Stocking 55 Gallon??

mags2313

Red Eye Tetra's are beautiful, they have bright red eyelids like they are wearing eyeshadow! They have a silvery, shimmering body and a black and yellow tail. They are also known as the Yellow Banded tetra. They get to be a nice medium size too and they are very social.

dagizmo19

Blue Rams work well with most "larger" tetra's.

I have also seen them in the co-habitate with a school of tiger barbs if there are enough "hiding" spaces and if the School of barbs is more than 6 or 7 in numbers. This way the barbs are more concerned with their own pecking order than other fish.

Rams will also work with Key-holes and other "mild mannered" cichlids.

Best of luck! Let us know what you choose.

Kim

So, if you did a pair of cockatoo cichlids you could also do a school or two of tetras/rasboras/cherry barbs/hatchets, whichever you like best. If you like platies you could throw a couple males in there as well (so they don't overpopulate). Maybe a school of cories or loaches for the bottom.

Tyyrlym

If you go with platys I personally would prefer all females. Unfortunately they require quarantine and a plan to deal with any babies they will inevitably have.

iamntbatman

Cockatoos prefer a trio rather than a pair, and though they are hardier than rams they can be much more difficult to find and are quite expensive. Rams are supposedly much more fragile, but seem fairly hardy in my experience. Another good choice is the Kribensis, which is easier to find than cockatoos, cheaper than either cockatoos or rams, and is a very hardy fish. Also, if you're going for a pair, you'll have better luck with kribs as they're easily sexed. Most blue rams on the market are male, so getting a pair can be difficult.

Keep in mind that dwarf cichlids like these being mentioned are usually pretty docile, but if you *do* end up with a pair, they will breed and will very aggressively defend their fry from any and all perceived threats. It could be a pain raising these fry to a large enough size to sell them. So, if you want to avoid the hassle, I'd only get one sex of fish. Kribs are darn easy to breed if you're interested, though.

aunt kymmie

Does the same hold true for Bolivian rams as it does for Blue rams? A dearth in females as far availability?

tyffpostlethwait

I am so lost! There are just so many choices that I cannot figure it out. Please stick with me, you're being soo helpful! I know after all your help and doing more reseach online that I'm not really interested in a community tank at this point, I more or less want a dwarf cichlid tank. I guess I want a harem set up of one kind of dwarf cichlid with some dither fish. But I cannot decide on what kind of dwarf cichlid. I'm not entirely stuck on any one kind - I'm more interested in them being at least relatively hearty, I would like some color, and not overly aggressive. I don't mind them producing fry - I'm not going to go to great lengths to help the fry survive though - more or less, let the parent's take care of them and let survival take over. I found several sites online where I can get some Apistogramma cacatuoides and the prices were decent. So could someone give me a good stock list using that?

How many male/female A. cacatuoides would be good for 55 gallon?

I read Endler Livebearers would be good dither fish - how many?

Are there other fish that could be used (peacefully) ALONG with the Endler's as Dithers? Preferably that would creature a good color burst in the top of the tank?

Thanks again!