I inherited a 55 gallon freshwater fish tank with some fish (1 angel, 2 albino cory cats, 4 black skirt tetras, 1 platy). To that I've added my fish: 1 bala shark, 1 rainbow shark, 1 iridescent shark, 2 gold gouramis, 1 serpae tetra. I've got a ton of fake plants for hiding, and they all seem to get a along well! I was wondering if I should stop there or if I could add any more fish.
I would stop there. Both the bala and iridescent do better in groups of 3+, but will quickly outgrow a 55 gal tank. I would see if returning them is an option, or start looking for deals on a very large tank. Its unfortunate that balas and iridescents are so readily available at fish stores. Most people do not have the space/tank size to accommodate their needs.
The bala and iridescent were given to me when a friend of mine found out I had a 55 gallon tank. They were moved from a 30. After reading more about them, I think I will find a better home for them. I didn't know how big they could get!
Welcome to the forum, msrez626. It's good you're looking to rehome your sharks. It'll free up the tank to add more suitable fish. What other fish are you considering??
Cories, black skirts and serpaes are shoaling (schooling) fish and should be kept in groups of at least six. Once you rehome your bala and ID shark you should increase your cories to make a school of six. Also add 2 more black skirts also and then call it stocked. Your serpae tetra should also be in a school but they can be a bit nippy so I don't know if I would add more of those. Some say black skirts can get nippy too but mine never were. They just kept to themselves mostly. However, I never kept them with angels. Also, you may need to keep any eye on the 2 gouramis. They are very territorial with each other and if you have 2 males it may be trouble.
So your final stock list would be:
1 angelfish
6 cories (try to get all the same kind)
6 black skirts
1 platy
2 gold gouramis (may have to rehome 1 if fighting occurs)
1 serpae (maybe try to rehome?)
This pretty much puts you at the stocking limit for your tank.
HTH
The angelfish died. I think I might get rid of my black skirt tetras, they seem to be fin nippers.
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