tinytawnykitten Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Hi, I am new to fish keeping. We started with a 60L rectangular tank in my son's room and there we have 2 angels, 2 platys, 6 black widow tetras, 2 dwarf gouramis and a bottom feeder type bloke. They have been good and happy for a while now and I have bought a second tank on Trade Me for our room. This is an 80L hexagonal one. (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =121585355) and I had originally thought I would like to start a cichlid tank but having posted on the cichlid thread I have a few replies saying that the tank is too small for cichlids. So I am hoping for some ideas about what I you think I should set up this tank as? I love my community tank and if I can't have cichlids then should I set up another community? How can I make it different from the other one? My favourite fish at the moment are angels (although I am told they are not the height of fish fashion!) and I love the gouramis. I am very open to suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slightly Blue Dalmation Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 maybe a nice male beta and some females, plus a nice school of something pretty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 There are some smaller cichlids that would be fine for that size tank, and peacefull enough to have other community fish in there too. A few Kribensis and an assortment of other fish would be fine. Your angels will be OK in there for a while, until they get too big. Mix in some small loaches or cory catfish and maybe a little bristlenose pleco. Angels are OK, but they grow big and tend to start nibbling on the smaller fish. So if you can seperate the tougher ones into one tank and leave the smaller tetras and platys in the small tank. Of course all it really means if you have started down the Multi-tank route :lol: Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinytawnykitten Posted October 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Actually I have just recalculated and it is 100L. Does that make a diff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Not a huge one, but bigger is better. :lol: You still need keep an eye on the size that fish will grow to. A 10cm kribesis or gourmai will be fine, a couple of adult angels will be a crowd. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
je_suis_ketan Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Just thought I'd raise a question here, but being Hexagonal, I'm guessing that it would be quite tall (deep) rather than long - hence a smaller surface area. Since most stocking ratios/calculations are done based on surface area it wouldn't be able to take as many fish as say a rectangular 100L tank? Not sure if you have thought about it but I figured it would be something worth mentioning. Hope I was of some help Double post removed 8) - Caryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Hopefully the mods can tidy up your double post, you cant delete posts, but you can go back and edit them - just leave an "oops - double post" message Yes you are right about the tall tanks and less surface area, but having extra aeration to circulate the water better can help there. I have a tank like TTK's new one, and run a small internal power filter AND an undergravel. Seems to work fine, but it's not overstocked. A reasonable power filter and a couple of airstones will do fine. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
je_suis_ketan Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Thanks Ian I thought the surface area rule was more to do with giving the fish space to swim and turn around etc. I guess they will establish a pecking order depending on the level that they swim at? I'm not sure how I made a double post but the computer was taking a long time so I hit the reload button and I saw two posts! :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firenzenz Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Some algae eaters. The shape of these tanks also makes cleaning difficult so, as suggested 2-4 Common brisltenoses or GBAS's. Get small ones as they are still active and not hiding out yet. They'll wizz around and clean the glass and everything - a lot easier than stretching down the top of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 I thought the surface area rule was more to do with giving the fish space to swim and turn around etc. I guess they will establish a pecking order depending on the level that they swim at? The tall tank does limit the swimming space a bit, so you dont want BIG active fish in that sort of tank. But plenty of swimming space for smaller fish like dwarf gourmai and kribensis. You do want to give some more thought to what levels the fish live at of course. But some dwarf gourmai at the top, a few kribensis in the middle and a couple of bristlenose plecos at the bottom should work out fine. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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