Hello all,

Just a brief background, I have kept freshwater fish before throughout my childhood and dorm life. Now that I have the room for a bigger aquarium I purchased a 55 gallon tank and am getting it ready to be set up, just I have no clue as to what fish I want.

I've been wanting a bigger fish, somewhere around 8 - 10 inches, but I there are a few main ones that have been back and forth on.

The ideas so far have been:
Either 1 Red Devil/Mida Cichlid (I know these grow larger than 10 inches and with the aggressive behavior in my sized tank I'm looking at just 1 if I go with them)

or

3 or 4 Blood Red Parrot Cichlids (The only complaint I've read about was filtration and I plan on buying more than is needed no matter what fish)

or

1 to 3 Blue Moorii (If I can even find them locally, and since they are African Cichlids I'd like to know for sure which fish before buying sand for the tank)

or

Maybe a few Ryukin Goldfish


As you can tell I've mostly been looking in the cichlids .. I do like the look of schooling silver dollar fish, but as for smaller fish non really stand out for me. :(

Anyway. With those selections I'm looking for big bold colors and want to create more of a tropical aquascape with sand, rock, and a few artificial plants. So any advice or personal experience with said fish or suggestions of others would be helpful.

Thank you.

Well I think I'll try hunt down a pair of Blue Mooriii and a Blood Parrot for the tank after more researching.

So when ever I track some down and get everything set up I'll share some pics.