Re-stocking My 55 Gallon

[half baked idiot]

So i went back to college in the fall, and my sister let my 55 gallon tank go down the drain. Everything has died. The filters, aerators, and lights have been running the whole time though. It has a lot of live plants, some driftwood, and a bunch of big rocks that form some caves. So now I'm back for break, and my brother moved back in, so I have someone to take care of the tank when I go back to school in February. I want to stock the tank again, but have no idea what I want to put in it. I want to get some fish that are bigger than what I had in it before, (white skirted tetra, tiger barbs, dwarf guarami, red tailed shark). What would be some good combinations or types of fish that I could put in once the tank is done cycling?

 

[shroob]

Well theres tons of possibilites really, it all depends on what you like.

Do you like cichlids? Oddballs? Would you like a community of fishes or just one aggressive fish?

 

[half baked idiot]

I was thinkign about having an aggresive tank. Could I have more than one really agressive fish in it, so long as they were the size or kind? what are some good bigger agressive fish that would do well in a 55 gal?

 

[freshwaterfishlover]

Biggest tank I have is a 45 Gallon.



3 Clown Loaches
1 Briselnose Pleco
2 Banded Gourami
2 Angels
6 Black Skirted Tetras
1 Comet Goldfish


Min size for a Oscar is a 55 Gallon.

 

[randallhart]

Clown loaches grow way to big for a 45 gallon tank.
and eventually an oscar will require a 75 gallon tank at least.
you could do african cichlids which there are more people here who know more about them than i do.
or you could do new world cichlids, blue acara, keyhole cichlids, etc.

 

[arowanamama]

I have a 55. I origionally began it with an oscar, two parots, a smaller blue devil, a convict and some large random guy (dont know what he is). The tank is very aggressive however they all keep each other in line. Make sure if you go with south american cichlids that you do not place african cichlids in there. The African will destroy everyone. Oscars are extremely dirty so you would need a biweekly water change. Seeing as you wont be home it might be best to avoid the oscar as you will have to find him a larger home within two or three years depending on how much you feed him. I have moved up in size to a 120 but still have my 55 in action. I keep two parots, two bala sharks and a small yellow ciclid (cant remeber what he is called). Aggressive tanks can be very exciting as there are battles and splashing and they all have great personalities. As long as the battles are not constant and it is equal force without damage to anyone its ok. Avoid feeding them live food as it brings paristies and fungus into the tank and believe me, that is not fun. Good luck and enjoy. Hey check out some of my picts and on goings with my tank at http/freshwaterfishlover.blogspot.com/. feel free to blog on my site and let me know how the tank turns out.