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i plan on getting a 55-75 gallon tank. Which ever i need. Now I've had many ideas for this tank ranging from lionfish to africans to tetras. I've decided that:

1. I don't want a normal Community tank
2. I don't want africans
3. I don't want saltwater

Now I want some fish that will make guests go wow look at that and also be very interesting for me also.

I have been considering a large aggressive cichlid but I'm not sure. I've also thought about discus.

please help me decide what to do with this tank. I should be getting it in a few months

What do you mean by normal community tank? You mean you don't want just a mess of fish?

Well how about a bio type? You could do south american if you wanted discus. I know I'm doing a SA bio type in my 55 gallon tank soon...here is what I would recommend for a 75 gallon SA bio type.

5-6 Discus
2 Plecos(not commons...maybe BN's and some other pleco that's uncommon)
20 Tetras (Cardinals, Diamonds, or Rummynose Tetras would be good, but it's your choice)
4 Blue or Bolivian Rams
10 Cory's (your choice)

Maybe a few more SA fish...

Does a bio type interest you any, now that I made this suggestion?


Last edited by Tetra Fan at 14-Aug-2005 21:38

well I'm still interested in discus and maybe a couple other fish like a couple plecos or something.

what I mean by not wanting a normal community tank is that I don't want a community tank with all of the very common fish like tetras and cories and dwarf cichlids because I already have one. I want a tank with some very interesting and attractive fish such as discus or a green terror or a jack dempsey or something.

ooo I know what you are saying.

I have found a whiptail catfish a rather interesting cat and I'm thinking of getting one.

With Discus you couldn't really have any other big cichlids in there. You could do...

6 Discus
1 Whiptail Cat
1 Pleco
Can't think of an interesting, uncommon schooler atm
Maybe...I'm not sure though...2 firemouth cichlids...they might be ok with the discus in a 75, but I don't know.

So, fish like that?

I will get back to you with an "odd" schooler

What about a single large fish, like a arrowana or an oscar?

thanks tetra fan. Thats a good idea. a whiptail cat. The only problem with discus is the price. at 50$ each... id have to find somewhere where i can get them cheaper.

I would love to have an arrowana but they need a minimum of 300 gallons. Oscars are pretty cool... but I prefer green terrors and jack dempseys.

Last edited by Ethan14 at 14-Aug-2005 23:33

50 dollars each and you're gonna try to find a better deal?! That, my friend, is an excellent deal unless they are extremely small! Discus here are 25 bucks for 2 inches $65-$75 for 4 inches and $125 for 6+.

I'd say, unless they are smaller, get them while you can.

they are small... im looking for a better place to buy them. I dont think I can order them online so i am going to look into buying them at an lfs. I dont want to spend more than 100$ on 4 discus. I don't care about the size. I don't have enough money to spare right now to spend too much on fish.

for a small schooling fish maybe threadfin rainbows would work?


I'm also still leaning towards 1 or 2 large aggressive fish also.

Last edited by Ethan14 at 14-Aug-2005 23:50

Go with a SA tank & try to buy the Discus from a breeder. You will get them cheaper that way.
You can have a School of Tetra, a school of Corydoras, a BN & the Discus.


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On second thought I don't think I'm going to go with discus.


My choices now are:

a semi-aggressive tank including a severum and a blue acara and a whiptail cat and a few other interesting fish (suggestions?)

or

an aggressive tank with a jack dempsey, a green terror, a common pleco, and a school of tiger barbs (may have to upgrade later though)

Severums get a bit big and would take up a lot of room in your 55.

I say...

1 Severum
1 Pleco
1 Whiptail Cat
1 Firemouth Cichlid

I think that would be ok...wait for others opinions.

you want an interesting fish? what about a black ghost knifefish?

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=857

http://fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/knifefish.xml

If you wanted to add an unusual schooler, what about rainbows?

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50 dollars each and you're gonna try to find a better deal?! That, my friend, is an excellent deal unless they are extremely small! Discus here are 25 bucks for 2 inches $65-$75 for 4 inches and $125 for 6+.

Where the hell do you shop??? At all of my chain store lfs sell them for $30 (all sizes as they never usually live to be bigger than 4" ) The really expensive lfs only has adults, which cause $90 each. But, my favorite sells babies for $10 and no more than $30 for any other ones!

Last edited by djtj at 15-Aug-2005 22:12

i recon go with the dempsy, they are so cool. theres one at my lfs. when ever you go there he has a new school of fry hes tending to, i recon go for a pair of large dempsys. (i dont know to much bout what you can keep em with but i recon am male and female togher with nothing else would be cool.)

can any one suggest if you can keep a male and female toghter?

go with a few firemouths and some tiger barbs



good luck with your tank


p.s. yes you can keep male and female demseys together once theve paired

Last edited by LOACHESRCOOL at 16-Aug-2005 00:36