New 45gallon Tank

You can pick your own drift wood from local lakes and rivers. You can also buy it in LFS eBay and aquabid. There are a few other sites you can buy it from.


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

The possibilities are enormous. I would focus on a type of fish you like. For instance, I prefer South American cichlids. Once you have a general type of fish you are interested in, you can then focus on decor and water needs.

If it were me, I would house two pairs of dwarf cichlids (breeding or not....either would work) and some small dithers like rummy nose, neon or cardinal tetras (a school of 10-12 would school very well). Dwarf SA cichlids like lots of cover in the form of driftwood and densely packed plants (the decision on real or fake would be entirely yours based in what you want because neither will have a negative affect on your fish).

That is just my recommendation. You will get tons of others and most will be different in some way or another. I would do some searching of small fish that would not get very big (no more than 4-6") and figure out what general type you like based on that.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Breezyod said:

I was thinking of some Africans but I didn't know how hard they were to take care of. I want a lot of plants and a nice log and active fish


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Click to expand...

Africans are very hardy cichlids. You should have absolutely no problem keeping some small species of Africans. Unfortunately I haven't had African cichlids in almost 7 years, so I've forgotten a lot of what I know about them.

I do know Africans don't like plants too much. Many African keepers just use rocks. Some use driftwood, but I have rarely seen Africans with plants (live or fake). If you are looking for a heavy planted tank, I would say to look into South American dwarf cichlids. Rams, apistos, kribs (these are Africans, but they are super hardy and breed very easily), keyholes or other small acaras, rainbow cichlids and there many other small cichlids can be kept in groups of up to 5 in that 45 with little to no issues. And of course you can add dithers as well.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Breezyod said:

Cichlids don't do well with other types of fish do they? I know along time ago I was thinking of stocking my 55gallon with them but the person at my local petsmart told me that they really don't do well with other fish. But if the other fish were a bit bigger then them would they be fine? Like maybe a catfish or Angel Fish? I know I had some Angel Fish and I had them in with some sunfish and they would actually pick on the sunfish I had. I just don't know if I want to be stuck with only being able to stock Cichlids in this tank.

Click to expand...

I have several species of cichlids living together with no issues. 2 super red severums, 4 keyholes and 5 German blue rams all in a 125. The keys to successfully keeping different species of cichlids together is to keep similar temperaments together (all my cichlids are considered to be mildly aggressive) and to give them plenty of space.

With Africans, I do recall many people overstock their small/medium cichlids a little because it helps to spread aggression out very evenly. So a 55 that would normally only house 5-6 cichlids in the 6" range would actually have 8-9 of the same 6" cichlids.

The biggest rule of thumb to live by with any fish is that if it can fit another fish in its mouth....it will. So long as none of your fish will fit into the mouthes of others, you should be save from a tank wide predatory wipeout.

I wouldn't recommend angelfish in the 45. Angels need 10 gallons of water each and need groups of 5+. They are social cichlids who develop a hierarchy, so in order for the hierarchical aggression to not pile up on one angel, you need multiple angels to spread the aggression out to. That 45 would not be able to comfortable house 5 adult angels.

You can definitely keep a couple of catfish (no larger than 6") as a bottom crew, but it would limit cichlid stocking as the bottom layer would be mostly taken up.

There are many options for stocking cichlids. Some people like me stock multiple species of cichlids together. Others stock one species of cichlid, then stock a lot of non-cichlid species around that. Any fish tank should have a "centerpiece" fish or species. For me, its my super red severums. There is also a certain amount of attention that cichlids need to be paid. Keeping multiples of the same species an often lead to cichlids pairing up to breed and many cichlids (even mild mannered ones) can become little monsters when it comes to protecting their clutch of eggs.

My suggestion to you is to find a species that you really like and want to have more than any other. Once you have your centerpiece fish/species, you can research what others have had success with or what online profiles recommend (beware of profiles and take them with a grain of salt because I find they are often either too cautious or too extreme in their listing of compatible species).

Based on what you have told me about the decor you want, I would still recommend going with a few small dwarf cichlids with some dither fish, especially if you want the tank heavily planted with driftwood.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app