Hey Mike...

Let me know if you need any help with setting up a cichlid tank. I can give you some advice. I have 2 tanks (a 180 gallon and a 45 gallon)devoted to tanganykans and I have a growout tank of malawis (mostly mbuna fry).

I am part of the Hill Country Cichlid Club, and we are having an auction in San Antonio in a couple of weeks (23rd of October). It might be a good chance for you to get some livestock for pretty cheap. Keegan, from Armkes, will be bringing a ton of fish to the auction.

As far as canister filters, I have the eheim classics, and they work great. You can probably get an eheim 2217 from BigAls for less than $100, which would be more than enough filtration for your 55.

As Blake said, most rift lake cichlids are diggers, and may uproot some of your fake plants. However, again, this depends on what kind you get.

I've spent about 2 years dealing mostly with mbunas, and had just recently switch to fish from tanganyka. As far as color goes, mbunas are awesome.

Let me know if you have any questions...


chiu