55G stocking ideas

[KaderTheAnt]

Current stocking:

x5 Buenos Aries Tetras
x4 Pristella Tetras
x1 Common Pleco (he will be being rehomed soon)

The temp is 76*F

My s/o is intent on having a couple of of upside down catfish, which I know very little about.

The idea would be
x5 buenos
x4 pristellas
x3 upside down catfish

But after this, I’m unsure what to add. I’d like to add some more, but I’m not too sure as to what would work. Any help would be appreciated!

[Slaphppy7]

I would add to the tetra schools you already have, all tetras do better in larger groups than what you have...then, you could add another few tetra schools, as well

3 of those catfish should be fine

That being said, I wouldn't add anything until the pleco is gone

[KaderTheAnt]

I would add to the tetra schools you already have, all tetras do better in larger groups than what you have...then, you could add another few tera schools, as well

3 of those catfish should be fine

That being said, I wouldn't add anything until the pleco is gone

I know everyone on this site vouches for having 6+ of the same species, but in this case I’m not sure it would even matter. The Pristellas and Buenos have formed somewhat of a mixed school and because they’re both a peaceful species, they’re aren’t harassing each other due to low numbers. This being said, I’ll keep my eye out for anymore of either, just because I like both species, but at the same time, I don’t believe it’s all that necessary to add three more fish just to have six of each.

Do you have any tetra species you’d recommend? I personally have always loved the colors of the Serpae tetras as well as the general look to Black Skirt tetras, but I hear they’re both nightmares to keep with anything that isn’t semi-aggressive.

Here’s my thoughts ideally

10x Buenos aries
10x Pristellas
8x Black skirt/serpae (ideally serpae)
1x (centerpiece fish)
3x UDC

[Slaphppy7]

In a tank that size, I'd do 12-15 each of the BA's and pristellas.

I'd avoid the BS and serpae, just because they can be aggressive and nippy...look at Black Phantom tetras, or Red Phantom tetras, just as pretty, and peaceful as can be....

[KaderTheAnt]

In a tank that size, I'd do 12-15 each of the BA's and pristellas.

I'd avoid the BS and serpae, just because they can be aggressive and nippy...look at Black Phantom tetras, or Red Phantom tetras, just as pretty, and peaceful as can be....

Would I be able to go with that many and still have room for, say and angel fish?

12-15x BA
12-15x Pristellas
8x Red Minor
1x (centerpiece fish)
x3 UDC

[Slaphppy7]

Yes, a single angel may work, but I've never kept them. Ideally, I believe they're supposed to be kept in groups.

But a pearl gourami or two would work just fine, very pretty fish with interesting behavior.

8 serpae tetras will not be enough to spread their known aggression, again, I'd advise against them, unless it was a species-only tank.

Behaviour and Compatibility
Top ↑

H. eques is notorious as an aggressive community inhabitant with a reputation for nipping the fins of tankmates although this behaviour tends to be most pronounced when insufficient numbers are purchased or space is limited.

It’s a gregarious species forming loose hierarchies, with rival males continually battling with each other for female attention and positioning within the group.

A group of at least 8-10 specimens should be considered the minimum requirement since this increases the likelihood that the fish will be distracted by each other rather than their tankmates but will result in a more effective, natural-looking display.

Males will also show better colouration in the presence of conspecific rivals.

That said it is relatively boisterous and doesn’t make an ideal companion for very shy, slow-moving, or long-finned fishes such as many livebearers, cichlids, and anabantoids.

Source: https://www.seriouslyfish.com/specie...obrycon-eques/

[KaderTheAnt]

Yes, a single angel may work, but I've never kept them. Ideally, I believe they're supposed to be kept in groups.

But a pearl gourami or two would work just fine, very pretty fish with interesting behavior.

8 serpae tetras will not be enough to spread their known aggression, again, I'd advise against them, unless it was a species-only tank.

I’d mistyped when writing that, it is supposed to be red phantom.Thank you!

I’ve seen them kept alone, kept in pairs, and kept in groups. However, in the instance that they don’t work, is there anything you could recommend besides the pearls? (I have three in a 75g and I fear my tanks would begin to look repetitive)

[Slaphppy7]

Red phantoms, great choice

If you've seen a single angel kept in a community setting with no aggression (they ARE cichlids, after all), and are comfortable with it, then by all means try them...a M/F pair would be nice, they may even spawn for you

Just have a backup plan (rehoming) if it doesn't work out

[SueD]

I started with a pair of angels in a much smaller tank - 25g - but after spawning a few times I believe the male contributed to the demise of my female. I kept the single male for several years after and he was just fine on his own - beautiful, too. I had rummy nose tetras and cory sterbai as tankmates for my angel and there were no compatibility issues.

[KevinVA]

You could probably get away with 2-3 angels in the 55gal. I had 3 in a 40gal breeder for years, with 3 BN plecos and 2 Kribs. They're slow movers and really quite peaceful to everything else, but they are schooling fish and can be aggressive towards each other, which is why they really need to be in bigger schools. If they're single, they can become pretty timid. With your bio load, you should be comparable to what I had with the 3 BNs. lol

If you want to spice things up a bit with a larger centerpiece, you might consider adding a Severum, which is another peaceful and beautiful cichlid that doesn't need to be kept in schools.