my 55 gallon tank (urgent)

Question
i have just bought a 55 gallon fish tank and i know about the 6 to 8 week thing could i but goldfish in to go throught this process because i dont want to use the fish im actually putting in it then the goldfish will be moved to other tank after 8 weeks.  Im planning on having 4 black skirt tetra 2 Dwarf Gourami 3 Boesemani Rainbow 3 Clown Loach  1 Angel fish 3 Neon Blue Dwarf Rainbow fish and some kind of snail is this okay and is their any really important things i should know bout these fish?  please send as soon as possible

Answer
Hi CK;

It is not a good idea to use goldfish as starter fish for several reasons. Your tank will be tropical and goldfish are cold water so the heater will not be turned on and the break-in will take longer with cooler water, goldfish are often not in very good health from overcrowding at the fish store and can leave disease behind for your others to get, goldfish are just messy guys that leave way too much waste behind. It is perfectly  safe to get the tank through the break-in with fish you are going to keep in there anyway. You just have to be patient, start with hardy ones, put only one inch of fish for every ten gallons, don't overfeed and be sure to watch the toxin levels as you go. Here is my web page on new tanks to help you get started;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

Start your tank out with the four black skirts. They are hardy fish and with only those fish in there it will get started quite nicely with minimal risk. Feed them once a day. Feed only enough for them to eat all the food in five minutes. It must be gone from all areas of the tank within five minutes. Give them a little less next time if there are leftovers. If you would prefer to feed them twice a day, be sure they finish it all in less than 3 minutes. This feeding rule applies even after the break-in is over. Don't put any other fish in the tank for a full 6 to 8 weeks and monitor the levels of ammonia and nitrite every 2 or 3 days. More often if it gets too high as indicated on the literature with the kits. Once ammonia and nitrite have gone up and then down and both stay down, you can add new fish. You may have to do some water changes during the break-in. Never replace more than 25% in one day. With such a small population in there it may not even be necessary. Tell your family and friends not to try to give you any fish! It's a common problem when you get a nice big tank and everyone thinks it's like bringing you a houseplant or something. Nice gesture, but very dangerous. The tank cannot have any more fish until it gets through the initial stages. Even after the first 6 weeks or so are over you have to go VERY slow and add only one inch per ten gallons in one week. Your filter system needs time to compensate for the new population. It has broken-in for the population of just the four fish. The toxin levels may go up a little with the addition of new ones but it will stabilize quickly as long as there aren't too many added at once. About a week is what it takes.

If you are going to have clown loaches you should not have snails of any kind. Snails are clown loaches' favorite food. ;-)
They are often recommended for tanks that end up with a snail population explosion.

Here are some links to help you further;

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/start_up/start_up5.html
http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html
http://www.firsttankguide.net/capacity.php
http://www.firsttankguide.net/size.php
http://www.firsttankguide.net/space.php
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/aquariumstartup/a/newtankmistakes.htm

Here are links to profiles of the fish you have decided on;

Black Skirts;
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/596.htm

Dwarf Gouramis;
(Many color varieties but the same information applies)
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/553.htm

Boesemani Rainbow;
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/327.htm

Clown Loach;
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/637.htm

Angel;
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/539.htm

Neon Blue Dwarf Rainbow;
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/334.htm

I think they all should be fine together. Just take it very slow. Let me know if you have more questions.....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins