[peachyqui]

Hi! I got a 55 gallon fish tank for my birthday and after some mishaps, am getting it up and running! I don't really know much about fish care, except for what my brother has learned from having Goldfish. I'm so glad I found this site because otherwise, I'd be completely lost. :) So thanks!

[onefish2fish]

a good place to start might be looking into "fishless tank cycles"


welcome to the forum.

[jsagrav]

definitely want to cycle before adding fish!

[peachyqui]

Thanks everyone! Yeah, I did the fishless cycle, and now have 4 tetras and 3 platies (and now 5 Platy babies! :) Any recommendations on what to introduce next?

[Inga]

Welcome to the forum!!!

Originally Posted by peachyqui

Thanks everyone! Yeah, I did the fishless cycle, and now have 4 tetras and 3 platies (and now 5 Platy babies! :) Any recommendations on what to introduce next?

I wish that everyone who is considering getting into this hobby would find their way to this forum before they get started. I think it would reduce the frustration, sadness involved in losing fish and people giving up on it all together. Owning fish can be so much fun but it is frustrating getting all the incorrect information, especially from chain stores.

You ask about recommendations, Have you considered live plants? The water quality improves with live plants and I think the fish truly enjoy them. You could start with some very easy floating plants and maybe a few very easy to maintain Amazon Swords. If you post a photo of your tank, others might have other suggestions to help you. I wish I had known about the benefits of live plants before I had decorated my new tank with all the less attractive plastic crap. I got rid of all that now and am so happy with the planted tank. Just a thought for you. They are easier then they seem to deal with.

[BarbH]

Hello and welcome to TFK

[Termato]

Originally Posted by peachyqui

Thanks everyone! Yeah, I did the fishless cycle, and now have 4 tetras and 3 platies (and now 5 Platy babies! :) Any recommendations on what to introduce next?

Hi and welcome!

I agree with Inga that plants are a great route to go in any circumstance.

Also with that stocking your platys are going to keep reproducing so if you don't want to be over populated with that fish I would eventually get rid of all the males or females or something.

With a 55 you have a lot of options.

I would suggest some substrate fish such as the cory species. Bronze Cory. Panda Cory. Spotted Cory. You want about 6-10 of one species. That should be enough for your substrate.

If you don't like corys you could consider some Loachs. Maybe Kuhli Loachs or Clown Loachs. You should have more than 6 of any of these species. For a nice tank like a 55 gallon you can have about 8-10 and they will be nice and happy.

What are you using for substrate.

I would suggest you getting about 16 more Neon tetras...maybe even 26 more. They look BEAUTIFUL when in large schools. You want to keep the school fish mainly one species because they will be happier and healthier. They live longer.

Then from there you can probably add some center piece fish....I would wait until the tan is settled though because adding too many fish at once can be troublesome. Especially without any plants.

Plants make everything easier and healthier.

[ladayen]

Err.. no dont do Clown Loach. Those things get quite large. Much to big for a 55.

What kind of Tetra do you have? Are they the same species or different ones? Tetras need to be in groups of 6 or more. If they are all the same species get at least 2 more. If they are different species make sure you want that species then add more to get 6 or more of each species. You dont want to add too many fish at a time though, try to keep it to 5 fish a week at most.. or if all the same species you can go a bit higher.

That being said, we need to find out your PH and GH before we can properly recommend fish. Do you have a way to test these? If you plan on keeping fish properly, you need to get some testers. I would recommend API's master test kit. It costs $30-$50 depending on where you live, but it is a worthwhile and necessary investment. It will also give you ammonnia, nitrite and nitrate testers which are crucial to the fishkeeping hobby.

[Termato]

Originally Posted by ladayen

Err.. no dont do Clown Loach. Those things get quite large. Much to big for a 55.

What kind of Tetra do you have? Are they the same species or different ones? Tetras need to be in groups of 6 or more. If they are all the same species get at least 2 more. If they are different species make sure you want that species then add more to get 6 or more of each species. You dont want to add too many fish at a time though, try to keep it to 5 fish a week at most.. or if all the same species you can go a bit higher.

That being said, we need to find out your PH and GH before we can properly recommend fish. Do you have a way to test these? If you plan on keeping fish properly, you need to get some testers. I would recommend API's master test kit. It costs $30-$50 depending on where you live, but it is a worthwhile and necessary investment. It will also give you ammonnia, nitrite and nitrate testers which are crucial to the fishkeeping hobby.

You are right hose things get to almost a foot I mean the Yoyo Loach.

Thanks for correction. That would not be good.

Also API Master test kit will not give you any information on hardness you need to get a hardness kit for that to measuer gH and kH.

I do agree API Master Test kit is a great tool to have. If you don't have a test kit I recommend that one as well.

I am expecting you are getting the fish from a LFS OR PetSmart or PetCo. Therefore the majority of their community sold fish will do fine in your conditioned tap water. I would ask the store about how they keep their fish and if they treat their water.

There are many variables to play into this so the more information you can gather before deciding what fish to get the better.

[willow]

hello and welcome