mistakened 45 gallon for 30

Lostlilkidd

Lostlilkidd

Small Fish
#1
Jan 14, 2009
23
0
0
#1
I made a terrible mistake in assuming the size of my tank. Id had picked up a tank that she said was 30 gallons. After purchasing all necessary items and checking the measurements (36x12x24), I realized the tank was 45 gallons.

Good thing was that I purchased a aquaclear 50, so hopefully it should be good enough for this 45 gallon tank. Any thoughts?

The 150 watt heater will now have to be upgraded to a 20 watt heater. I have the heater set to 85, but temp remains around 78. Hopefully, the LFS will let me exchange without receipt.

At least I'll have more room for stocking. I was originally going to do a school of tetras, cories, shrimp, and a center piece.

Now that I have extra room, any suggestions on stocking?

I was going for a peaceful tank, but now im really considering a semi aggressive, aggressive tank with cichlids even though Im a beginner.
 

Last edited:
kalidiscopeyes

kalidiscopeyes

Small Fish
#4
Dec 27, 2008
28
0
0
#4
Lostlilkidd said:
I made a terrible mistake in assuming the size of my tank. Id had picked up a tank that she said was 30 gallons. After purchasing all necessary items and checking the measurements (36x12x24), I realized the tank was 45 gallons.

Good thing was that I purchased a aquaclear 50, so hopefully it should be good enough for this 45 gallon tank. Any thoughts?

The 150 watt heater will now have to be upgraded to a 20 watt heater. I have the heater set to 85, but temp remains around 78. Hopefully, the LFS will let me exchange without receipt.

At least I'll have more room for stocking. I was originally going to do a school of tetras, cories, shrimp, and a center piece.

Now that I have extra room, any suggestions on stocking?

I was going for a peaceful tank, but now im really considering a semi aggressive, aggressive tank with cichlids even though Im a beginner.
Click to expand...
More room! More choices!
 

Lostlilkidd

Lostlilkidd

Small Fish
#5
Jan 14, 2009
23
0
0
#5
yup, more room... more choices

It seems everywhere I read, a 50 gallon tank is recommended for cichlids and that makes me just under the bare min.

I would like to to be stocked with many fish, but a 45 gallon would limit the number of cichlids I can stock. Right?

If i go with a semi aggressive tank, what other options do I have? Barbs... sharks?
 

unwritten law

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
#6
Sep 2, 2008
1,471
0
0
36
DC
#6
I'd stick with the original plan and just make the schools larger. If anything go semi-aggressive with a school of barbs instead of tetras, one RTS instead of cories, no shrimp and still a centerpiece cichlid, preferably one that doesn't like caves a lot because the RTS would. Maybe a firemouth or two.
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#7
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#7
unwritten law said:
I'd stick with the original plan and just make the schools larger. If anything go semi-aggressive with a school of barbs instead of tetras, one RTS instead of cories, no shrimp and still a centerpiece cichlid, preferably one that doesn't like caves a lot because the RTS would. Maybe a firemouth or two.
Click to expand...
yeah i heard a firemouth will work out with tiger barbs, for some reason i got a big 'NO' from a girl @ my LFS one time. I was confused because the typical sales rep says 'do it!' but she was actually concerned about mixing barbs with aggressive cichlids. Anyway theres a lot of cases online that states it works out fine, so if you do that tell us how it goes...

I still like your original plan for a community tank maybe now you can add swordtails/platies/mollies to the mix
 

LadyLail

LadyLail

Large Fish
#8
Dec 31, 2008
185
0
0
NC
www.myspace.com
#8
45 gallons?!?! Yeah, that's plenty of room. Hmmm, let's see, you can go with a few ID sharks, maybe a Pacu or four, a Channel Cat and a Partrige in a Pear tree! Just kidding. Someone turned in two- what looked like- 40lbs+ Pacus to my LPS this weekend- they were both at least 2' long and 1.5' high- and I'm still reeling over that. They came from a tank that didn't even have room for them to turn in... Why on earth would you buy them if you don't have an entire room in your home converted to a tank? I've never seen such massive Pacus. Movin' on...

Barbs are frickin' mean! I wasn't too fond of mine. They went back as quickly as they arrived. But I hear they are interesting. Just stock the tank with other fish that can hold their own and have plenty of retreats!

How big do African Rainbows (right name??) get? Don't they stay smaller ya'll? IDK, I'm not a Chiclid expert...

You need to get some pics up of this ever expanding tank! Have you started scaping it yet??
 

hari-goshi

hari-goshi

Medium Fish
#9
Jan 17, 2009
76
0
0
#9
jo3olous said:
yeah i heard a firemouth will work out with tiger barbs, for some reason i got a big 'NO' from a girl @ my LFS one time. I was confused because the typical sales rep says 'do it!' but she was actually concerned about mixing barbs with aggressive cichlids. Anyway theres a lot of cases online that states it works out fine, so if you do that tell us how it goes...

I still like your original plan for a community tank maybe now you can add swordtails/platies/mollies to the mix
Click to expand...
Tiiger barbs should be fine with a firemouth. If you have a pair that spawns there could be trouble as tiger barbs are quick enough , but not really smart enough to avoid the spawn site and the surrounding territory. They work great with a single firemouth and alot of people use them as 'dithers' to relax the cichlids. I dont believe dithers are usually necessary , but they add alot of movement to the tank.*thumbsup2
 

unwritten law

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
#10
Sep 2, 2008
1,471
0
0
36
DC
#10
Yeah I've heard of convicts and tiger barbs as dithers so I think firemouths aren't as bad as convicts when it comes to aggression. That's why I suggested it but there are plenty other small dwarf type cichlids that would work too, like rams, apistos, maybe kribs?
 

B

bartnl

Small Fish
#12
Jan 30, 2009
35
0
0
#12
my friend has a cichlid tank and it is a 45g he has about 6 or 7 cichlids(two convicts and not sure the other) and then a pleco... the only problem is with the pleco..he had two but one died within 2 days of putting it in the tank(prob cichlid kept nippin at it) but everything else is fine
 

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