bought a new 55 gallon fish tank?

One Oscar needs 75 gallons. One would top off at 8" or so in a 55 gallon.

You want 4 big fish? It isn't about 1"of fish per gallon. That rule is crap. It is about fish species and what they require. With big fish, you will likely have to deal with spawning. In a 55 gallon only one pair or all females should be involved. The females may likely fight too, Just not as territorial as males.

What type of live food? A fish over 8" shouldn't really be in a 55. How big of a mouth can a 8" fish have? With that 55 gallon you'll only be feeding your fish baby fish. I don't think any could eat a pinky.

I suggest:

>A Pair of Convict Cichlids, a Red Tail Shark

or

>1 female Blood Parrot Cichlid, 1 male Convict Cichlid

or

>A Pair of Angelfish, 1 Rainbow Shark

or

>2 Blue/3~Spot Gouramis, 2 Pictus Catfish

or

>1 Angelfish, 1 Blue/3~Gouramis

punch up 55 gal aquariums for sale and you will find all kinds. however price isnt always the issue. quality of construction of the tank is important. i have a OCEANIC 55 gal. the glass is thicker than most of them at petstores, walmarts, ect. also theres a glass brace in the middle of the tank at the top compared to just a plastic frame around the top like most cheap ones. check the brand of the tank and glass specs and you will have a better quality of tank for the money.

I wouldn't put sharks in because they are not very aggressive, some oscars you can put together, but others will tear each other apart!

Well you could get a red belly pihrana. ( extremely aggresive only towards meat.) But barricudas are good but they will attack you. Pirahnas only are aggresive towards food. So they wont bite you.

some cichlids. so pretty! they eat little goldfish!