Stocking Ideas For A 40 Gallon

[Timmy_Bee]

There is a pinned topic in the catfish section detailing fish that stay small. Might be worth a look

 

[dohntaut]

ok so far i have been getting more work done on the stand, and it is starting to look pretty good. I also checked out my lfs and they dont really have any of the fish i want for this tank. i talked to the owner and he said he can help me order them, so i think i will go with a stocking like this, let me know if there are any problems and how over stocked i might be.
15 harlequins
15 glow light tetras
5-6 panda cories
3-4 banded gourami

i may also plan to add a smaller pleco(i kind of like bulldog, or zebra plecos), if i get an algae problem.

 

[jenbo]

ok so far i have been getting more work done on the stand, and it is starting to look pretty good. I also checked out my lfs and they dont really have any of the fish i want for this tank. i talked to the owner and he said he can help me order them, so i think i will go with a stocking like this, let me know if there are any problems and how over stocked i might be.
15 harlequins
15 glow light tetras
5-6 panda cories
3-4 banded gourami

i may also plan to add a smaller pleco(i kind of like bulldog, or zebra plecos), if i get an algae problem.

 

[jenbo]

i personaly would ditch the gourami and go with rainbow fish myself
they are much more peaceful fish and go well with all your chosen fish
do better in a group of 5 or more and only 1 male to 4/5 females.
as for your harlequins and tetras id cut it down to 10 of each then
you could have a few algae eating shrimp.
as for plecos id go with the pitbull its smaller i think,
i may be wrong but its more active then the others you mentioned.

 

[dohntaut]

oh i guess i confused banded gourami with rainbow fish, so i guess banded gourami are also called rainbow gourami? and rainbow fish are completely different? ill have to look it up.

As far as my tank stand, it is slowly coming along, i will have a picture up soon.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

By the by, Zebra plecos can be quite expencive...

 

[dohntaut]

alright so here is my stand so far, its a little different from the normal ones, we used a piece of granite on top
heres a low quality picture

 

[waterdrop]

Very nice looking stand there dohntaut! Congratulations on your progress! WD

 

[OldMan47]

A very nice looking stand you have there. The granite will make a very nice flat top to avoid any posible twisting forces on the tank. In most home built stands, a perfectly flat top is the biggest challenge to overcome.

 

[dohntaut]

ok so past couple of days i sanded it down, and put on a few coats of varnish. so it is almost done, i just need doors which i can finish while i set up the tank.

in terms of hardware im going to be using a 4 ft shop light that holds 2 long T8 lights(i may be wrong, they might be T12) i believe they are 34 watts each.
i will need to buy a heater too, im thinking of getting a 200Watt heater (the tank is about 40-45 gallons), or is it better to go with something like 2 100watt heaters?
No co2 system, i will probably dose ferts, i will see how the planting goes, and if i need to i might get a pressurized system in the future.

decoration would be black gravel, some pieces of driftwood, and plants, probably amazon swords, anubias, java ferns(going to try and attach to drift wood)

 

[waterdrop]

If you are bringing filter hoses up from an external filter in the cabinet then you could consider an "inline" heater spliced in to the output hose. I use a Hydor inline and it has maintained rock solid temps (probably boring for my fish ) and very even temperature zones in the tank due to the heated water being circulated by the spraybar. Aesthetically of course, getting the heater out of the tank improves your aquascape. [Except maybe in the case of the teenage boy (I speak from exerience here) who might in fact be going for the "equipment" look inside the tank. ]

You would indeed want at least 200w for your tank I think and I suppose you could think about a 100w tube heater on your supply shelf as a backup if you are far from LFS access and this is your only tank, just depends on budget and whether you think that would be overkill, what your weather is like etc.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[dohntaut]

well im going to be re-using a HOB type filter, it is pretty large, not sure of brand/model, but im pretty sure it will be sufficient. So i will probably have to go with the heater being inside the tank. I live in los angeles so the weather here is pretty nice all the time, i figure a 200W should be fine. ill probably try to cover it up with a plant in front or something

 

[dohntaut]

ok so i went to my lfs, and asked if they could help me order some fish, and they said they would try
i asked for
10 harlequin rasboras
10 glowlight tetras
6 panda cories

i also saw some really nice looking balloon rams that they had, would adding 4-5 of them be a bad idea? i hear some have had success keeping them with tetras.

i also got myself a 200watt heater and some gravel from there, and i ordered plants and some driftwood online

 

[waterdrop]

Sounding good. Maybe Davo86 or Wills or some of the other cichlid and Assaye and some of the other good stocking advisors will happen along.. WD

 

[dohntaut]

ok so its been a while, i expect my plants and drift wood to be in tommorow, i talked to my lfs and they said they should be getting the fish sometime next week. but i got excited and bought 4 dwarf gouramis and 6 rummynose tetras for now, still curious if bolivian or balloon rams would work with this stocking, my lfs might be getting them as well.