What are some combinations or possibilities of types and amounts of fish a 55 gallon could hold? I really like angels and different types of gourami and cory cats. I am not saying I want them all in the same tank though. I am really interested in some angels though if I could handle them.

From what I understand of Angels, I think you might be able to keep one in there as they get rather large.

Also I don't know if you like bettas, but you could keep eleven female bettas in the tank, and they come in all the colors that the males do.

I do like the female bettas.
Do you think I could have one angel and then mabe some cory cats or something else like a couple of gourami in the tank too?

Angels and corydoras catfish go well together.

What type of gouramis were you thinking? I ask because some gouramis are a little too agressive for angels.

You could easily have more then one angel. From memory its about ten gallons per angelfish, you'd need to double check that though, but I'd say you could probably have 3-5 Angelfish in there. I'd personally get
3 Angelfish
8 cory cats (species of your choice)
and 5 Pearl gouramis (you'd need to check compatibility tough)

Gouramis and angels don't get along. Angels can be pretty mean to anything that swims in their territory and since gouramis can have some attitude issues, I wouldn't mix them. Some nice corries and angels would be good though. As for other fish I've heard great stories about rainbows and angels.

So I am thinking mabe 2 angels, 3-4 cory cats and about 5 neon tetras or some other schooling fish. I am going to petsmart tomorrow to see what types of fish that I like, and then I will ask about them later. If I see one I like I will see if it will do well with angel.
And what about cories, can you have a few of each species, like one panda, one copper and two leopards or something like that? Or do they have to be in species groups like all leopard or something?

Cories have to be kept in groups, some people say trios for bronze and they do seem to do fine but they would be much happier in bigger groups, for larger ones like the bronze you should hav 5-6 of them for a happy school but for the smaller ones like peppered, pygmi, juli etc you need more for them to be totaly happy, though i have my peppered in a group of 4 and they do seem to do reallly well i am looking to get 2 more though but im having trouble finding them around the same size as mine they are all babies in my lfs though.

The stocking you have thought of is very light for a 55 gallon really with 2 angels 6 neons and 4 cories your only looking at about half stocked. You could add quite a few more. How about somthing like 2 angels 10 cardinals 12 cories (6 of 2 kinds)? This would put you at full stocking but it would be a colourful tank:). I said cardinal tetras because neons are quite small and are angel fish's natural food in the wild (its kind of like when a blue whale swims through a tune school in the ocean) and the cardinals are that bit bigger that the angels should ignore them, cardinals are also generaly hardier than neons because neons have been bred on a mass scale to meet demand in stores. Some people say cardinals are more colourful as well.

Mariah, sometimes different types of corries will school together, it kind of depends on the individual fish. Technically the deffinition of a school is all the same type, but often times corries don't seem to know that.

I'd also like to add that understocking a tank is perfectly fine. It may look on the empty side, but an understocked aquarium is much more forgiving as far as water quality and impulsive trips to the petstore go. Also, it's always been a personal preference of mine, as all of my tanks are only about half stocked.

That being said, I might add some more corries. A 55 has a good size footprint, so you can get a good sized school or two in there.

Im-trying is right about the neons, they don't mix with angels unless you want some fat angels. You may want to rethink that component. Look around the petstore and see what catches your eye.

Okay, here are some fish I liked when I went to petsmart today:
Angelicus Botia
long finned rosy barb
long finned zebra danio
rainbow shark (regular and albino)
clown loach

I still like the:
cory catfish
angel fish

I had a feeling that the neons were a bit small to go with the angels, are there any types of tetras that could? Or would a school of the long finned rosy barbs or long finned zebra danios be alright?
Would any of these fish match a tank of 1-2 angels and about 4 cory cats? I really like the long finned rosy barbs, but would the angels nip at their fins? I also really like the albino rainbow sharks. Thanks!

I am going to New Hampshire, so I won't be able to respond until July 17th or later.

Sorry, I didn't notice im-trying's post. I am thinking now mabe 2 angels, 5-6 cardinals, 4-5 corries. But what about the long finned rosy barbs? I absolutely fell in love with the ones in Petsmart.

well u could always get 45 female betas


good luck getting the fish

Have a fun trip.

All the fish you mentioned would be ok, with the exception of the rainbow shark. While generally peaceful, it may pick fights with the corries over territory. If you must have a rainbow shark, get only one as they will fight amongst themselves.

Barbs, danios, and loaches all have about the same water requriements of angelfish (except temperature, but they're all adaptive), and all are a pretty good size. If your angels are protecting a nest, there might be a little chasing, but that's to be expected. Most tetras would work too.

Just wanted to let you know that some tetras will nip cories fins. My serpae tetras were the worst so I now have them in their own separate little tank. Also my lampeye tetra (in the picture) hated my albino cory but never bothered the spotted cory I also had in with them. He has been moved to another tank as well. The tetras didn't strike right away so it was a real surpise to see them attack my albino and now he basically doesn't have any fins--even his tail is missing the tips.



