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It has been a long time since I had a tank around the house. I have a
pond in the back yard with messy old goldfish and mosquito eating
guppies, however, that is not the point.
I have acquired a 50 gallon tank, set it up with plants and rocks, and
now I am ready to start thinking about what kinds of fish to put in
this beautiful tank that resides in my living room. The goal is to
have an environment indoors that can help lower my blood pressure and
continue to be a positive experience for the whole family, including
our 5 year old son.
I would like a nice variety of fish that do not grow to over 4-5
inches, some with color is eye catching and aesthetically pleasing,
but not a requirement. I would like to have good community fish that
don't try to eat each other's fins off and ones that will not destroy
the live plants I have in the tank.
I am asking for some advice on which fish would be good together in
our tank as well as wondering if my expectations of a community of
fish are unreasonable.
Thank you!

There are many fish that would fit your description. I suggest you get a couple schools of tetras, maybe a school of cories, and an angelfish. Lookin the profiles section and tell us what fish catch your interest.

I don't think your request is too unreasnable.

To get a peaceful community aquarium, I would look towards:
dwarf gouramis
schools of tetras
swordtails
platys
school of corys
small plec (such as clown)
guppys

With tetras and corys your possabilities are almost endless

Good luck

]<]Dani<]<

I was going to suggest danios and white cloud minnows. But, because they are so dizzying to watch they probably won't help lower your blood pressure. What you need is fish that have fluid movements. I had suggest platies, swordtails, and cory catfish. Heck, with the livebearers(platies and swordtails), you'd even get to experience having baby fish.

Babies are fun but it can raise your blood pressure trying to catch the little buggers, especially in a planted tank.

Angels are nice and relaxing to watch. Loaches or Cories to make you laugh. How about a bachelor herd of Guppies and a gourami or two for color. Then a shcool of Tetras (not neons, the angels might eat'em) for flying in formation action.

None of those would be a problem unless you ended up with a breeding pair of angels. Then you might end up trying to save babies from the gouramis and the Angels tend to get cranky when they spawn.

Have fun, Mike

Some sort of schooling fish, tetras, harlequin rasboras, etc. Search around for info on 'good' schoolers and see what's available in your area...a large school in a 50g would look fantastic. Or you could have livebearers such as platies.

A centerpiece fish like a gourami or a peaceful cichlid. Personally I wouldn't get an angel; IME they can be agressive and nippy, even when kept alone.

School (at least 6) of cories or a group (at least 3) of loaches.

You could also have some otos or something like a BN plec for algae.

A good idea is to wander the lfs in your area and make a list of fish you're interested in. Then you can research your list (or post here) to find out temperament and compatability.



~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

i would stay away, far ,far, away from swords, u may get a few that are peacefull, but there is ALWAYS a bad egg in the clutch, my ex-bf had 4 swords a betta and a few other fish in a 0 gallon, it was like 5-8 inches over the inches, i designed the set up, he stocklist, butr in a week the poor betta had close to no fins, then he put a female in he saw the swords start pickng but in his little mind everyhting was peachy 5 days later she was dead, 4 days after that, so was he, then a gourami, all long fined fish died, so i would try and keep awy from them.

i think u should got with an amazon theme try here...
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?&genusname=Acarichthys&speciesname=heckelii

for a peaceful, colorful calming tank id do this:

1 dwarf gourami
6 platy ( 2m, 4 f)
6-8 cories
8-10 harliquen rasboras
2 dojo loaches

the dwarf gourami and platys will give you tons of color and personality, the cories and dojos will make you laugh, the harlies- some nice schooling action. the gourami will help keep the platy population unde control also.

I really like HCA's ideas, except I'd maybe change the platys to a school of tetras, and add one more loach. And like Theresa said, a BN to control algae would be good, although it pushes the 4"-5" length you said, so are there any types of fish you are really interested in?

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

whatever your choice, please include your 5 year old in the selection process. explain the fishes' differences in a simple manner, and bring him along when you purchase them. include the child everything.
i have totally immersed my 2 young sons (4 and 7) in every aspect of my hobby. they are both amazed and well educated by our tanks. the lfs employees think it's "cute" when my 4 yr old asks for fish by their common names, and we all research any potential additions to our tanks.
the quality time i have spent with them with all things aquatic has been immensely enjoyable and rewarding.
your blood pressure will decrease from other fish related tasks. running around my yard late at night catching bugs for our butterfly fish (sadly, it is no longer with us)after a 12 hour work day is a lot more relaxing then it sounds.