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I have a fifty five gallon with a six inch jack dempsey and a seven inch lima shovelnose. I regularly keep up with biweekly water changes. My Lima shovelnose firmly believes he is my log and my jack is always in the corner. I got the shovelnose to make the Jack more active but it failed to do so. What other fish should I put in the tank in order to increase activity. I am willing to get something that will eventually require a bigger tank. I'm also a fan of anything out of the ordinary such as knifes, polypterus, and other oddities. My budget is about 50-75 dollars on a fish. Any suggestions are open. Thanks

New tank then more fish =). You might as well get a new one now since the lima needs a pretty decent sized tank.

New tank then more fish =). You might as well get a new one now since the lima needs a pretty decent sized tank.

Id probably shift the shovelnose since they are recommended for about 125 gal tanks and get another dempsey of the opposite sex and that way the cichlids can live out a happy and complete life, with breeding, and a full scale of social interaction. The movement and life interest you want from your fish wont be achieved by adding more unrelated fish , dempseys will fight with a whole range of cichlids, and smaller fish wont last long in your tank.More catfish wont help either.

The lima should go to someone with the big tank it deserves where it can be with more of its own kind. Although the lima is itself a fairly serious carnivore, it would prefer to live in larger quarters away from a fish as aggressive as a dempsey, and it will always limit the other fish you keep in that tank as to being so large as to be almost immediate overstock whatever you choose. It can and will eat any fish small enough to fit into its mouth, and may maul those that dont quite fit.