New Tank: Stocking, filtration...

[talldutchie]

how you figured out that i am a teen boy, i will never know, honestly. unless you got that from the comment about my father...

I never did. Although if you asked me to guess I would figure you for under 25 from your choice of fish and your language and spelling but that's not the issue. All I was trying to say is that projects like this in small tanks are often attempted by teen boys because of the coolness factor of an aggressive tank. Those projects hardly ever end well.

I did in fact check out those links. i deeply apologize if i sound really stubborn, but i have trouble seeing a 16 inch bichir inhaling the ctenopoma. Although i have been very wrong before...

Well, now that you mention it, you do sound rather stubborn.

If the table of standard tank sizes I use for imperial is correct a 55g is 48 inches wide. I think that's too small for 16 inch of fish.

And, as Cliff said, you have little room for territories. Sooner or later, and likely sooner, this will result in injuries.

Anyway, you got the information, you got some viewpoints, the choice is yours.

[Goes to 11!]

If the table of standard tank sizes I use for imperial is correct a 55g is 48 inches wide. I think that's too small for 16 inch of fish.

And it is also only 12" deep.

i reread all three of those articles you posted a few times, they actually said that these species were compatible(bichir, elephant nose and leopard ctenopoma). but i think i will go along without elephant nose anyways

Also, Here is the suggested tank size for the fish listed as copied directly from those articles:

Bichir: "60″ x 24″ x 24″ (150x60x60cm) – 540 litres."

Elephantnose: "A 48″ x 18″ x 18″ (120cm x 45cm x 45cm) – 255 litre tank is just about acceptable. You’ll need something bigger if youb want to keep a decent-sized group."

Bushfish: "48″ x 12″ x 12″ (120cm x 30cm x 30cm) – 110 litres."

As long as we are going by what the SF profiles say.. You can clearly see that you do not have nearly enough tank for the first two right?

[talldutchie]

Drifting off slightly, I've found SF to be very reliable. Their species writeups tend to match my personal experiences. IT's in fact more reliable and accurate than books were 20 years ago.

[Spawn of Dagon]

thank you for those tank sizes, i think i will give my bichir back to my lfs, and just keep a ctenopoma, and maybe some other fish of similar size.
also the congo blackwater setup sounds really interesting, so i will definitely have to give that a try at some point(with a larger tank)