55 Gallon stocking..

[Gmoney]

Hey everyone, I have had a 55 G set up for about 4 months now and am looking to make it more interesting and was wondering what would be some different and cool looking additions to my tank. The current stock is..

11 Neons, 4 Zebra Danios, 4 Panda Corys, 3 Amano Shrimp, 2 Julii Cory, 2 Mystery snails, 1 flying fox, 1 german blue ram, 1 bloodfin tetra.

Im thinking of adding another ram, some different kinds of shrimp or perhaps a crayfish. I am open to anything else that would go with the fish i already have.

I also have a 10 Gallon that im thinking of transferring the danios and tetra to.

Here are some pics... even tho they look bad due to resizing :(

[rangur1]

the crayfish will probably make lunch out of a couple of the present residents.
this question hinges entirely on whether you relocate the tetras and danios. neons and small danios are lunch items for several popular fish you could otherwise add to your setup.
if you keep them where they are i would only add other tetras,rasboras,small danios. if you remove them, there are more options.

[PostalPenguin]

More rams and a larger school of tetras would look good. Otherwise the tetras could be moved and you could get a wide variety of fish.

[jaysee]

I would start by returning the julii corys and getting a few more pandas. They prefer to be in larger groups (5+) of their own kind. For some reason, different corys species don't school together. Bumping up their numbers will make them far more interesting. The lone bloodfin would probably appreciate some friends as well.

I LOVE crayfish (I have 9) but they are predators. They may not actually catch and eat any of your fish, but they're gonna try, and that will really stress out your bottom dwellers like corys. I keep mine with fish that are cheap and easy to obtain, so if they actually get one or two, it's not an ordeal to get replacements. You can keep their hunting efforts at bay by keeping them well fed, but I think they are a fantastic addition to a tank if you don't mind losing a fish here and there. My blue doesn't hunt at all and has not eaten anything, while my red is alwas on the hunt and has eaten ghost shrimp. If you're staying with smaller fish, you may want to considder dwarf crayfish. They top out at 2 inches (MUCH less of a threat) and you can have several living together.

[Goodbye]

More rams would be a great addition!! Increase the amount of rams to 4.

A 10g would work great for the danios and bloodfin tetra. Just move them to the 10g and increase the school sizes to 6 of each.

Good Luck! :22:

[DrNic]

I would add some rummynose tetras, and a couple more rams and I think it will be in great shape!!

I've never tried crayfish but I've heard you might want to be careful with them.

[Sharkman]

I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but your existing schools could all use more numbers besides the neons. While it is not different or new really, your existing fish would really appreciate it. Also, I find that larger schools of fewer species are more pleasing to the eye. For example if you got 5 more panda and 8 more juli cories it would look great. Or get 10 more blood fin tetras and move the danios to your 10g.

There are really an endless amount of combinations of what you can do.

[Gmoney]

after taking all of your suggestions into consideration..i decided to get 4 more neons, 3 more pandas, 2 pearl cichlids, and 2 otos. i returned the false juliis and moved the danios to the 10 G. The pandas and neons couldnt be happier! tank looks amazing now, i just hope im not gonna be overstocked once i get two more rams... i do however plan on getting another filter and powerhead to help out... thank you everyone for your suggestions, it really helped out... and now i already want another tank:help:

current stock:
15 neons
7 Panda corys :)
3 Amano shrimp
2 Pearl cichlids (Geophagus brasiliensis)
2 otocats
2 mystery snails
1 german blue ram
1 flying fox

[jaysee]

That's how it starts....then you wake up one day with a dozen tanks.

[pandalize]

I'd agree with everyone -- get more rams! such great fish with awesome personalities. Another good addition might be a dwarf gourami. I'm practically a spokesperson for them. They are really easy to care for and get along really well with other fish, not to mention they (especially the neon blues) are gorgeous!

[domjd05]

Nice choice with the geophagus

[terapie]

I can almost hear that Ram screaming "get me at least a friend here!" :stongue:

I love Rams ;)