What Fish For 55 Gallon Tank

[vintage3]

I got my new 55 gallon tank a few weeks ago did the cycle and then got given 11 fish which are 9 neon tetras ,1 peppered cory and one albino cory.

Im just woundering what else I can add to stock my tank because its looking a bit under populated at the moment.

I was looking at getting
2 more peppered corys
2 more albino corys
1 red tailed shark (I wanted a couple of silver sharks but found out how big they grow and I dont think its a good idea)
1 male betta (my dad had one of these in his tank when I was younger and it was my fav fish)


Will these fish be okay and if so what else will be ok


Oh I have a couple of small snails which seemed to have come with the plants I bought should I get rid of them asap or keep them intact to help with getting rid of waste food, plants ect???

All my water levels (Ph amonia ect) are spot on at the moment and I do a small water change of about 30% at least once a week

 

[OldMan47]

Your additions should be made slowly but I think all would go well with the exception of the red tailed shark. They may not get as big as the silver but they will get too big to live peacefully with the neons.
Snails can help use some of the excess food that sometimes gets into a tank but should not impact the plants at all. If you tend to overfeed, you will have an enormous snail population explosion that cannot be controlled until you nget the feeding back where it should be. Simply put, they will not cure an overfeeding problem but they will make the fact much more obvious by covering your tank glass with baby snails. I often allow some snails in my tanks because they will help a bit with algae but they will also not take care of that. If I don't take care of cleaning and algae myself, no number of snails or other stock will do it for me.

 

[vintage3]

Im not going to get all the fish straught away (im too scared to do that because of amonia spikes ect)

Its a shame about the red tailed shark I would love one.

Is there anything else i can add to make the tank seem more populated???

 

[OldMan47]

For my own tastes, I would start by filling out the cories to be 6 of each kind. A nice group of rasboras would help fill in the middle waters without threatening the neons. If you like the idea of fish that school well, there are few that will school better than rummy nose but they need to be kept in large groups to really look good.

 

[Soul Of The Night]

I used to keep my 15 neons in my 55 along with 8 pristella tetras and 8 serpae tetras, and some plecos as well. My tank was very heavily planted but I thought it gave it a very natural look. and if you want to fill in that extra room in your tank, throw in some live plants. Not only do they look good but they help keep your water parameters in check.

 

[vintage3]

ok an update on friday I went out and bought 2 new fish one blue male betta and one red tailed shark. unfortuantly due to my stupidity both fish got stressed and died monday.
The tank has been heavily planted from the beggining

I have decided not to get another betta. Im still keen on the shark though.
Im going to leave it till the end of the month to atempt to get any more fish.

Im now looking at getting some shrimp.

my new list is as follows :
6 danios
2 more albino corys
2 more pepperd corys
1 red tailed shark
and maybe some barbs (still looking into this )