Which fish to add in 55gl?

Question
I have had fish tanks for many, many years, but have never developed a "species" tank or, really, anything close to that. Lately, I've been debating between mostly gourmis, cichlids, and as of tonight, angels and discus mix. I have a 55gl tank 48 x 12 x 16, that's been setup for about 3 weeks or so.  I've put in a few real plants first, to get them settled before fish, and just today bought a few fish. I think some were a mistake, and I'm worried that despite my careful observations of each fish before purchase, that at least two of them won't survive their 14-day guarantee. (typical pet store quality...)  Anyway, my choices were one small (1.5") veil Angel, one catfish something (the details were missing for it) and three Sunfire Platys. I've been nearly drooling over the electric yellow cichlid, as well as a few blue cichlid species,  but also gourmis, mostly in the turquoise/red varieties. I have the opportuntity to get discus, but was unsure of how they would mix with any of my other options. I'm just indecisive, I suppose, but would love to hear your feedback. Thanks for all your help!

Answer
Hi Milisa,
You have some excellent ideas of fish in mind. However, I just thought I'd warn you that I haven't had good luck keeping gouramis together. I had a group of 6 all bought at the same time, of the different color variants of the traditional three-spot gourami (gold, blue, opaline) while they were gorgeous fish, they constantly fought  (this was in a 55gal) and they made each-other miserable. These were mostly females also. Now I know there are lots of aquarists who keeps groups of gouramis together. I'm not sure how well the fish get along, maybe they eventually establish and hold a pecking order, maybe there are tons of hiding places for the fish to get out of the 'line of sight' of each-other I'm not sure. I love gouramis, and if you have better luck keeping them together you'll have quite a beautiful tank. Gouramis get along with most other community fish. Its said to limit the males and have two females for every male or just females.

Cichlids (depending upon species) can be territorial and some grow very large so be sure about that too. African cichlids would make a gorgeous tank of course. But research any species you are considering because some species do best as one male per so many females. Only one male per tank, and so on. So definitely know your African cichlid species.

Angels and Discus are definitely something I've never mixed before. I love angels, and they are pretty straight forward in their care, much easier than discus. The problem is getting healthy ones from the start. Sickly angels are common in petstores and you often have to look far and wide to find some good angels that are responsive and seem willing to eat. I'm not sure if african cichlids will do so well with your community fish. Its not generally recommended to mix the two. However, I always hear that Yellow lab cichlids (electric yellows) have a calm enough temperament to be kept with some community species. But again, whatever species you decide on, do a little research about them first.

What you put in your tank is really your decision and such. But I do know the most interesting tanks in my opinion are "Biotope" tanks which contain species from one area of the world (Southeast Asia is my favorite) Oddball tanks (containing all unusual fish) and community tanks containing one or two schools of fish, one or two bigger "show fish" swimming about, and some bottom feeders on like catfish or loaches on the bottom. There's activity everywhere you look.

I hope this helps and best wishes!
Karen~