55 gal community tank

[lvandert]

Well after a lot of toying with different species of cichlids I've gone the easier route. I'm doing a 55 gallon community tank. I have had it running for a while and monitoring my chemical balances. Everything tested all good today so off to the store I went :) I got 5 neon tetras, 5 black neon tetras, 5 rasboras, 3 hatchet fish and 6 tiger barbs (2 albino, 2 green and 2 regular). I plan on getting 3 ghost catfish (they were out of them today), a small school of cory cats and either a BN pleco or a small school of algae eaters down the line for cleaning purposes.

I have two filters running on this tank (one big canister and one HOB for a 15 gal) and two heaters lol so I'm good there.

They are currently acclimating in their bags with a dunk of fresh water every 15-20 mins. Once their out I'll post more pics of them actually in the tank.

its funny my black neons and my rasboras are schooling together because they look alike and their in the same bag lol.

[Olympia]

YAY general community!
Stocking wise, I would definitely bump up the hatchets to at least 7-8 fish. Ghost catfish should also be kept in groups of 6.. however I am not sure if they will put up with the tiger barbs. If you can bump up the barb group to 8-9 fish, you should see a calmer fish, they have a bad reputation for being monsters.

[Mo]

I agree. I would DEFINATELY bump up the school of tigers to atleast 10...

[lvandert]

lol I can always add to these guys, but for now this is what I'll start with I don't want to overload my tank. Besides I should get paid next thursday :)

[thekoimaiden]

Instead of introducing half-schools, you should have started with a complete school of tiger barbs or rasbora. You just continue adding full schools until you are done. The objective of the game is to keep the fish as stree-free as possible, and the more of that species is around, the less stressed they will be. Also good pick on the black neon tetras. Some of my favorite fish!

[Goldie2nd]

Wow 55g and nice fish I personally love Neon tetras the wonders I would do in a 55g all the Bettas i could keep with you know dividers.But maybe a 20g should do or another 10g sheesh I'm going crasy i want more betta's

[lvandert]

well everyone made the transfer just fine and they are exploring the tank like crazy. The tiger barbs spent a good 5 minutes scanning the sad for food, even though there wasn't any lol, and they are leaving the other fish alone. The green tigers spent a good half hour dueling it out over who was more dominant lol and then every once in a while an albino guy would get into it. After a few seconds he'd back off though and continue scanning the sand. They finally figured it out though, I think. The black neons are still chumming with the rasboras and the regular neons are off in their own little world.

[Goldie2nd]

Nice looking good.

[lvandert]

Yesterday I notices two of the tiger barbs weren't looking to up to snuff and today I confirmed they have a fungal thing going on around their mouth (cotton mouth). I was mad and called petsmart. They told me to bring in the sick ones and they'll exchange them for healthy guys. So I did and I took your guy's advices and got a few more barbs, my school is up to 8 now. They were out of hatchet fish so until next time on those guys. I also really liked the way my neon's were doing so I grabbed 3 more of those as well. My rasboras and black neons are still schooling together so they themselves make a school of 10.

[Goldie2nd]

Cool the Rasboras and Black Neons together I personally love Neon Tetras soo much. but I'm glad with just three fish hehe instead of a school of fish hehe oyou really have the space though. :)