42 Gallon Tank

[indigoj]

What are the actual dimensions of your tank? lengthxheightxwidth

 

[furry catfish]

across the front:124cm
from front to back:38
from top to bottom:32
I might of measured wrongly when I calculated the gallons the first time,now it says 40 gallons,but thats not to much difference..

 

[always4lora]

Do you know what it is in inches? i know around 120cm is 4ft not sure on the other measurements, if it#s 15inch wide then i don't see any problem with it.

 

[furry catfish]

124cm=48.8 inches
38cm=14.9 inches
32cm=12.5 inches

 

[always4lora]

124cm=48.8 inches
38cm=14.9 inches
32cm=12.5 inches

Is the 14.9 inchs from the front of the tank to the back ? if so you'll be fine , Bichir's spend alot of their time at the mid to bottom levels of the tank so height doesnt matter. As they eat high protien food (or at least they should eat it) they need good filteration. Aim for 10x the turn over of the tank an hour so something around 400gph so you really want one of the following filters or similar
Tetra tec 1200
Eheim 2075 Professional 3 600
Eheim 2074 Professional 3e 350
Fluval 405
Rena XP3

 

[furry catfish]

thanks for the filter list can plecos live with brichirs?

 

[dave_oddballs]

yes plecs are ok with bichirs, in a 40g you are limited as to which plecs you can keep, just make sure you don't go out and but any of the common plecs as they will get to about 1.5 foot and mess up you tank., something like clown plecs or bulldog plecs are good.
you could have quite a few options with oddball fish, not all are 'tank busters' as someone mentioned, as always4lora said african butterfly fish are good and unusual, could have a small group of these, need to make sure you always have frozen or live foods, which you'd need for the bichirs anyway. bushfish or leaf fish are cool fish, and medium cichlids would be ok as long as they don't exceed 5-6" max and aren't too aggressive, maybe something like the firemouths / false firemouths, keyholes would be ok, cutteri cichlids.
why not have a look round, come back and have a list of fish you are interested in and are available to you, and we can give you information on whether they would be suitable with your tank and if so give you as much information as we can??

 

[always4lora]

yes plecs are ok with bichirs, in a 40g you are limited as to which plecs you can keep, just make sure you don't go out and but any of the common plecs as they will get to about 1.5 foot and mess up you tank., something like clown plecs or bulldog plecs are good.
you could have quite a few options with oddball fish, not all are 'tank busters' as someone mentioned, as always4lora said african butterfly fish are good and unusual, could have a small group of these, need to make sure you always have frozen or live foods, which you'd need for the bichirs anyway. bushfish or leaf fish are cool fish, and medium cichlids would be ok as long as they don't exceed 5-6" max and aren't too aggressive, maybe something like the firemouths / false firemouths, keyholes would be ok, cutteri cichlids.
why not have a look round, come back and have a list of fish you are interested in and are available to you, and we can give you information on whether they would be suitable with your tank and if so give you as much information as we can??

Plec's are normally fine with bichir's but on the rare occasion a plec can suck the slime coat of the bichir making it more likely to pick up diseaes etc. I have one with mine and it's fine it's just something you need to be wary off

 

[furry catfish]

well I don't know about avilibility for certain but there are 6 lfs in my area so there is bound to be a senegal brichir somewhere.anyway the fish that have caught my eye are
rainbow chichlid
adult bleeding heart tetra
rainbow shark
pearl gourami
banjo catfish
upside down catfish

are there any big shoalling barbs or tetras I could put in there?


thanks

 

[furry catfish]

Sorry I didn't have enough time to read the filter list when I posted earlier but now I looked them all up on google,are there any less expensive externals? because my budget for the whole tank is £110 and I can't spend it all on the filter

 

[indigoj]

check out 2nd hand deals - you can get some really decent externals for under £50

 

[furry catfish]

Well I can't afford the fluval 405 on ebay,but I could probably get the 305 if the heater,stock, decoration and substrate will cost all in all £50

 

[indigoj]

Have a look on aquarist classifieds - even post a wanted add, or you could go for 2 smaller externals like the 305 - get 1 for now, keep your stock light until you can afford a second?

 

[always4lora]

My filteration on my tank has cost more than the tank it's self and ibrought my tank new. It's pretty much the most important euipment in fisk keeping bar the tank itself. Tetra tec 1200's are often releativly cheap 2nd hand. I'd go with Indigoj and lightly stock ona small filter until you can get another one.

 

[furry catfish]

Your right tetratec is cheap.Also I have about 3 months to plan before I make this tank because I can only put it in my room when I move to the top floor.