New 55 gallon tank

Question
Hi our tank just recently finsihed cycling and we are going to start adding fish, we cycled with 5 gold fish in which are going to a 10 gallon tank, now the question is that we want a variety of fish what are some good community fish and how many would you suggest adding at a time, we have 2 60 gallon bio filters, and a UGV with 2 powerheads and a bublle wall any help will be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Quenston,
This kind of depends on what type of fish you like to keep. I'd probably go for a community tank as this makes for the more interesting setup.

A community tank is most often simply based around fish from all three levels in the tank. Top-dwellers, Mid-dwellers, and Bottom-dwellers.

Top dwelling fish can be-
*Hatchet fish
*Danios

Mid-dwellers would be
*All tetra species, such as Neons, Cardinals, Glowlights, Lemons, Blach phantom, Serpae, head and tail-light tetras,Bleeding hearts, Bloodfins, Black neons, and more.

~As well as Harlequin rasboras.

~All barb species (except Tinfoil barbs which grow too large. Gold barbs, Tiger barbs, Rosy barbs, Cherry barbs are all really nice.

~Gouramis are good as a "show" fish or one that stands out among the rest. Gold, Opaline and blue gouramis are all the same species but they are just different color varieties. Other species like Dwarf Gouramis, Pearl gouramis, and Moonlight gouramis are also nice.

~Angelfish are also very nice fish to have as a 'centerpiece' in your tank amongst other schooling fish.

~Don't forget the colorful livebearers such as Swordtails, Platies, Guppies. Just keep in mind they can reproduce very rapidly.

~Rainbow fish would also be suitable. However, they can be harder to find and can be expensive.

~Among the best bottom dwellers are Corydoras catfish, Ottocinclus, and Bristlenose Plecos. Regular common plecos really grow too large for most aquariums and they produce too much pollution.

*~I think a really nice setup would be:

-Three or four schools (each one consisting of 6-8) of small/medium size schooling fish. These can be either tetras, rasboras, or barbs...

-A few larger fish such as either Angels, gouramis, or even Blue rams to compliment the schooling fish.

-Bottom dwellers like a school of 6-7  Cories, and a bristlenose pleco would nice. They are your cleanup crew as well.

You could also consider a theme tank such as an "All south american species" them tank. Or an "South east asian" them tank with gouramis, rasboras, loaches, ect...

(How many fish to add at a time depends upon the species actually. If you are adding, say small tetra species, then adding a school of 6-8 shouldn't really overwhelm the system. Just test the water just in case but I'm sure you'll be fine. Give the tank about a week or so and then you can add several more fish. Larger fish that may be territorial should be added last and if you are having several, add them all at the same time. Angels for example, can be territorial.)

But then again, its all up to you. I hope this helps!
Karen~