~45 gallons, what to do?

[id10t]

Title sorta says it all. Have a tank about 45 gallons (weird size I know) and after many years of a dwindling African cichlid population in it, it is now empty except a few corys and a single giant danio.

Tank is not currently correctly lighted for plants, but I have the materials to fix that and will be doing it... eventually maybe. Same setup let me do very well with java fern and java moss. Filtration, etc. all good.

Redid the tank the other day, all new rock, put fish in a tub temporarily and gave the tank a good cleaning.

Now I just need more fish. 64 dollar question is "what kind?"

Liked the African cichlids, and may go back that direction again, but local choices aren't as good as they were when I first went that direction, although I guess I could hold out for a few weeks and hope a massive shipment hits one of the local chain places (the only indie place is *nasty* and always has more than a few dead fish in the display tanks) ...

Went to the chain places yesterday and today, and it seems there is a good selection (quantity wise) of S American cichlids, with the firemouths and jewels really catching my eye. And the possibility of convicts crossed my mind as well, but I would prefer more color than they offer ...

One place had a few Florida Flag Fish, and since I'm in N Florida and the springs are right here, a natives tank has some appeal, especially if I can get a hogchoker and other local fish.

Another place had senegal birchirs, had one of those long ago and it was great but I think in my tank I'd need a couple (ok, no problem) but some other fish for medium and top water... maybe even guppies or another prolific livebearer to provide some noshes for the birchirs...

So what to do? What would *you* put in it? Keep in mind, corys and the danio are still there, and being able to do plants is possible but not likely in the near future... motion and color of course too.

Thanks!

 

[axs377]

If you liked the Africans id go that route again. You could always do an online order if you can't get what you want locally.

 

[tlindsey]

Have you ever considered dwarf cichlids such as rams or apistogramma and you could do a school of silver hatchet fish for top layer.

 

[id10t]

Have you ever considered dwarf cichlids such as rams or apistogramma and you could do a school of silver hatchet fish for top layer.

Well, no I hadn't... hence the thread. Off to do some googlin'

 

[fatboy8]

I have the same size tank sitting around and have been floating a few ideas around. I like the rams suggestion some cories and smaller barbs. Possibly even plant that and I really want to get at least one Nandus Nandus for the tank awesome fish and perfect tank size. You could also potentially add an african butterfly fish, Asian bumblebee catfish, etc. I suggest ordering online plenty of decent online suppliers with cheap shipping.

 

[ichthyogeek]

I'd start out by bumping both the corydoras and danio populations up to 8 each. Which corydoras do you keep? C. paleatus, the peppered corydoras? C. aeneus, the common albino corydoras or green/bronze corydoras? Brochis splendens, the emerald catfish (some people think it's a corydoras)? Or another cory species?

I'm going to assume that you have pretty decent filtration here due to keeping African cichlids, but what exactly is it? Additionally, did you add calcareous rock and sand to the tank so that you could keep African cichlids (if you don't know, does it bubble if you add vinegar to a dry piece?)?

I have some ideas floating around in my head, but want to know the pH of your tank water first, as well as if you plan on keeping fish that like basic water (above 7.0 pH) or acidic water (less than 7.0 pH). Additionally, what temperature were you planning on keeping your fish at?

Not arguing against the dwarf cichlid and hatchetfish idea, but those fish do prefer more acidic water, and my ideas are based off of the fish' welfare first, which includes their propensity to breed, their stress levels, etc. which I find get better when put in environments similar to where they originate from.