Dabbling

What fish should I put in a 55 gallon aquarium?

I bought a 55 gallon aquarium yesterday at walmart. I am currently cycling the (fresh) water. I have just planted some live plant bulbs too. While the tank is cycling I am thinking what fish to put in. The gravel is natural brown. I plan in getting some neon tetra and (not goldfish) some glofish. I think that those fishes will be to small for my 55. I want some medium or even large, colorful, and peaceful fish to put with the neon tetras. I want some nice fishes for the top, middle, and bottom. Can you please help me choose the fishes so that I can have a nice and relaxed aquarium. I would also love to have a crayfish, eel, snail, shrimp but I think they will fight for territory. Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.

Judging by what you said, you should not go with tiger bars or any other very active or feisty fish. Also, Just because it's a bigger tank doesn't mean you need to go with bigger fish - by going with smaller fish you can have a busier tank, and the fish get more room to play with..

Most of the community fish do best in numbers, meaning it's better to go with higher numers and less species in the tank. They look better this way too.

red tail rasboras, and hatchet fish are examples of top dwellers. Danios work too, but are far from calm.

The neons and glofish are two types of mid dwellers already. Get a nice school of each and you're all set.

For bottom dwellers you can certainly go with shrimp. Another nice addition is catfish - if you go with a smaller type, like corydora, they will suit your tank style best and you can go with a nice group. Another alternative is a group of a small type of loach (not clown loaches!) such as khuli loaches, for an interesting aspect.

Then it's nice to have centerpiece fish, ones that are a little bigger and you only keep a couple of. Angel fish can work, but they do eat neons as a natural diet and the mix is risky. Instead, there are a number of gouramis that can work out nicely - you can go with a larger type than the dwarf, but not ones like the kissing gourami - they grow absolutely enormous! Alternatively you can look into dwarf cichlids like Rams or Apistogramma - you would want to look them up first to learn how to keep them, but these fish are very interesting and though small in size, they are huge in character, and get along well in community tanks the size of yours.

Eels and crayfish eat fish, so they are a lousy choice for community tanks.

Judging by what you said, you should not go with tiger bars or any other very active or feisty fish or you will not have your calm tank. Also, Just because it's a bigger tank doesn't mean you need to go with bigger fish - by going with smaller fish you can have a busier tank, and the fish get more room to play with..

Most of the community fish do best in numbers, meaning it's better to go with higher numers and less species in the tank. They look better this way too.

red tail rasboras, and hatchet fish are examples of top dwellers. Danios work too, but are far from calm.

The neons and glofish are two types of mid dwellers already. Get a nice school of each and you're all set.

For bottom dwellers you can certainly go with shrimp. Another nice addition is catfish - if you go with a smaller type, like corydora, they will suit your tank style best and you can go with a nice group. Another alternative is a group of a small type of loach (not clown loaches!) such as khuli loaches, for an interesting aspect.

Then it's nice to have centerpiece fish, ones that are a little bigger and you only keep a couple of. Angel fish can work, but they do eat neons as a natural diet and the mix is risky. Instead, there are a number of gouramis that can work out nicely - you can go with a larger type than the dwarf, but not ones like the kissing gourami - they grow absolutely enormous! Alternatively you can look into dwarf cichlids like Rams or Apistogramma - you would want to look them up first to learn how to keep them, but these fish are very interesting and though small in size, they are huge in character, and get along well in community tanks the size of yours.

Eels and crayfish eat fish, so they are a lousy choice for community tanks.

Jatinder gave you some really awful advice so ignore him:
-bala sharks - grow massive and need massive tanks
-kissing gouramis - foot long fish that should be kept in big tanks with big fish
-most plecos - a lot of the ones mentioned, like the sailfin for example, grow to well over a foot long! If you like plecos, be careful and choose a small type like bristlenose or bulldog.
-tinfoil barbs - massive schooling fish that need massive tanks, and far from calm
-parrot and firemouth cichlids - territorial and big and not good for a community tank at all

Example of a tank like you want that I might put together, including lots of live plants:
10 neons and 10 glolights
8 redtail rasboras
8 corydora catfish
1 pair of a gourami that's not to big or small - like a Pearl gourami
a number of ghost or cherry shrimp

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