55 Stocking Ideas WANTED

[Pink Punisher]

Ok so as many of you recently read my 55 gallon went down the drain, along with a bunch of my money LOL, 85 bucks may not seem alot to you guys but I'm only 14 so money is hard to get without a job OK so for stocking ideas, I was thinking some tough medium sized cichlids with lots of personality. Ive read Jack Dempsey's are good that way and so are Green Terror's now would i be able to place the 2 in the tank together with the bichir and if possible should i worry about them picking at the bichir and if i do need to worry about it can i throw in a shoal of silver dollars?

Also this is just ideas I'm not gonna be placing these guys in for a while.

Any Ideas Welcome!!!

Spencer

[beowulf]

To be honest, you have picking some very large fish and they won't last long in a 55g as they will outgrow it pretty fast. 

[busdriver]

Dwarf keyhole cichlids, I have 7 in my 75.

[Fishnut]

  A Jack Dempsy will definitely outgrow that tank...even if it's the only fish in there and Green Terrors earned their name for a very good reason!  I would not recommend either of those fish.

Salvini Cichlids are full of personality and they stay around the 5" size, but I think they're quite aggressive and will pick on less aggressive fish.  Jewel Cichlids are pretty interesting too.  From what I've red, they're on the milder side of cichlid aggression.  People keep these beauties with barbs without much of a problem.  They're stunning and colourful as well as packed with cichlid personality.

Since I'm not entirely sure what a bichir is, I hope I am not leading you astray .  Research research research!

[renadia]

It's an interesting fish I found 2 website's

http://whozoo.org/Anlife99/eduardo/Bichir4.htm

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile41.html

I have a nice Silver Dollar and a Black Spot Red Fin Barb I can give you    I got them with the used tank I just bought and they don't fit in with the type of fish I want to put in there. Send me a PM if your interested.

[Zoe]

How about angelfish? They're cichlids, and they have lots of personnality.

[beowulf]

The thing is the bichir should not be in a 55g either as it will get way to big and as it grows will eat anything that can fit into it's mouth, which is a lot since it can reach 2 feet and has a huge mouth.

[Pink Punisher]

The thing is the bichir should not be in a 55g either as it will get way to big and as it grows will eat anything that can fit into it's mouth, which is a lot since it can reach 2 feet and has a huge mouth.

Whoa, i don't know have a lower jaw bichir, i have a upper jaw bichir meaning. The upper jaw bichir tend be much smaller and i believe the biggest one gets to 27 inch's, which is the Ornate. I have the Delhezi and they usually don't reach that 14 inch's in captivity. The bichirs i believe you are thinking of are:

-endlicheri endlicheri ('saddled' or 'red' bichir) 32", possibly more
-endlicheri congicus ('giant' or 'congo' bichir) 39"
-Bichir lapradei ('Lapradei' bichir)- 24"
-bichir bichir-30+ ''
And trust I'm not stupid enough to buy a fish possible of reaching lengths over 2-3 feet and place it in a tank where it would only be able to turn around in 1 foot of width, thats just cruel and inhumane. Now you are right about it eating anything it can fit in its mouth.

It's an interesting fish I found 2 website's

Heres a good link for info on them, http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=108 Great site  very knowledgeable.

Here is a link to the bichir I own http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72852 Its the third post, #3 It is grey and black for colouration without going into description.

I must be getting conflicting information about the Jack Dempsey's because on MFK theres owners which keep there Jacks in 30 and more gallons and i cant see my 55 gallon being to small if they keep some in 30 gallons

Spencer

[Pink Punisher]

Also about the jewel cichlids, they are quiet beautiful. I saw 2 the other day in Petcetera one had at least 2 dozen fry in the tank, i was so tempted to buying it and the fry but i just don't have enough room at the moment and i was convinced the fry would die from stress with the move. Angels are nice, I had first intended on putting them in but when i started reading the extra work that has to be put into with there water i shy'd away, also they aren't really my cup of tea now that i look at them.

About my post above, I'm not trying to start a argument, so sorry if i came off rude or as a smart*** i wasn't trying to. I was just correcting information.

Thanks,
Spencer

[Brine]

You might want to have a look at Apistogrammas

"Measuring no more than 4.5" (11.5cm), The largest group of Dwarf Cichlids are of the genus Apistogramma .More than 50 species make up this genus."
There are a few people in OVAS who breed them so you should be able to get some nice specimens at a good price. There are some wicked nice colours on some of the species

www.apistogramma.com

here are a few pics off the net

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