55 G to stock

[meomarg]

I have been thinking about that. The shipping is terrible. I may have to do some of that and go to town when I need to, not just for fish.

[meomarg]

Ok I think I have it figured out. Whish of these 2 fish setups would be best?

1. 1 leapard angel
5 cory cats
5 cockatoo cichlids
2 blue rams
1 gold nugget pleco
1 red tailed shark

2. 1 leapard angel
5 cory cats
5 cockatoo cichlids
1 gold nugget pleco
1 black ghost knife fish

also is a false juli and a Sterbai Cory the same thing? From the pictures I've looked at they look the same.

[Cermet]

Warming - a ghost knife fish will very likely eat the cories or any other small fish - not a fish to have in a standard community tank. Also, a red tail shark is an aggressive fish and not the best in a community tank with fish smaller or near its size. Sorry, each is in the seperate list - what about a clown loach?

[pjaldave]

Will not recommend a clown loach as it grows a bit large and needs to be in school.

Apparently, on both your list, everything except the angel is a bottom dweller. You might want to fill out your middle and your top. Either go with 8-10 cories or 6 cockatoos, no sharks or knife. Pleco, you might not need it until you have algae for him to eat in the tank.

And false julii aren't the same as sterbai. Just go with one specie.

[meomarg]

the rams and cockatoos aren't bottom dwellers. Do cockatoos not mix well with cory cats?

[ameliaaahx]

Rams and cockatoos ARE mid-to-bottom dwellers. Even if it seems like they don't spend all their time on the bottom like a cory might, they are a bottom dweller. Dwarf cichlids can be territorial so they may bully your cories. And it's not generally a good idea to have multiple dwarf cichlid species in a community tank as they'll likely fight over territory.

See if you can think of another top-mid dwelling schooling fish to balance it out.

[meomarg]

OK I understand I can be a bit blonde at times.

1 angel
1 swordtail
6 double red cockatoo cichlids
1 featherfin cat fish (figured out it is not a cory cat)
10 schooling fish(maybe X-Ray Pristella Tetra)

Other ideas I would kind of like to stick to the South American theme, also I think I will have enough red in my tank so thinking of schooling fish that possibly aren't red, with low bio load.

I forgot I thought 2 or 3 freshwater clams would be cute too.

[bignellm]

South American Theme? I got one of those and might be easier to tell you what I have that works:

Heavily planted 50 Gallon with Rena Xp3 filtration
Sterbai cory 3
Oto Cats 8 approx
Blue Rams X 2
Dwarf Flag Cichild (Curviceps) X 2
Platy 4 approx
Swordtail 4 approx
Guppy 4 approx
Molly 3 approx, plus fry
Bloodfin Tetra 12
Silver Tip Tetra 1
Diamond Tetra 3
Lemon Tetra 6
Nerite Snails 4
Apple Snails 3
Bristle Nose Plecos X 2

I also have 1 Feather Fin and will be rehoming it soon. They get bit and territorial. Also, I inherited the livebearers and will not be replacing them as they complete their lives in this tank. These Cichilds seem to live together without issue. Only aggression is seen during breeding. I also want to boost up the number of Sterbai I have to about 6. The Silver tip and Bloodfins are the same fish, just different coloring, so they school together. Diamonds should be 5, but they get along at 3. Schooling is completely random in my tank and only happens if they feel threatened.

Some Future changes:
Possible add of Emperor Tetra or Penguin Tetra if/when any numbers drop significantly of other Tetra

[meomarg]

Maybe hatchet fish for a schooler? Do these school nicely?

[bignellm]

Talking about Common?
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...ns/hatchet.php
Don't know about schooling, but they are jumpers. Peaceful community, yes.

Edit: Does says needs a School.