Empty 55 gallon need fish. Any ideas?

My tank has been set up for several weeks and is ready for fish. I lost my tiger oscar this summer and have been waiting to re-stock. I'm thinking of doing a mixed tropical tank instead of just one big fish.

I've tried african cichlids in the past, I actually have a 29 gallon with a peacock and a catfish already.

Any suggestions for easy to take care of fish?

welcome to this forum!!!!!!!!!!!! http://discusfishcaresecrets.blogspot.com/2009/07/how- to-maintain-healthy-aquarium.html
i think this blog may help about your query.....read this and comment or suggestions about that....

you have to know that if you keep cichlids then you should keep only cichlid in your aquarium....there are so many varieties of cichlids....at the same time you sould keep clown laoch or pleco as bottom feeders but please do not keep cory....

Welcome to our forum.

Angelfish are not exactly trouble free, but a half dozen juveniles would look good in your aquarium. An equal number of cory cats would be acceptable tankmates. When the angelfish mature and begin to form pairs in about a year, you'll need more aquariums. If you decide on angelfish, set the aquarium temperature at about 82, make sure ammonia and nitrite are zero, and use the drip acclimation method to introduce new fish. It's described in one of the blogs.

yes do what john said...now it's your choice whatever you like..we are all experienced about angel fish, discus or any freshwater fish...but now you decide the fish you want to keep and let know us...

Just go to the store and see what strikes your fancy. You could always pick like 4 to 8 different kinds of small schooling fish and just get like 5 to 10 of each. Would be cool to watch these different groups swim around the tank.

Thanks to everyone for the help. I will probably go today and see what looks good. I was thinking about going with a few different types of schooling fish.

It's a good idea to do some research before you buy fish. Different species can require different aquarium environments, and some are just not compatible.

You sure can't rely on the people working at the pet store that is for sure. I have had some bad experiences with putting fish together that they say are compatable. I think that is why I'm a little gunshy about stocking my tank now. I still havn't purchased any new fish. I really want to make sure I do the right thing this time.

ya,you are right...so what fishes you bought from lfs?which fish you have in your aquarium at present?

Checked my empty tank this morning and the nitrate level is pretty high. I did a 25% water change and I thought I'd check it again after church. If it is OK at that point, I thought I'd go get a couple of fish.

I've also thought about putting in a live plant to help control the nitrate. Any suggestions?

Hornwort.

Thanks

Well I finally decied to put some fish in my tank a few months ago. I had several micky mouse platy's. One actually had a baby. Now the baby and the algea eater are all that are alive. I changed the water and all and left those two fish in for about 4 weeks.

I then bout 7 neon tetras about 10 days ago. They seem to be doing well. I also bought a gold mystery snail... not doing too well. He is ust floating at the top of the tank. He is not closed up, in fact he is hanging out of the shell..

I just bought 6 rummy nose tetras last week, does anyone think they attacked my snail?

Mystery snails are particularly sensitive to copper, so you will need something like Kordon Rid Metals. Also, i discovered the hard way that mystery snails don't like being abruptly moved to a new aquarium; like fish, they do better with the drip acclimation method. The tetras probably will not bother the snail, but they may eat the fry of live bearing fish. If you have a so called Chinese algae eater, it could explain why none of the adult fish survived. The adults don't eat algae, but they will come out at night and eat the protective slime coats off their tankmates. Poor water quality will also make for sick fish. Ammonia and nitrite should always stay at zero. A working nitrogen cycle and regular, partial water changes will usually eliminate toxic ammonia and nitrite.

The snail was dead. A lot of internet sites said to take out the snail and smell it. It was definately dead. I took it out.

The fish seem like they are doing OK. I thought I would do another partial water change tomorrow. I used test strips to test the water and everything seems to be within good peramiters.

What do you reccomend to get rid of the algae?

Thanks for the help

Just read your article on the chinese algae eater. In fact, I have an oto. Just one in a 55 gallon tank. I may get another one or two.

Otos are actually supposed to be pretty good for algae. But if you keep up with regular maintainence and add a couple live plants, you relaly shouldn't have a problem with algae. Remeber, a small amount of algae is not really a bad thing.

Just my two cents worth but I would not bother with test strips for testing water quality and get a good liquid test kit such as API master test kit for freshwater which give more accurate results than test strips.

Also hope your not adding too many fish in one go and stressing out the biological filter.

Most of the dip strip tests will not check for ammonia. You can buy kits with reagents that test specifically for ammonia, but the comprehensive, liquid test kits are probably better.

Thanks. I'll check into a better kit. I added 7 neon tetras at once. Then waited over a week to add the rummy nose (6). Thought I'd wait at least that long to add some danios.

I'll invest in a better kit

When you get danios, be sure to get at least six, so they don't get nippy.

I personally love my API Master Teast Kit for Freshwater. I also bought this thing (on clearance for $2, wouldnt have bought it othewise) that suctions to the side of the tank and is like a dip stick. it's supposed to last 3 months, it has some kind of cartifge that you replace. I don't trust it much, but figure it's nice to have so I know immediately if there is a surge in ammonia, between testings with the API kit.