Anyone out there a fish tank expert...

Just got my first set up.. 55 gallon fresh water aquarium.. set it up a couple days ago letting it cycle before I put fish in.. thinking about going with some tiger barbs and assortes cichleds and a few plecos.. anyone have a combo like this??

 

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i would hold off on the plecos until you have fish already living in the tank awhile.tank is to new for the pleco to feed off of.go to the local "real: fish store and see what they recomend for starter fish.ive always had fresh water tanks.(nothing crazy)i just picked up a corner 55 gal salt water setup.its my first salt water setup.hope its not to bad to keep up

 

tiger barbs and cichs are very agressive and yes wait to put plecos in tank until it is established. They eat algae so ya gotta wait till some begins to grow. Good luck and yes a fish expert.

 

Ive dabbled in the trade... I was the Director of Operations for the Hidden Reef Aquarium Co. in PA for 8 years. Use fish like serpae tetras, dannios, black skirt tetras and the like to start the nitrogen cycle. You want to use inexpensive hearty fish to produce the waste that the anaerobic bacteria can feed off of and create a natural biosphere. The combination you listed sounds ok to me just make sure the cichlids you choose are south American and not African, since thats a whole other ball game which involves a species tank and African rift lake salt. Put the starter fish in and leave them in for a month before adding other fish. Make sure you test your levels every other week for an ammonia spike or for when your nitrates elevate. If you have an questions you can PM me... ive installed and maintained over 500 custom systems (mostly saltwater).

 

tiger barbs will nip the fins on long finned fish. plecos are dirty fish and get huge. there are some plecs that stay smaller . ive got a 55 gal set up that i had for yrs and keep mostly semi agressive tropicals in it. only ciclid i ever had was the angel fish. they are a pretty fish and pretty mellow for a ciclid. gourami's (sp) are hardy fish too. check out a book about tropical fish at the book store. they have tons of info in them about how big fish get ,if they are hardy etc. be sure not to overload your aquarium and use a good filter. i have a fluval canister filter that does a great job . water stays crystal clear.

 

nice tank. ive got a 20L with 3 pleccos and they are by far the funniest fish to watch in the tank.

im in the process of starting up a 40g saltwater. i want to start soaking rocks, maybe 1/2 base rock 1/2 live rock. what sort of pump and skimmer should i get?

sorry for the thread jack.

 

thanks for the imput every one..
im using a marineland 400 emporer powerfilter..

as far as hearty fish what would everyone recomend?? local fish store said mollies and platies will work??

think we are steering away from the cichleds now because when my girl found out that she cant have lots of other fish with them she shot that down lol..idk why.. aggressive is good lol.. so since she bought it for my b day she gets to have some choice in fish..

and as far as plecos go my local fish store said you can put them in the new tank but you need to drop in algae discs in at night.. anyone agree or is he full o sheet

 

Been into fish for a long time now, it depends what kind of fish you want. mean, peaceful? When i had my 250 gallon i had a tank full of frontosa's, they look really cool as they get bigger are easy to take care of if your tank is established. When i start my tank i would just put feeder gold fish for about a week and see how it goes.

Here are frontosa images
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-311-1-s&va=frontosa+cichlid

I have always liked angel fish when they are a decent size, around the size of a softball.

 

what happens when you DONT put african rift lake salt in the aquarium with african cichlids?...i honestly want to know. thanks.

 

I know people who have done that and people that haven't, same result, i know people who have water and fish from Africa flow in.

 

thats why i was wondering..i had african cichlids, and they eventually killed each other...i thought that was normal..but maybe i needed rift lake salt....damn, i probably cant afford to import my fish or water, sounds real pricey and dedicated.

 

Pricey yes, you need hiding spots and caves so they can hide. Never had a problem with mine.

 

yes, i always had a LMS(last man standing), but i guess i need more hiding spots. thank you.

 

Plattys and Mollys make babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They ruined my last tank! and x2 what everyone said about plecos. they need algae, dont give them the wafers, they will just rely on those and not eat the real shit

 

CICHLEDS ARE A PUZZLE, AGGRESSIVE, TO SAY THE LEAST. BUT NOT ALL!. CAN MAKE A REALLY COOL TANK!!! ​

 

Get catfish. They keep keep your tank spotless.

 

The bass i had were the funest fish to watch, at about 2" long they would start eating large feeders whole. I always went after the rare chiclids, got tired of seeing the same old thing.

Find yourself a small fish store and buy from them, buying at a big chain pet store sucks.

Flower horns are cool but get too aggressive when they are large, sucks having one fish in a big tank.

 

You can go with the plecs immediatly. You will just have to algae disc feed them for a few weeks.
I had about 20 cichlids. (electra blue johannies, brownies and yellow labs) and 2 plecs living peacefully and breeding fulibornis in a 55 gal.

 

Cool tank Mickyd. what kind of cichlids did you get? Be aware some cichlids will out grow your barbs and eat em and even out grow your 55 gallon. Anyways have fun with your new tank, Heres a vid of my 240 gallon South American Eartheater tank...enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgF4ba1h5Zg