Upper Region Tropical Fish

Question
Hi Christy,
I am new to the fish hobby and am getting a 55 gallon aquarium in the very near future. I have researched the cycling process and know that I need to complete that before adding any fish. I want to cover all areas of my tank with fish and am wondering what upper region tropical fish are the hardiest for a freshwater community tank?

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Shari
The only ones I can think of(from experience) that tend to hang towards the top would be bettas(males or females) and gouramis.  But I'd say it's more of the middle/top half they hang out in.  And, I would only recommend 1 of those.  Bettas and gouramis are not a good mix together, and it's usually not a good idea to have more then 1 gourami or male betta.  I have successfully kept 2 female bettas before in one tank, and have heard of others keeping quite a few, but they can get nippy with each other, they actually establish a pecking order amongst them.  I have noticed my zebra danios tend to hang more in the middle to top half of the tank as well.  

That's only a few ideas there, like I said, just from my experiences with them.  Try posting to some more experts, maybe someone can come up with a few more to add to the list :)

Hope that helps, and let me know if you have more questions while setting everything up or afterwards, and good luck with your new tank!

Christy