Choosing Fish for a larger Freshwater Aquarium

If you have had a smaller aquarium and are ready to step up to a 55-gallon tank, you are ready to experience even more tranquility and excitement than before. Having such a large space allows for more of a variety of freshwater fish as well as plants and decorations. Choosing fish for a larger freshwater aquarium is a lot of fun, but remember to keep count as you don’t want to overpopulate your tank.

Setting up a 55-gallon tank is similar to a smaller tank, remembering there is a difference in the size as well as how long it will take to fill it up with water. The filter will need to be able to handle the multiple gallons as well. And of course, you’ll need more plants and decorations as well; oh yes, you will need fish.

Because a 55-gallon tank has so much more room than the smaller versions, filling it up with fish can be a little costly at first. There are several ways of going around this, but the final decision is completely up to you. When choosing the fish, keep in mind that the fish could be in different groups which are the community, the semi-aggressive and aggressive.

Knowing the different groups will help decide which fish for a 55 gal. freshwater aquarium to get. One possibility is to get several aggressive fish and then balance out the tank with decorations and plants. Not only will this give you the fish swimming around but the volume of the decorations and plants will hide the fact that there are only some fishes in the tank. You could start out with several Oscars or sharks.

Another option to choosing fish for a larger freshwater Aquarium would be to have several small schools of community fish. Community fish are the most common and they won’t get too big. Having several groups of 3 or 4 swimming around will also give off the appearance that there are more fish in the tank. Community fish can be Danios, Mollies, Swordtails, Tetras, Angels, and Gouramis to name a few. You can choose some that will stay closer to the top and also some that prefer the bottom.

Moreover, the fish can also be as simple as goldfish and nothing but goldfish. Goldfish are probably the most inexpensive and they add both color and movement to the water. Of course, just having some gold color swimming around the aquarium is okay, so perhaps you might want to add a couple snails or a freshwater lobster. Investing in a bottom feeder such as a Cory Cat would be a good idea too.

When you are choosing fish for a larger freshwater aquarium, there is No matter what look you are going for, or how much money you have to spend, there is a number of fish for a 55-gallon freshwater aquarium you can choose from. With a little knowledge of the different species, and if you prefer then to be in schools or are loners, hang out near the top, or hide at the base of the plants, you will have a great looking aquarium.

Tweet