42 Gallon Tank

[furry catfish]

hello everyone sorry I have been posting so much I just have 3 planned tanks and I am very exited about them .Any way I have a 42 gallon tank but I havn't decided what to put in it exept for angel fish and platies.I was thinking of maybe rummy nose tetras (but I hear they are REALLY hard to keep) or even a betta(if it can go with the rest) all other suggestions are welcome


thanks




chris

 

[Wills]

Rummynose are not too hard to keep but they need a high temperature I think and soft water. Angels and platies sound nice, platies are not my cup of tea but if you like them go for it a nice school of contrasting tetras would be cool so like if you get red platies you could get blue emperor tetras. And then for the bottom I would go for some julli cories or sterbai cories and maybe some hatchets for the top. What is the foot print of the tank? If its a 4ft I would do a pair of angels and a pair of smaller peaceful south American cichlids like Laetacara Dorsiger or Curviceps

Wills

 

[arobinson1984]

Hi Furry,

What are the tanks dimensions?

You wouldn't be able to keep a betta with angels, they dont mix. The angel is likely to rip the bettas tail to shreds.

How about a shoal of harlequins?

Andy

 

[furry catfish]

Rummynose are not too hard to keep but they need a high temperature I think and soft water. Angels and platies sound nice, platies are not my cup of tea but if you like them go for it a nice school of contrasting tetras would be cool so like if you get red platies you could get blue emperor tetras. And then for the bottom I would go for some julli cories or sterbai cories and maybe some hatchets for the top. What is the foot print of the tank? If its a 4ft I would do a pair of angels and a pair of smaller peaceful south American cichlids like Laetacara Dorsiger or Curviceps

Wills

it is 4 foot and I like the idea of 2 different contrasting fish,although emeperor tetras don't seem very blue(sorry if I'm wrong I only looked them up on google) are there any other blue tetras that won't get slaughtered by the angle fish? i like the cuviceps species,the look really nice

Hi Furry,

What are the tanks dimensions?

You wouldn't be able to keep a betta with angels, they dont mix. The angel is likely to rip the bettas tail to shreds.

How about a shoal of harlequins?

Andy

I didn't think I'd be able to keep that betta but I might as well of asked while I am at it. the tank dimensions in inches are:48 across the front,14.5 from bottom to top and 13 from front to back.I already have harlequins in my other tank,amazing fish but I would like a change.Also I have never understood the term hard or soft water,could someone explain?

 

[arobinson1984]

I wouldn't recommend keeping an angel in that tank, its not tall enough. Angels require more heigth that length. A minimum tank of 18" tall is required for angels as they can reach 8-9" in height. Taking into account substrate etc it doesnt leave enough room for angels to move up and down.

How about a nice colourful gourami as a centrepiece fish instead? or a pair of bolivian rams?

Andy

 

[Joe97]

I have also heard that they are hard to keep but I'm sure if you read up then you'd be OK. I don't know if a betta would be OK with rummynose tetras and angelfish but he'd be OK with platties.
I helped as best I could,
Joe

 

[furry catfish]

thanks joe and Andy do you think if I got rid of the angels,would I be able to keep a betta or 2 in the tank with the rummy noses,the hatchets,the corys,the emeror tetrasand the curviceps?

 

[Curiosity101]

You can only keep single male bettas. Sadly there aren't many tanks that would allow a big enough territory for males to co-exist. It comes down to the fact that they've been line bred to fight...so that's what they do. Regardless of the size of the tank, once they met once they would hunt eachother down until one was dead.
Also in a 4ft tank I feel a male fighter would get a bit 'lost', not the fish itself. But to look at, it's more of a centerpiece fish, yet wouldn't be in a 4fter.

Also, the hardness of water refers to the amount of calcium and magnesium that is dissolved into it. Hard water has lots of these in it and due to the compounds the minerals come from it often means you have a high KH and so a high pH.

Soft water often = low pH and always low mineral content.

I have Rummys in my tank and have found they're absolutely fine, but my water is very very soft.

So to sum up, yes to a single male betta (though I'd be wary of the tetras there would be plenty of places he could go without them there), but I wouldn't because I've found most males don't enjoy lots of tankmates and especially fast moving tankmates, plus he'd look tiny compared to size of the tank.

And andy is spot on. One of the gouramis or a type of cichlid would be a better option for your tank. Have you ever seen keyhole cichlids?

 

[furry catfish]

wow thanks will I just looked key hole chichlids up on google, they look brilliant! how many could I fit in my tank?

 

[Curiosity101]

In a 4ft I'd go for a pair. They'd make lovely centerpiece fish and tend to use all levels of the tank.

 

[furry catfish]

Oh yea I almost forgot,are there any different blue tetras?

 

[arobinson1984]

Agree with curiousity.

A pair of keyhole cichlids will make a lovely centrepiece to the tank which you can then stock around with either 1 large shoal of tetras, rasboras etc or 2 smaller shoals.

Problem with betta's is that they all have their own personality, some will tolerate certain other fish, others will not tolerate any tank mates at all. Its simply pot luck. In a tank your size, like curiousity said, the betta will look lost. Although they do come in stunning colours, they dont grow that big and because you cant keep more than one they wouldnt stand out as a centrepiece.

How about black harlequin rasboras?
Black phantom tetras?
Emperor Tetras?
Purple Emperor Tetras?

Andy

 

[Curiosity101]

Apparently there is such a thing as a 'Blue Tetra', Boehlkea Fredcochui

 

[furry catfish]

I like the sound of black phantom tetras,my friend had a few of them and he said they were a good addition to his tank

 

[mr130gallon]

bolivian rams are stunning bottom dwelling fish, and they only grow 3-3.5 inches, mine, have lots of red on there fins and it looks splendid, i recommend them!