Stocking For A 55 Gallon

[channing]

Hello. So my hubby has just surprised me with a 55 gallon for Christmas. I'm thinking I would like a eel for it. I've seen on here that fire eels are too big but else where have read that they would work. So a little confused with that. I am also looking at the African butterfly fish. What else could I have in there and what kind of eel? I need big because this tank will be at the end of our bed and I would like to see them with out my glasses. Also would guppy fry and ghost shrimp be good live foods? We don't live close enough to get them but once every couple of months. So it would be nice to breed my own food for them. Thanks!
Edited to ask if I put a butterfly, black knife and peacock eel could I have anything else in there? I will put a another filter on if needed.

 

[Shovelman]

Hello. So my hubby has just surprised me with a 55 gallon for Christmas. I'm thinking I would like a eel for it. I've seen on here that fire eels are too big but else where have read that they would work. So a little confused with that. I am also looking at the African butterfly fish. What else could I have in there and what kind of eel? I need big because this tank will be at the end of our bed and I would like to see them with out my glasses. Also would guppy fry and ghost shrimp be good live foods? We don't live close enough to get them but once every couple of months. So it would be nice to breed my own food for them. Thanks!
Edited to ask if I put a butterfly, black knife and peacock eel could I have anything else in there? I will put a another filter on if needed.

Black ghost knife is a no-no in your sized tank and as far as the spiny eels go try looking at the peacock spiny eels, or that general family. In your size tank one of the 8" spiny eels would be fine. Make sure that you use a soft substrate as they wont last long in gravel due to it scratching up their skin and causing infections. Also id feed it a mixture of frozen foods such as frozen blood worms, (live if you can get some), different types of shrimp and so forth, as guppies are just as bad as goldfish feeders and should be avoided....

 

[channing]

Hello. So my hubby has just surprised me with a 55 gallon for Christmas. I'm thinking I would like a eel for it. I've seen on here that fire eels are too big but else where have read that they would work. So a little confused with that. I am also looking at the African butterfly fish. What else could I have in there and what kind of eel? I need big because this tank will be at the end of our bed and I would like to see them with out my glasses. Also would guppy fry and ghost shrimp be good live foods? We don't live close enough to get them but once every couple of months. So it would be nice to breed my own food for them. Thanks!
Edited to ask if I put a butterfly, black knife and peacock eel could I have anything else in there? I will put a another filter on if needed.

Black ghost knife is a no-no in your sized tank and as far as the spiny eels go try looking at the peacock spiny eels, or that general family. In your size tank one of the 8" spiny eels would be fine. Make sure that you use a soft substrate as they wont last long in gravel due to it scratching up their skin and causing infections. Also id feed it a mixture of frozen foods such as frozen blood worms, (live if you can get some), different types of shrimp and so forth, as guppies are just as bad as goldfish feeders and should be avoided....

Thanks! I have a couple of new questions now though. Why is the black knife a no-no? I have heard of lots of people having them in 55s and from what I've been reading it says that they can. Also why are the guppys bad? This is my first time feeding live fish so please enlighten me. I was thinking that if I breed them and feed them the best I could they would be good food. Could I buy frozen people seafood and feed them that. I was reading that that is okay to do. I found that I like the peacocks better then the fires so I will be getting one of those instead. I just read about a elephant nose fish. Would one of those work? Does it matter the order I get these guys?
This is what I read about these guys and was going off of

blackghost knife fish
Minimum Tank Size: 50 gallons
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Water Conditions: 73-80° F, KH 0-10, pH 6.5-7.0
Max. Size: 1' 6"
Color Form: Black
Diet: Carnivore
Origin: South America
Family: Apteronotidae

african butterfly fish
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Aggressive
Water Conditions: 75-86° F, KH 1-10, pH 6.9-7.1
Max. Size: 4"
Color Form: Green, Tan
Diet: Carnivore
Origin: Africa
Family: Pantodontidae

elephant nose fish
Minimum Tank Size: 50 gallons
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Water Conditions: 73-80° F, KH 0-10, pH 6.5-7.0
Max. Size: 9"
Color Form: Black
Diet: Carnivore
Origin: Africa
Family: Mormyridae


The Zig Zag Yellow Tail Eel
Minimum Tank Size: 50 gallons
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Water Conditions: 75-82° F, KH 10-15, pH 6.8-7.2
Max. Size: 7"
Color Form: Tan
Diet: Carnivore
Origin: Southeast Asia
Family: Mastacembelidae


So I was thinking that it would working my tank. Could I fit a school of something in there? Sorry I'm full of questions Im really excited about this. Ill do a journal once I get it. Im planing on using play sand for the bottom. One last question what does KH stand for?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Black ghost knifes get too big for 55 gallons. I knwo that a lot of LFSs will advertise that 50g is enough, but that is a minumum and is actually really unfair to the fish. Its like keeping a housecat in a 4x4 room.

 

[channing]

Black ghost knifes get too big for 55 gallons. I knwo that a lot of LFSs will advertise that 50g is enough, but that is a minumum and is actually really unfair to the fish. Its like keeping a housecat in a 4x4 room.

That makes sense. I've been going though the threads on elephant noses and sounds like they would not work either. What other neat fish would work with the eel and butterfly fish? I would like something that I could have more then one of. I'm thinking angels and oscars are out.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I'm sorry, i do not know much about those fish. I only know some about the black ghost because my husband wanted one, but research steered us away for the moment..

 

[channing]

I'm sorry, i do not know much about those fish. I only know some about the black ghost because my husband wanted one, but research steered us away for the moment..