Anyway, about cories I have one in the guppy tank by himself and he doesn't act any different than the 3 bronze cories I have together in another tank. They all go on about their business looking for food and don't seem to even notice each other or the other fish. In one tank I have the finless albino who still wriggles around just fine, a black sail and a small pepper cory that was recently added. The pepper was very happy to see the spotted black sail and tags around after him quite a bit. The black sail totally ignores him, however! He's been with the albino for a long time and sometimes they hang out but then go off on their own.

That said I think it would be cool to have a bunch of cories together and see how they react with each other.

Whew! I was about to go crazy because I thought that the angels wouldn't get along with the rosy barbs. Man, they are sooooo adorable! How many would you say I should get? I am sticking with 1-2 angels, only one if neccessary, then 4-5 cories and some long-finned rosy barbs (how many?) and mabe some danios or cardinal tetras(undecided) I don't think I can get any clown loaches because my mom wants some live plants (not sure if that will be OK with the fish I want, any suggestions will work for me, LOL!)

Sorry for all of the confusion! Thanks for ALL of your help, it is all appreciated.

Sorry, another question.
I already have a 10g tank with 3 adult platies (accompanied by a few babies at all times, LOL ) Could I put one albino rainbow shark in with them?

Hi welcome back

I wouldnt get clown loaches for the 55 as they have a max size of 19 inches (half a meter) and they should be kept in big numbers 7 seems to be the recomended number and a 120 gallon seems to be the recomended tank size. I have heard of numerous people having big healthy ones in a 120 but only in a trio or even a pair but yeah they need a bigger tank really.

How about zebra loaches? They have the same body shape much stripier than clown loaches and only get to 7-10 cm need to be kept in a shoal of 5 or more

The shark gets too big and teritorial for the ten i wouldnt like the platies chances against it really. They get to six inches and although a bottom dweller are very active most of the time and would get fustrated of the size limit.

Can I just say, sharks are no where as near as people make them out to be. Red Tails yes can get very nippy, especially if its the biggest fish in the tank, but rainbows aren't as bad. Yes it will pick on other fish, but it won't cause harm. Say you got 2 Angels, 5 cories, maybe 6-10 rosy barbs, a small school of Danios, a shark added to the mix should be fine, he might have a bit of a chase now and then, but thats really what they do, you'd need a tank with no other fish at all to stop the behavior. He'll lord it over the rest when young, but the angels should quickly put him in his place.

They like caves, so make sure you give him some sort of structure to call his own territory and he should be fine, they get to about 5 inches on average, though there have been the occasional 6-7 inchers.

I've had a few sharks, only one at the mo, I absolutely adore Kelvin, he has the best personality and is always doing something.

Oh and with the clown loaches they get to about 12 inches, though 6 inches is more normal in tank conditions, they are extremely slow growers and take yonks to get to even that size. I've never even heard of a 50cm one.

Yeah ive heard that the rainbows are less agressive than the red tails as well, and it would do good in the 55 but Mariah asked about it going in a ten gallon with platies ^^.

I was going off http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile13.html for the size and Ive seen three of them about this size maybe the smallest in this pool was about 14 inches but they were huge easily from my finger tip to my elbow!

ps Avalon, do you think that a rainbow shak would get on with a featherfin syno and a dojo loach? I saw a gorgeous albino i nearly bought but decided not to because I thought they might confuse the featherfin especialy with its own kind?

Ummm I dont actually know what either of those are LOL. Rainbow sharks aren't meant to like things that look like them/are shaped like them. But Kelvin my shark schools with the clown loaches (same shape as well as red fins) and absolutely adores them, so go figure LOL.

Yes rainbow sharks are comparatively peaceful, but I think one would fight with the corries, as they both enjoy dark spaces at the bottom of the tank.

I've said it before, it depends on the individual fish. But if you're going for the ideal, why chance the cories well-being to find out if they would get along or not. Just my opinion

Oh, and to answer your question, maybe 8 rosy barbs? I think that would look nice, and still leave you a little bit of stocking room. Of course that would go down if you added danios or tetras tho.

Rainbow Sharks would be fine with cories. Cories are peaceful fish which don't look like the shark, apart from chasing the cory out of the sharks own particular favorite hang out, they'll be fine

Thanks. I have nixed the clown loach idea, because my mom wants some live plants.

Okay, mabe no rainbow sharks right now.

I am thinking this is my choice:
2 angels
4-5 cories
7 rosy barbs

(and then leftover space if needed later, LOL!)

How's that sound? I hope it works out. My mom wants some live plants, and so we are going to take the dresser that the tank will have to go on and paint it black. Then We are getting a heater and that sort of thing. Mom wants to start growing some plants and then get some fish.