Suggestions For 40 Gallon

[umberk]

I have a 40 gallon tank that has been up for a while. That currently has 1 larger Leopard Ctenopoma, 5 Serpae Tetras, 3 Yellow Panchax, 1 Dwarf Gourami, and 5 Bronze Corys. The Leopard Ctenopoma with be moved at a later date or found a home, Im attached to him but I dont have room for another tank right now.

Dilemma: The Leopard Ctenopoma is large enough to eat smaller fish like Zebra Danios and Black Phantom Tetras(at about 1/2-3/4 inch in body length) but unable to eat Serpaes at about 1-1.5 inches).

What is a schooling fish that stays in the mid-upper levels of the tank that would be too large for the Leopard Ctenopoma to consume, would get along with the tank mates, and isnt a common silver colored fish. I like Emperor Tetras but I dont know if they would be a good choice and was wondering if anyone else had suggestions. I had Congo Tetras in mind as well but have recently seen some females and havent found them to be very brilliant looking as I thought they would be or would they "color up" when out of fish store tanks?

 

[Timmy_Bee]

Some gold barbs might look nice, but they are more mid-bottom dwellers.
I also like Buenos Aires Tetra, but they are a 'common silver colour'

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Other African options that come to mind are...

• Yellowtail Congo Tetras
• Congo Tetras
• "Debauwi Catfish" (although the true Debauwis are so rarely imported, I'm referring to P. buffei, and these guys school very tightly plus need a group of ~10+)

 

[anon02]

Would 6 marbled hatchet fish be ok in there

 

[umberk]

Other African options that come to mind are...

• Yellowtail Congo Tetras
• Congo Tetras
• "Debauwi Catfish" (although the true Debauwis are so rarely imported, I'm referring to P. buffei, and these guys school very tightly plus need a group of ~10+)

Do Congos tend to look better once out of the store and in a home aquarium? The ones I've seen at 2 different fish stores were silver with the slightest resemblance of the orange/green coloration that I've seen in so many picture of them. No males were present at both stores either, do males show better colors than females do?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Males of both the common Congo and Yellowtail do indeed get great colours once settled at home, especially in a semi-planted tank...

Congo males will show lovely red colouration, while male Yellowtails show a blue sheen on the upper half of their flanks. The females of both types are relatively "bland."

Ideally though, you want to be looking at a 2:1 ratio of females:males, so that the females get a chance to avoid harressment