New 45 Gallon Tank

[mcqc4]

Thanks to my beautiful loving wife I bought a new 45 gallon tank. Now what should I put in it? I thought about a Cichlid tank, but I'm not sure if I want a tank with all the same fish in it. I already have a TON of mollies in 3 of my tanks but I'm tired of trying to get rid of all the babies. I'd like a nice varity of different fish this time. Any suggestions?

 

[onidrase]

you don't need to have all the same fish if you go with cichlids. you could get a pair of angelfish, a pair of dwarf cichlids, maybe a couple keyhole cichlids, or rainbow cichlids, and some dither fishes like red eye tetras would work well, and some cory catfish on the substrate

 

[mcqc4]

I didn't know you could mix them with other fish like angels. What else would go with them? If I had to, could I put some mollies in with them or would they get killed?

 

[OldMan47]

Actually the best visual impression is often a tank with a large number of the identical fish, especially if they shoal well together. I have seen very impressive tanks that contained little more than a large group of neon tetras, yep those tiny insignificant fish. If the fish that interest you are ones that get along in large groups, please consider what the tank might be like with a huge group of them.

 

[KRamgren89]

not sure mollies and cichlids would work well together. My friend has a cichlid tank and i know she has like 6-7 various types of cichlids all pretty aggressive ones, a few larger gourami (3 spot blue or gold i believe) clown loaches, corys, and i am not sure what else. but they all get along very well her tank is large enough that they have their own space. There are breeds of cichlids that are not uber agressive and still pretty! if you want cichlids you could go that route as someone posted above but i also agree with oldman if you like tetras and schooling fish such as that i too have seen tanks that had pretty much nothing besides a very large school of fish and another large school of bottom feeders and it looked amazing! but of course the tank i have has various fish such as freshwater angels, a smallish school of tetras and cherry barbs and misc bottom feeders and we like all the different variety and activity. all up to you what you want to see out of your tanks! As i said i like variety 45 gallons would be plenty of room for a couple nice size schools of fish, corys and ect as a base and pick a pair of dwarf gourami or bolivian rams (cichlids that are peaceful) or freshwater angelfish as a beautiful center peice.

 

[mcqc4]

Thanks for the help. I just don't know what I want yet. I think cichlids are out. I like old mans idea of schooling fish. Do you know if all tetras will school together? I like the neons but if I got lemons and others, would they all swim together or would I have schools of the same fish all over the tank?

 

[NeonNeptune]

Cardinal tetras are really good schooling fish, that I personally think look better than neons. A school of neons or cardinals in the middle are great when complimented with bottom feeders and top water fish. Kuhli loaches are really cool looking along with some corries on the bottom and maybe guppies on top would be nice.

 

[mcqc4]

I'm really leaning toward tetras but will they school together? Cardnals and neons? I like the loaches to so thats a plus. Can I put angels with them? Or maybe silver dollars? What about gobies?

 

[NeonNeptune]

Neons and cardinals will school together, I don't know about loaches and angels, but kuhli loaches seem like really cool fish, since they resemble eels and can live with tetras.

 

[onidrase]

not all cichlids are aggressive. Angelfish are cichlids, after all.

Keyhole cichlids, rainbow cichlids, honduran red points, dwarf cichlids such as bolivian rams and apistogramma species, festivums, dwarf flags, these are all pretty mild tempered species, and that's just scratching the surface.

I'm really leaning toward tetras but will they school together? Cardnals and neons? I like the loaches to so thats a plus. Can I put angels with them? Or maybe silver dollars? What about gobies?

cardinals and neons do school together, but not as well as they would as all of the same species. I would just do all cardinal tetras. Silver dollars get too big for your tank, not to mention they eat live plants, so I wouldn't recommend them. There are a few species of gobies that will work, but keep in mind that a lot of them are brackish water species and like a bit of salt in the tank which other fish you like will not appreciate. It depends on the loach, most of them, if not all of them, are peaceful and compatible with angelfish, but a lot of them all get too large for your tank.

 

[mcqc4]

Thanks a lot for your help. I didn't know angels are cichlids. I saw a bala shark at petsmart and they look really cool but grow WAY too big for my tank. Maybe once the kids move out and I can have a "fish room" I ask a lot of questions at my LFS but the people there know NOTHING about what they are selling. It's kinda scary. I even heard one sales lady tell a customer that he could put a bala shark in a 30 gallon tank for his son. I had to say something. She looked stunned, but I couldn't stand the thought of a fish that grows up to 12 inches being stuck in a tank 30 inches long.

 

[onidrase]

Thanks a lot for your help. I didn't know angels are cichlids. I saw a bala shark at petsmart and they look really cool but grow WAY too big for my tank. Maybe once the kids move out and I can have a "fish room" I ask a lot of questions at my LFS but the people there know NOTHING about what they are selling. It's kinda scary. I even heard one sales lady tell a customer that he could put a bala shark in a 30 gallon tank for his son. I had to say something. She looked stunned, but I couldn't stand the thought of a fish that grows up to 12 inches being stuck in a tank 30 inches long.

Bala sharks are also schooling fish. Another nono with them.