4ft Tank Decisions

[bigfish]

well i decided to rehome 2 parrot fish as they were really skitish and were very nervous...they are being rehomed with someone who has them. Any way now i'm left with a tank thats roughly 4 or 5ft in length by 2ft in width and height. Question is i dunno what to put in it!!! Has to be pretty low maintenance. I've decided to go with either black gravel or sand, Lush green plants combined with c02 to keep them that way. I already have some driftwood ready to go in it's only 2ft in length so i maybe buy a few more pieces and attach some java ferm to it so that it has some colour.

Dunno about stocking idea, i would like something with loads of colour but nothing that grows to big too quickly, plus i would need a mixture of top dwellers, middle and bottom fish.

I thought of maybe a school of 6-8 corydoras but dunno which type to go for I like Cardinal tetras as they have a nice load of colour given the right Ph.

Just would like to hear your views???

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Personally i like panda, albino and peppered corys the best so thats what i'd go for.
Cardinal or neon tetras will need a shoal of at least 10+ in a tank that big.
Are you looking for a plec to put in the tank? If you can get them where you live and don't mind the cost of them, i think Zebra plecs are gorgeous and they don't grow very big thankfully either(3 to 4inchs max i think) and they are best kept in groups with 1male per 2-3 females apparently although they don't do well with very boisterous/nippy tankmates and they can't compete for food very well.

 

[BigC]

I'd personally go for Marbled Hatchets for the surface dwellers, then a very large shoal of Cardinal Tetra which make a stunning impact to any tank coupled with a group of Black Phantom Tetra which makes a striking contrast in colour between the red and blue of the aformentioned Cardinals. For the bottom dwellers I am a great lover of Botia Sidthimunki (pygmy chain loach).

 

[FrAnK3333]

Zebra plecos are rare and expensive. As for bottom dwellers I pefer loaches over coryies. If your looking for colors go for the cardinals and some dwarf cichlids, color and character.

 

[sylvia]

If you are looking for color - go for rainbowfish!

With that size tank, a school of 7 or so melanotaenia boesmani with their bright purple, blues, yellows and oranges or m. lacustris with their amazing marine-like blues would look amazing. They get to 3-4". Alternatively, the stunning glossolepis incisus gets to about 5" and is an amazing red color.

Don't let their drab colors in the LFS fool you! Rainbowfish color up amazingly once settled in and they are by far the most colorful schooling fish. Plus they are active in all levels and, if in a large enough group, are very out-going and entertaining fish.

Then I would suggest a colorful loach as a bottom dweller. Maybe get something like the gold zebra loach (botia histrionica) which only gets to 2.5" so you can put quite a few of those in. Alternatively, the larger yo-yo loach ahs attractive, contrasting markings and is quite active as well.

With the rainbows, you don't realy need any top dwelling fish but if you still want some I'd go for a trio of moonlight gouramies which get to around 6" (1 male, 2 females). You could also try opaline, gold, cosby, platinum, blue or (collectively) three-spot gouramies but these are more aggressive though slightly smaller, maxing out around 5". Thick-lipped (colisa labiosa) or banded (c. fasciata) gouramies are also possibilities and deffinately have stunning color and are quite peaceful. They get to between 3" and 4". The last option would be pearl gouramies which would also look amazing and are peaceful fish. They get to be between 4" and 5" but can be quite shy if bullied by their tankmates. They should be fine with most rainbows and wouldn't mind the loaches.

The purple spotted gudgeon is another smallish, very colorful species you may want to consider. It should get on with a big school of rainbows.

Obviously other great fish for a tank like this are the apistos, rams and other dwarf cichlids. I personaly would suggest kribs or olivian rams if that's the sort of route you decide to take. One of my favourite cichlids, though not that colorful, is the keyhole. They are shockingly shy and peaceful for a cichlid and breeding them is quite easy too.

If you want a cichlid tank with color though, what better choice is there besides discus?

Or, if you aren't up to all the maintainance and want something easy, maybe get a few angels, some scissortail rasboras, a group of some kind of cory and a bristlenose plec.

Something else to consider is tiger barbs... There are three main types and a mix of these can be very colorful. A big school of barbs - of any color - is an amazing sight and will get along with most other fish as well (they aren't as nippy in a big group). I'd probably put them in with some medium-sized loaches and kribs and maybe an RTBS or rainbow shark as well.

 

[FrAnK3333]

Very well said. I agree with the loaches.