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FairyFin☆

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I've joined because I have a challenging 40 gal TALL (18×20×30") & need some advice on what fish will do well in deeper water. Also any tall plants that don't need CO2. I've got pretty a robust current & plan on adding a bubble curtain soon. I'm going to pull out the fake rock when I feel like diving for it to clean off any snails hanging on. Currently have 2 mollies & 1 pleco I adopted.
 

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Welcome to the forum!

That's kinda a tricky tank size to stock... I just wanna flip it on its side tbh 😅.
I'm really not sure what fish would do good in deep water like that. That is really deep
 
It's nor so much that it's deep, but has such a small "footprint" too! I'm thinking a couple Hillstreams & a school of White Clouds after getting it planted.
 
Hi, and welcome.

Suggestions for tall plants that don't require CO2 would be Vallisneria, certain species of Echinodorus, and stem plants such as Hygrophila or Ludwigia.
 
It's nor so much that it's deep, but has such a small "footprint" too! I'm thinking a couple Hillstreams & a school of White Clouds after getting it planted.
Yeah that's what I'm concerned about, the footprint.
I'm not so sure if the footprint is big enough for hillstream loaches. Because you have to remember it's not just gallons for what fish can live in, it's also the actual size. I think you could get away with some corydoras and a school of mid-top dwelling fish.
 
The water height isn't the problem, all fish can live in 3 feet of water. The issue is the surface area (length x width). That is only 18 x 20 inches and that seriously limits what can go in there.

--------------------
What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, most tetras, barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

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If you have enough light, then Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma and Vallis
 
The water height isn't the problem, all fish can live in 3 feet of water. The issue is the surface area (length x width). That is only 18 x 20 inches and that seriously limits what can go in there.

--------------------
What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, most tetras, barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

--------------------
If you have enough light, then Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma and Vallis
Yeah that's what I was talking about. Usually when a tank is deeper it has less length.
And 18 inches long with a height of 30 is a bit weird
 
I would add water sprite to the plant list.

Although the footprint is small, it is not as small as others are making it out to be. Let's look at the dimensions of your tank compared to other popular sizes.
Your tank is 20"×18" or 360 inch square footprint.
10gallon is 20"×10" or 200"sq.
20gallon is 24"× 12" or 288"sq.
29gallon is 30"×12" or 360"sq.
Your 40gallon tall is the same footprint and surface area as a 29gallon.
The harder part of a taller tank is oxygenation and maintenance. Oxygenation is more difficult because there is more volume to surface area, but you've got that taken care of by adding air stones.
None of the fish you get would be bothered by the depth of the water. I think your tank would make an interesting display with good schools of bottom, middle and top fish. I just wouldn't want to deal with the maintenance involved with a tank that deep, or setting up the lighting to reach any lower plants. If only using lights at the top you will need a stronger light to reach the bottom.
 
You could do multiple schools of middle-top dwelling fish because since it is taller the middle dwellers have more level options.
I think what keeps throwing me off is that it's taller than it is long. 30in is pretty significant but you can still have an amazing setup!
 
The tricky part of stocking this tank is the swimming length. Regardless of the footprint or volume, fish need length for swimming in. Sedate fish don't need as much swimming space as fast swimming fish, for example. You have 20 inches swimming length and there are several species which need as little as 18 inches.

You have mollies and a plec at the moment. I hate to tell you this but mollies need at least 36 inches swimming length. These are big fish with some species growing as large as 6 inches.
Mollies also need very hard water. You need to find out the hardness (GH) of your water and keep fish suited to that. The best place for fish research is Seriously Fish. Their profiles give the hardness, pH and temperature needed by species; and the minimum tank length.
 
The tricky part of stocking this tank is the swimming length. Regardless of the footprint or volume, fish need length for swimming in. Sedate fish don't need as much swimming space as fast swimming fish, for example. You have 20 inches swimming length and there are several species which need as little as 18 inches.

You have mollies and a plec at the moment. I hate to tell you this but mollies need at least 36 inches swimming length. These are big fish with some species growing as large as 6 inches.
Mollies also need very hard water. You need to find out the hardness (GH) of your water and keep fish suited to that. The best place for fish research is Seriously Fish. Their profiles give the hardness, pH and temperature needed by species; and the minimum tank length.
The mollies mostly swim stationary in the current, except for feeding time, then they mindlessly pork out
 
You could do multiple schools of middle-top dwelling fish because since it is taller the middle dwellers have more level options.
I think what keeps throwing me off is that it's taller than it is long. 30in is pretty significant but you can still have an amazing setup!
Although it would be cool to have a medium-sized, "centerpiece" fish, multiple schools sounds pretty cool too. Need to add 2 more bags of CaribSea plant substrate, then a big chunk of driftwood, before making a live plant order. Fish are at least a month out.
 
Although it would be cool to have a medium-sized, "centerpiece" fish, multiple schools sounds pretty cool too. Need to add 2 more bags of CaribSea plant substrate, then a big chunk of driftwood, before making a live plant order. Fish are at least a month out.
Yeah. You could have really deep substrate in that tall of a tank for deep rooted plants!!
Can't wait to see this all come together for you!...

(I'm biased to these fish but I would highly recommend peacock gudgeons for the bottom-mid sections... Really active and beautiful fish)
 
Although it would be cool to have a medium-sized, "centerpiece" fish, multiple schools sounds pretty cool too. Need to add 2 more bags of CaribSea plant substrate, then a big chunk of driftwood, before making a live plant order. Fish are at least a month out.
The tricky part of stocking this tank is the swimming length. Regardless of the footprint or volume, fish need length for swimming in. Sedate fish don't need as much swimming space as fast swimming fish, for example. You have 20 inches swimming length and there are several species which need as little as 18 inches.

You have mollies and a plec at the moment. I hate to tell you this but mollies need at least 36 inches swimming length. These are big fish with some species growing as large as 6 inches.
Mollies also need very hard water. You need to find out the hardness (GH) of your water and keep fish suited to that. The best place for fish research is Seriously Fish. Their profiles give the hardness, pH and temperature needed by species; and the minimum tank length.
They could be platys, idk, I got them from someone moving. My water is so nasty, that I filled 3/4 with "bottled" water from the refill station in town.
 
Yeah. You could have really deep substrate in that tall of a tank for deep rooted plants!!
Can't wait to see this all come together for you!...

(I'm biased to these fish but I would highly recommend peacock gudgeons for the bottom-mid sections... Really active and beautiful fish)
Yes, I plan on putting in 2 more sacks of the CaribSea plant substrate this weekend. Thank you! It's going to be a process, but will post some pics when it's done. I'm not familiar with grudgeons, will check them out.
 

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