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All right, let's start off with the current stock in my 20 long...

*4 female bettas
*The motley cory crew (cory trilineatus, cory ambiacus, cory schwartzi, panda cories, 'san juan' cory, rabauti cory), whose numbers need to be filled out. Yes, I collect 'lonely' cories.
*2 cherry barbs
*1 black neon (left from larger school)
*1 male BN pleco

I'll probably split these fish between the two tanks and restock as necessary... for now, I'm just going to concentrate on the 55, because my sister may be shutting down her tanks and if so, her fish will go in the 20. (I'm not sure what she has as far as stock, anymore. Last I knew, she had a couple of cories, two swordtails, a few threadfin rainbowfish and hmm... I'm not sure. I think all the mollies are gone and oh... there's a danio or two left, maybe. I'm not really sure. Her cories would join my crew and the threadfins would join the school of rainbowfish if I choose that option.)

I know for sure that the cories and the BN are going to the 55. Maybe the betta girls and possibly the black neon if I wind up getting tetras. We'll see. For now, I think he thinks he's a cherry barb.

Happily, I found a tank full of seriously active and healthy looking c. rabauti at the LFS yesterday. I want to fill out my motley cory crew.

I know I posted earlier about a centerpiece gourami for this tank, but now I'm thinking again. (Yes, this is dangerous )

Anyway... here's some thoughts on the subject, feel free to join in, give opinions or new ideas.

Option 1 -

*Motley cory crew
*BN plec
*School of some sort of rainbowfish (threadfins are a good possibility)
*Pair of rams or gouramis
In this case, the betta girls might join in, but I'm not sure.

Option 2 -

*Motley cory crew
*BN plec
*School of tetras
*Pair of rams or gouramis
In this case, add the black neon back to the tank so he'll hopefully school with the tetras. I feel sorry for him, but not enough to restock with a fish I didn't particularly care to have in my tank the first time around.

Option 3 -

*Motley cory crew
*BN plec
*School of long-finned rosy barbs
Cali wrote up one of his traditionally informative posts on the barbs, but I can't help loving them. Given just the bottom feeders in the tank with them, what would be able to compete food-wise as a centerpiece fish? Or just leave as is?

Other options include moving all but the BN and maybe the cherry barbs to the 55 and getting more cherry barbs and a mate for my BN. Only problem I see with this is finding a BN that is identifiably a female, considering the size at which BNs are available here.

In all likelihood, the "rams" aforementioned would be Bolivians... saw them at the LFS and liked them.

"Gourami" in this case will probably refer to the variation on the blue gourami that I found called "lavendar" (looks like a mix between blue and opaline with a light purple sheen to it).

I saw a few tetras that appealed to me... the cardinals were some of the most amazing I'd ever seen, the blue tetras were subtle but beautiful, there were others, but I'm really not much for tetras in the first place. The only reason tetras are an option are for those two types.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Blue tetras are not a schooling fish. In fact some are downright antisocial. Tankbred fish seem to be less agressive and more agreeable to close quarters with their own kind than wild caught fish. I'd still suggest a trio and no more than 5 in something around the size of the 55g. Highly active. All pictures of mine even with my mom's more expensive camera just come out as a bluish purple blur. They could be added to one of your other stocking choices provided the other fish aren't overly upset by hyperactive medium sized tetras dashing all over the place.

If your looking for a good schooling fish that won't take up much space I loved my threadfins. They school pretty tightly, don't bother anyone, and the males are quite colorful. They constantly flash their fins at the females. You can also end up with a slight variety in colors. I had some with greenish fins, some with red areas, and some that had lots of dark blue. I got mine from various sources though since the only local store with them wanted $12/fish. They do seem e to ich whenever transported but out of around 14 threadfins I only lost 1 and I didn't treat them with any medication.

I think I'm leaning towards the threadfin idea, actually... I saw them at the LFS and they had a simply huge male... had to be pushing 2". I mean, seriously, a huge specimen for his species. He was a simply stunning fish.

My sister has some... she had four to start off with, I think one passed when she moved, but I can imagine how they'd look in a large school...

Still, those cardinals were pretty spectacular.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Since I'm looking at gouramis, I have to mention that I think I've seen almost every common type of gourami in the past couple of weeks. From a pair of gorgeous Pearls to the common Blue and Golds, Opalines and moonlight, snakeskin, sparkling, giant, croaking, honey, platinum, kissing and numerous varieties of the dwarf gourami.

I'm really tempted by both that lovely pair of pearls and a variation of the Blue/opaline they're calling Lavenders. When it comes closer to stocking my new tank, I'll have to take a closer look at the Pearls, they may both be males, though I'm not an expert on telling sexes in gouramis. Actually, just having read the description on pearls, I think I'll be able to tell when I go back. Hopefully. I think they may both be males, though. Hmph.

If I went with Option 1 or 2, how many gouramis would work in a 55 gallon? I really like the pearls, but I also like the lavenders... Could I have a pair of each? I'm really not experienced with gouramis, my experience with anabantoids resides with bettas. Would two different species have issues with each other?

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

If you are going with pearls you can probably keep both them and one of the 3spot color variations. 3 spots are one of the more agressive gouramis. Some are fine with multiple gouramis in the same tank and others can't hardly be kept with another of their own kind. Even the opposite gender. Generally though they do not bother other gouramis that do not bother them. Mine would have it out with some dwarf gouramis that were equally agressive but did not touch species like sparkling or spiketails that showed no interest in fighting or really claimed any territory at all. Pearls being fairly low in agression would probably not show themselves as a threat to most 3spot gouramis. The more uncommon colors like lavender tend to be a bit less agressive(probably due to more careful breeding practices since the color is harder to get) so are probably worth the attempt of keeping them together. Just watch them closely.