# 55 gallon journey & centerpiece fish suggestions



## scootchykins

Hi everyone! I've been lurking the forums for a few months during the "i want a fish tank" and the "okay I have one, now what" stage of this overly exciting freshwater journey.

I currently have a 55 gallon tank. I purchased the MarineLand 55 starter kit from Finatics. Fake plants, rocks, and a few other things. After (what seemed like years) of water testing (started with strips, realized they're garbage now I'm using a API Master Test Kit), I decided to upgrade my Betta from his little Betta tank, into this one. I let him relax and get use to the drastic size upgrade. A while later I started stocking my tank.

I got,

20 neon tetras
13 red minor tetras
10 zebra danios
& 2 panda cory cats

A few days later I realized Petsmart is good for dog food, NOT fish. Silly me trusted them, and I learnt on my own that the zebras can be assholes. Excuse my french.

I now have, 11 neon tetras & 11 red minor tetras.

In a matter of a few days they killed 10 poor fish.
And then the next morning, right after feeding, they killed 3 more. It was amazing and horrifying at the same time.

Luckily I was able to move my Betta back to his original tank before something happened to him.

After almost a hour of trying to catch them, I took them back to PetSmart tonight and got a refund. Ended up getting some more water conditioner and filters.

In a few weeks I plan on adding some more fish. Possibly a school of Harlequin Rasboras (not sure yet).

But I'm still undecided on a centre piece fish. I would like something larger, colourful, and hopefully can be okay on its own or in a pair. I would absolutely LOVE to have discus, but because of the water temperature difference, I don't believe it's possible with the neons. It seems as though all the fish I find appealing, won't work with my neons in some way.

Any suggestions?

- Sorry for all the reading!


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## pyrrolin

maybe something like a female betta, dwarf gourami.

if you get something too big, it will start to have neon coloured poop.


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## scootchykins

pyrrolin said:


> maybe something like a female betta, dwarf gourami.
> 
> if you get something too big, it will start to have neon coloured poop.


For the Dwarf Gourami, 
Do I get male or female?
Can I just get one or do I need, 2, 3 ... 5?
Will everyone (hopefully) finally get along?!


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## pyrrolin

don't think male or female matters, can just get 1, they are pretty peaceful unlike the full size gourami


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## Tino

Pearl gouramis are also gentle giants, more hardy than the dwarf ones as well.


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## mistersprinkles

Male pearl gouramis are more attractive than females and get nice fin extensions on them. Look for a fish with a long dorsal fin. That's a male.


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## FynePrint

Pearl Gourami, very nice fish.


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## mistersprinkles

Just curious, why, after buying the tank from Finatics, did you go to Petsmart for fish? Mike is always going to have higher quality stock than Petsmart. 
I'd suggest angelfish for your tank but they'll be bothered by the fast moving danios. If you removed the Danios Angelfish would be a nice pick. Also, you should get more panda corys. Corys should be in groups of at least 6. For a 55 gallon 8-10 is not a bad idea.

Panda corys tend to be one of the more sensitive and fragile corys. If these don't work out for you check out the bronze cory (corydoras aeneus). They are very hardy.

What I'm going to suggest you do, though, is drastic. I suggest you take everything you have in your tank and take it in to a pet shop for trade, then go to mike and pick up some Mbuna and peacocks.

You'll be much happier with intelligent, colorful, big fish than you will with a community tank. (I am, and I assume everyone thinks like I do, thus lake Malawi cichlids are the best choice for everyone... )

Mike (Finatics) has the best retail selection of african cichlids in the GTA. Some suggestions (with pictures!):









2m 7f yellow labs









Bi-color 500 peacock









Firefish peacock









German red peacock.

-OR-










Make the whole thing a saulosi species tank

These fish will impress you and your friends more than a community tank. At least that's been my experience. Once people go African, they tend to stay that way. Says a lot about the allure of these fish.
They're costly fish, I will say that. Expect to pay $50 for a quality show male peacock. But it's worth it.


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## pyrrolin

Personally if I paid $50 for a fish, it better taste good and feed my family for a while


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## bob123

When you select fish for your tank you must select species that require the same water conditions Malawi cichlids and tetras are not compatible as the water ph is different also the size of the cichlids will make a meal of the neons. Google each fish you are interested in then match them by size and water specifics also you will need places that the fish can retreat to when being chased or threatened by others. Take your time and go to a store that will answer your questions and not try to push a fish on you also choose the fish in the tank that you want. Good luck and be patient.


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## mistersprinkles

bob123 said:


> When you select fish for your tank you must select species that require the same water conditions Malawi cichlids and tetras are not compatible as the water ph is different also the size of the cichlids will make a meal of the neons. Google each fish you are interested in then match them by size and water specifics also you will need places that the fish can retreat to when being chased or threatened by others. Take your time and go to a store that will answer your questions and not try to push a fish on you also choose the fish in the tank that you want. Good luck and be patient.


I would urge caution with that "go to the store" comment. If you want to know about cichlids and cichlids compatibility, you want to go to cichlid-forum.com, not a store. Mike from Finatics could also advise you. I wouldn't trust anybody else in the GTA to give rock solid cichlid advice.


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