 gallon you want to have at least 7 or 8. No males, though. You could do the same with a bottom dweller like a group of corydoras since you said you wanted catfish, and a mid-level shoaling fish like tetras or rasboras. Add a few small shrimp and snails for additional activity without adding too much bio load.
As for the 55, what about angelfish? Or a peacock eel? Or angelfish and a peacock eel together? I also hear angelfish could do well with a red tailed shark or a rainbow shark as their tank mate.
I don't know much about cichlids so I won't be much help there. Maybe someone else will come along with ideas on that.
If you have hard alkaline water then you could look at African Rift Lake cichlids.
If you have soft acid water you could go South American cichlids.
What are the tank dimensions, length x width x height?
If you want something different that isn't a cichlid or catfish, you could keep rainbowfish and purple spotted gudgeons (Mogurnda sp). But you might not be able to get them if you live outside Australia. Although rainbowfish are now available in most European countries and in the USA.