Thats ok. Thanks for giving me a hand. Just had a thought could I put a big shrimp in here or would it get munched? Or are mollies big enough to have with them? That way they'd have molly babies to eat. I have way to many questions.

 

[Shovelman]

Put the spiny eel in first to get him settled and eating properly as they can be a hassle to feed. What about a smaller school of Congo tetras?

Edit: Too many questions are never enough questions! This is a place to learn and to gather info and tips from people who have actually kept the fish species your learning about rather than a lfs just trying to make a sale!

 

[channing]

Put the spiny eel in first to get him settled and eating properly as they can be a hassle to feed. What about a smaller school of Congo tetras?

Edit: Too many questions are never enough questions! This is a place to learn and to gather info and tips from people who have actually kept the fish species your learning about rather than a lfs just trying to make a sale!

Thanks I don't want to become a pest. Could I have two eels? From what i've read about the butterfly is that you can only have one. However they have all had them in small tanks. So could I have two since the tank is much bigger? Also about the eel I had read early to put them in last that way they don't think of the fish in already as food. Otherwise I'll put eels in then angels and a school of something then butterfly. Or put the butterfly right after eels? Or at same time? My thought is to have a deep sand bed with hides for eels. One side will be planted and the other open. Will that work? Ugh this is much harder then bettas and livebearers.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

If this 55g is 4-foot long, you could do an African oddball mix something like...
3x African Butterfly Fish
1x or 3x Leopard Bushfish
6-9 Congo Tetras or 6-9 Upside Down Catfish (S. nigriventris)
{an eel-like species possibly, an area I know very little about, perhaps 3x Reedfish could work?}

The ABF/Bushfish/Tetra or USD mix is a tried and tested combo for numerous oddball keepers, the only thing to watch out for is sourcing USD that have grown enough to not be tempting snacks for the predators (as late juvenile/adults they are fine, but for instance my LFS only imported ~2cm babies this year, which are still a fraction too small to mix with my four 8-12cm bushfish). Given these are all pretty chilled out fish, they ought to not heavily out-compete an eel for food.

 

[channing]

If this 55g is 4-foot long, you could do an African oddball mix something like...
3x African Butterfly Fish
1x or 3x Leopard Bushfish
6-9 Congo Tetras or 6-9 Upside Down Catfish (S. nigriventris)
{an eel-like species possibly, an area I know very little about, perhaps 3x Reedfish could work?}

The ABF/Bushfish/Tetra or USD mix is a tried and tested combo for numerous oddball keepers, the only thing to watch out for is sourcing USD that have grown enough to not be tempting snacks for the predators (as late juvenile/adults they are fine, but for instance my LFS only imported ~2cm babies this year, which are still a fraction too small to mix with my four 8-12cm bushfish). Given these are all pretty chilled out fish, they ought to not heavily out-compete an eel for food.

Thanks! Would it be over stocking to have 3 butterfly ,3 reed fish,9 congos 3 leopards. Maybe some UDCs im not a big fan of them rather have the congos. These are not fish we see ever around here so i'll have to get them online. Any suggestions on that? Does it matter stocking order? Get half at a time?

 

[roddy]

Congos are great but go for African red-eyes (Arnoldichthys spilopterus)if you can get some, even better, seriously lovely fish And agree, nicer catfish too

 

[channing]

Thanks for the ideas! In what area should I ask about feeding live foods? Also how should I aquascape the tank with these guys in mind?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

African Red Eye Tetras are a lovely fish, but I get the impression they are not as calm swimmers/eaters when compared to Congo Tetras. This could easily spook ABF and Leopard Bushfish.

Perhaps I have been lucky, but I have not had to resort to a live food only diet for my ABF or Leopard Bushfish. Both have happily eaten Tetra Prima and Hikari Cichlid Gold Baby pellets as staple foods, while the bushfish have taken recently to eating JML Catfish Pellets and Hikari sinking mini wafers! As a treat, they get defrosted bloodworm or Brine Shrimp once or twice a week normally.

As for the tank, they will appreciate tannin stained water from a fair bit of bogwood with nooks and crannies to explore. Tall bushy plants (can be artificial, but you could use various African Anubias varieties, which are tolerant of being submerged but normally grow above the waterline in the wild) that break the water surface will enable the ABFs and bushfish to satisfy their predatory ambush instinct. Current should be kept low-moderate, especially at the water surface, <6x water turnover (my ABF does not mind current surfing as long as it is not a raging current).

 

[channing]

African Red Eye Tetras are a lovely fish, but I get the impression they are not as calm swimmers/eaters when compared to Congo Tetras. This could easily spook ABF and Leopard Bushfish.

Perhaps I have been lucky, but I have not had to resort to a live food only diet for my ABF or Leopard Bushfish. Both have happily eaten Tetra Prima and Hikari Cichlid Gold Baby pellets as staple foods, while the bushfish have taken recently to eating JML Catfish Pellets and Hikari sinking mini wafers! As a treat, they get defrosted bloodworm or Brine Shrimp once or twice a week normally.

As for the tank, they will appreciate tannin stained water from a fair bit of bogwood with nooks and crannies to explore. Tall bushy plants (can be artificial, but you could use various African Anubias varieties, which are tolerant of being submerged but normally grow above the waterline in the wild) that break the water surface will enable the ABFs and bushfish to satisfy their predatory ambush instinct. Current should be kept low-moderate, especially at the water surface, <6x water turnover (my ABF does not mind current surfing as long as it is not a raging current).

I'm glad to hear that yours eat other things as well. Where is a good place to order these fish? Also does it matter the order that I get them? I was thinking I should get the congos first that way they have time grow.