New Tank: Stocking, filtration...

[Spawn of Dagon]

I am looking to begin setting up a 55 gallon (roughly 208 litres... maybe) aquarium, I have the look of it visualized, and I would like to have it become a central african themed tank, as I already have a small senegal bichir, and was thinking about adding the following: 1 Peters elephant nose,1 leopard ctenopoma, 1 feather finned synodontis catfish, and maybe a small, african knifefish of some kind... plus said bichir. Recommendations?
I am aware of the needs of the elephant nose fish, as it needs pristine water, which brings me to my next topic: filtration. what is the best kind? I already have a used internal filter that doesn't work super well, but still runs, and i would use that in combination with a canister, or something else...

[talldutchie]

Seen this question on yahoo a lot of times.

You've got a mix of aggressive fishes that get big.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...lus-senegalus/
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...emus-petersii/
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...a-acutirostre/

Read those and hten please reconsider the plan. If you want to push ahead then make sure there's hiding places and territorial boundaries. Get a pair of 200 gallon/hour externals hooked up but make sure you don't create much flow. Go easy on the ligth or get floating plants these fish don't like bright light

[Spawn of Dagon]

Seen this question on yahoo a lot of times.

You've got a mix of aggressive fishes that get big.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...lus-senegalus/
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...emus-petersii/
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...a-acutirostre/

Read those and hten please reconsider the plan. If you want to push ahead then make sure there's hiding places and territorial boundaries. Get a pair of 200 gallon/hour externals hooked up but make sure you don't create much flow. Go easy on the ligth or get floating plants these fish don't like bright light

i talked to the guy at my lfs, he said as long as there's only one of each, and i do include many hiding places, they should be fine together. Although he didn't say anything about lighting... what size/ watt would you recommend?

[Cliff]

I would certainly disagree with your LFS guy about the stocking. That is going to be very very risky at best. I have kept Elephantnose fish in the past and I can not see one surviving too long with aggressive fish in the tank. He would most likely remain stressed all the time and die from complications related to the stress. You should reconsider your plan and adjust it based on if you want a aggressive set-up, or a community set-up.

For filtration, I think a combination of a canister and HOB filter would be good, such as a Rena XP3 and a AquaClear 70. That would give you really good filtration for not too much $$$. Lighting would depend on if you would like plants or not as well as what type of plants

[Spawn of Dagon]

the only one that i would think as aggressive would probably the leopard ctenopoma... but they dont get quite as large as the bichir or elephant nose... what alternatives would you suggest?

[Cliff]

I would suggest not adding the Elephantnose

As for the other fish, I would suggest doing a little research to see which ones you like and reduce the stocking list a little as there likely will not be enough room in a 55 gallon tank for all the territory space these fish would need once they reach their fully grown adult sizes.

Also, consider talldutchie's advice and give them hiding spots fro when the aggression will get bad at times