k So do rasboras or danios like eggs too? Is there anything I could possibly breed in a 55 without it being like a species only or just a pair of fish?
I'm willing to do a species only in the 29 though or even the 20 if I don't use that for a fry tank, so probably angels or rams for that? I'm hoping to go talk to my LFS this weekend too and see if they have any ideas on fish so I can learn what they would take!
I wasn't saying you can't put more fish in the 55...just that the more fish you add the chances of fry surviving go down, e.g. plecos if hungry will eat angelfish or ram eggs, etc. Or if the parents get stressed rams and apistos will eat their own eggs.
You may want to leave the 55g for growout.
I'd set up a 20 long or even a 20 high for breeding some plecos. Height is mostly wasted on many plecos as they like to stay near the substrate/decor/pots/hiding spots, so a 20 long is better vs. a 20 high in this regard. Plus it leaves room for you to keep the baby plecos in with the adults; the adults generally don't eat their own fry but they need room to spread out a little after the fry leave the cave.
Then put a pair of angels in a 20/29 high (just them), or a pair of rams in a 15 long/20 high (just them). Give the parents 3-4 times to raise the fry and if they keep eating the eggs, then try to train them to lay on a piece of slate or decoration and pull the slate covered in eggs (don't expose to air for more than a few seconds), put the eggs in another small (5-10g) tank w/ cycled filter and some meth blue (to prevent fungus) plus a bubbler (for good air circulation).
Once the babies, hatch, use progressively a 10g > 20g > 55g for growout on the angel fry or ram fry. They need plenty of space or they get deformed fins or weird looking bodies. E.g. 10g/angelfish by the time they are breeder size, and a gallon each wouldn't hurt when they're fry...cuts down on water change frequency as well. Rams need somewhat less space compared to angels but more space is better than not enough.
This was my point about just raising fry you need lots of tanks, e.g. 20g or 29g for the parents, then 10g + 20g long + 55g for various stages of fry, plus 2 liter bottles for a brine shrimp hatchery (or some smaller tanks), etc, etc. So breeding is possible but to do it well (good for the quality of fish + less headache for you) you need probably a minimum of 3-4 tanks just for that one species. Also, you may have to mess with softening the water or adjusting PH a little bit to get the eggs to hatch at a good percentage, e.g. mixing some RO water with the aged and dechlorinated tap water. This is more true of wild-caught vs. tank raised parents. Tank raised are easier and less fussy about water hardness, but they also usually eat their eggs...some of the parenting instincts seem to be bred out of them.
See here for more info:
http://greatlakesaquaria.com/index.php?/topic/3078-angel-fry-are-growing/ Pauline perhaps goes overboard (in a good way) with water changes and all that, but she turns out beautiful fish and starts with great parents. You could get away with less frequent WCs, but you also run the risk of stunting/poor finnage on the angels if you wait too long between WCs or use too small a tank to raise the fry. And there's enough poor quality angelfish showing up in stores, so why add to that? Better not to raise them (except for the experience) than to raise junk.
Now, in contrast, you can do African cichlids with just a show tank (with less rocks, or PVC, or no heavy so you can catch the females) where you catch the females holding fry in their mouths, strip the fry, put the fry in a breeder box on the show tank until they get a little bigger, then grow them out in a 20 long and/or a 40-55g long as they get bigger. So you could get away with maybe one or two less tanks. But it's still a good bit of work with regular water changes and daily or twice daily feedings and all that. Africans do tend to do better in our Michigan water though, so it's a bit easier in that regard vs. angelfish.
If you go with Africans, I think you could go with smaller mbuna in a 55, up to 3 species, e.g. 1M 3F yellow labs, 1M 3F rusty cichlids, 1M 3F acei...just pick three species that won't hybridize. RegalBlue and auratus and a bunch of others on here would be great sources in helping you pick some good species.
