luver_of_fish

I have just aquired a 40 gallon tank (for free ) that I want to set up as a natural planted tank. The measurements of the tank are 36" x 15" x 16".

With this tank I finally have the chance to try some new types of fish and not just community fish which, except for my goldies and betta, is all I have ever had. I would really like to try some semi-aggresive fish or perhaps some chichlids. I understand that some chichlids are not very good for plants, but some, like cockatoo chiclids, actually need plants for hiding. I also looked at discus, but they sounded like they may be a little harder to keep up. Also looked at angels, but wonder if my tank may not be tall enough for them since it is a breeder tank and lonly 16" high.

Anyway, I was just hoping for some advice on some new types of fish that would do well in a planted tank.

agabr123

congrats on your new tank!

discus are very sensitive and they're also quite tall (as tall as the angels if not more so) so that might be a concern as well.

cichlids would be great but there are LOTS of different kinds. do you have any idea what kind you'd like? central american, south america, malawi, tanganyika etc. for the malawi mbuna you'll need a pH of around 8, so if you were set on having driftwood they might not be the best stocking option.

if you're looking for more aggressive fish a large school of tiger barbs and an RTS would be awesome

luver_of_fish

You'll have to forgive me, although I've had fish for the past 5 years I am new to alot of the forum lingo. What is an RTS? I have thought of the tiger barbs too. It seems many of the other semi-aggresive fish either get too big for a 40 gallon tank or are still really small like community fish. I was hoping to get something sort of medium sized I guess.

As far as cichlids, I don't really have an idea what type except that I would like to have live plants with them. I have been given a couple of ideas on another forum, Julies (j.marlieri), the Zebra Obliquidens (Astatotilapia Latifasciata) and Rams, soo I have been doing some research on those. I could also get some young peacock cichilds at a good price and so was considering them as well. I haven't been able to find any info on whether the peacocks would be good or bad with plants though.

Nick G

kribensis are excellent Cichlids to keep with plants, Rams and Cockatoos are also good choices as all these fish can be kept with other Community fish if you want.

agabr123

lol, sorry! an RTS is a red-tailed shark. you'd be surprised how large the tiger barbs can look, they get up to 3 inches and are pretty deep bodied

yeah, i'm not super familiar with cichlids aside from what i've heard, read, or researched. but i do know that the rams (at least the german blue/gold and the bolivians) are pretty peaceful (slightly more aggressive during spawning, but even then not too bad).

you could keep one blood red parrot in there and a pair of either bolivians, german blues/golds, or a pair of keyhole cichlids and probably some schooling fish as well. none of those are aggressive though, and the keyhole cichlids are VERY sensitive to aggression, they'll get scared and shy if there are semi-aggressive fish in the same tank.

MrWaxhead

I am with nick most of the dwarf cichlids are great choices with plants.

Angela_96

dwarf west african cichilds are great for that sized tank and planted tanks.. the malawis will destroy plants.

luver_of_fish

Thanks for all the replies!

Probably my largest concern with cichlids will be if they have babies. I did find an LFS that said they would take babies, but they are over 30 minutes away. Not so local... l I would like to stay away from anything that is a polific breeder. I will research your suggestions.

Of all the dwarf west african cichilds, is there a particular one that is a better choice for a beginner cichlid owner?

platy ben

Kribensis cichlids are great for the beginner

luver_of_fish

Thanks Ben, the kribensis look pretty cool. How many would you say I could have in a 40gallon tank since it does say they would be best off in a species only tank?

platy ben

I would try and assemble a harem (1 male and 2 or more females) if i were you.
Maybe 1 male and 3-4 females would be ok, but if they spawned succesfully, you would have alot of fry on your hands

luver_of_fish

I was looking into the 40 gallon cookie cutter setups and saw that one of them was for angelfish. http://cichlidforum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_40g.php I was looking at the tank measurements because it said it was a 40 gallon long, but the height is the same, 16 inches. This seemed like kind of a neat setup and from what I understand the angelfish have a tendency to eat the fry so I wouldn't have to worry about babies. I was under the impression from other reading that they needed a tall tank though, so was just curious what your thoughts were.

Also I looked at the 20 gallon cookie cutter setups and they had a setup for the kribensis Pelvicachromis pulcher as well. http://cichlidforum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_20g.php It says you could have one lined tetras in that setup as well, but I don't know that I have ever seen any of those. They seemed similar to neon tetras or black neon tetras and so was wondering if anyone had any ideas whether those type would work instead? Plus the neons seem a little more colorful. I have had an upside down catfish before for a bout 3 years and he was cool little fish. I wouldn't mind some more of them.

Evan McKay

well if you did a kkridensis you would have to stay away from africans in general.
i have had succes with angels in just a normal 10 so i think a 40 would be gfreat if thats what you wanted