Need help on finding what freshwater fish to put in my 55 gallon (2024)

FAQs

Need help on finding what freshwater fish to put in my 55 gallon? ›

A pair of Pearl Gouramis work great for the centerpiece in an appropriate size peaceful community tank in my experience.

A pair of Pearl Gouramis work great for the centerpiece in an appropriate size peaceful community tank in my experience.

Fish that are great for beginners and easy to learn to take care of include some types of Tetras, Rasboras, Danios, White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Swordtails, Plaites, Mollies, Cory Catfish and Betta Fish.

Let your aquarium "settle" for at least 48 hours before buying your first fish. This will give you time to make sure the temperature is set and make adjustments to decorations, etc.

Swordtails, guppies, platys, and mollies make up the variety of this group. It is best to avoid the swordtails and the sailfin mollies if your aquarium is under 10 gallons as they really need a larger tank with more space. Guppies, platies, and the common mollies will all do well in tanks under 10 gallons.

One Inch Per Gallon

The most widely known rule for stocking a tank is the one inch of fish per one or two gallons of water rule. While this type of calculation works as a rough estimate, it leaves plenty of room for error.

The one-inch-per-gallon rule is an easy way to calculate how many fish you can stock in your aquarium. It considers the size of the aquarium and recommends one inch of adult fish for every gallon of water.

For the most part, feeding your fish once or twice a day is sufficient.

What is the most low maintenance fish? ›

Some great choices include guppies, platies, and bettas for freshwater setups, or damselfish and clownfish for saltwater environments. These species can handle variations in water parameters and don't require extensive care.

That is about 900 cubic inches of substrate (30in X 12in X 2.5in = 900in^3) roughly that means you will get about 300 cubic inches per bag. So for your 55 (48in X 12 X 2in = 1152in^3) (1152 / 300 = 3.84) I would recommend purchasing purchasing 4 bags of substrate, to acquire a bed depth of 2in.

Adding Fish to a Brand-New Tank

To successfully live in a tank, fish require certain water temperatures, lighting, pH balances, circulation, and bacterial activity, among other set conditions. Typically, you should wait at least 24 to 48 hours and even up to a week before adding fish to a new tank.

We recommend quarantining every new fish. This process can be carried in other small quarantine tank or big bucket. During quarantine, you need to ensure light, warming, and filtration. The time of quarantine shouldn't be shorter than 2 weeks.

Numerous fish species such as celestial peal danios, golden dwarf barbs, neon tetras, pygmy Corydoras, guppies, betta fish, and dwarf gourami are great beginner species. Small fish tanks are one of the best ways to get into the hobby of keeping freshwater fish.

Generally you want a fish that appears to be behaving normally and has its fins spread. It should not be gilling (breathing) abnormally (you can compare the fish you are selecting with the tank mates). There should be no wounds.