What would you do with...

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

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#1
Oct 15, 2009
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#1
an empty 46gal bowfront?

So, I was sitting at home tonight sick as a dog and looked over at my 55gal. I love the tank and even though it's not complete stocking-wise or plant-wise, it's pretty much done. I've got the new canister filter on it (FINALLY!) and at the end of the month, I'll have a nice T5 fixture on it. Then I got to thinking that I have a nice 46gal bowfront tank sitting in my shed that is just collecting dust. Once I get the T5 light for the 55gal, the 36" 60W T8 fixture from the 46gal that was temporarily on the 55gal will be free again. And, now that the canister filter is up and running on the 55gal, the Penguin 170 that's on there will be free as well. So, I'll have just about everything I need to set up the 46gal again.

I want to do a total play sand substrate with natural rocks and maybe some driftwood and definitely live plants. I was kind of thinking about trying my hand at cichlids. There's a little green terror at Petco that has been there since it was a tiny fry (it's about 1.5" long now...I'm pretty sure it's a green terror) that I just LOVE and would love to have.

So, what would you do with an empty 46gal? It has to be within reason and I can't order anything (don't have a checking account, so I can't order anything online and my LFSs SUCK about ordering stuff).
 

Doomhed

Doomhed

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#2
Feb 11, 2003
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#2
you know you can get prepaid credit cards with nearly zero fees. this allows you to aquabid like crazy. I used to use them when I was 19 and my bank would not give me a debit card with a credit card logo.
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

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#5
Oct 15, 2009
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#5
I was looking at ordering striped kuhlis for my 55gal and it would have been $30 shipping for six of them from Washington state. I was also looking at German blue rams from a different seller and it was about the same price for shipping from Texas or somewhere like that.

SO, back to the question...within reason, stocking ideas?
 

Doomhed

Doomhed

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#7
Feb 11, 2003
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I would think about going with something different. I would say non-angel cichlids. You could go with peacocks, marbled cichlids, rams or maybe even something exotic.

on another note, if these fry in my tank turn out to be black kuhlis, I would be more than willing to send some COD with the cost of shipping them as the cost once they grow out. At least you would be getting stock different genetically from what you have, with us being on different sides of the country. .
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

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#8
Oct 15, 2009
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#8
I might have to take you up on that kuhli offer, Doom, if that's what they turn out to be. PM me if they end up being kuhlis and let me know.

On the cichlids note...What cichlids could I safely and comfortably put in a 46gal? I was thinking maybe yellow labs or peacocks or something really colorful (Petsmart has what they label "Assorted African Cichlids" which are all different colors...they're the only place that really carries any variety of cichlids...the LFSs only have oscars and jack dempseys and one other kind that aren't very colorful at all...and Petco carries pretty much yellow labs and green terrors). Then someone on another site said something about that most cichlids except angels and rams (rams aren't readily available around here...closest ones I can get without ordering are 3 hours away) won't work in my 46gal.
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

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#11
Oct 15, 2009
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Grrr! So, I think I'm going to abandon the cichlid tank for right now.

I want to do a pair of angels in this tank, but the angelfish stock around here pretty much sucks. I have someone who will ship a pair to me from GA, but I don't know her prices yet. I'm also kind of picky about the color(s) I like on angels (I either like them dark black, dark zebra, or altum/silver).

So, what else is fun that I could stock in this tank (remembering that I want it fun, bright, preferably no tetras or livebearers)? The cichlids were just an idea, not a definite.
 

misterking

misterking

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#15
Aug 12, 2008
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#15
Wouldn't go with discus in a 46, plus they're expensive to make mistakes with which can be really frustrating to someone keeping them for the first time.

I reckon you could do some form of cichlid in there. Hmm.. fun and colourful. Something a bit bigger (4/5 inches) that I think are stunning but fairly territorial (though I wouldn't class them as aggressive) are firemouths. Fun fish with lots of personality and stunning colours in breeding condition. Could turn it into a semi-aggressive tank with a few barbs of some description aswell with the kuhlis wriggling around the bottom and maybe some cories.

Kribs as mentioned above are also a good choice. I've also seen people dedicate whole tanks to several pairs of different species of apistogrammas (plus a few dither fish such as tetras) which looks stunning, they're full of colour and interesting to watch.

It all depends what you can imagine in there, do you want something a bit bigger (therefore eliminating the possibility of keeping small dither fish such as most tetras and rasboras and a few barbs) or something a bit smaller which could allow for more of a community?
 

Doomhed

Doomhed

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#17
Feb 11, 2003
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OrangeCones said:
Badis badis!
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not a bad idea.

You could in theory move the fish in your 55 back to the 46, then get a pair of juvenile oscars. You would have to sell them in around a year, but your livebearers could supply you with plenty of supplementary foodstuffs (read- babies).

You could also in theory go with some convicts, buy them from petsmart and return the ones that didn't pair up within the 14 days.
 

L

littletankbigworld

Superstar Fish
#18
Aug 16, 2009
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#18
I love snake-like creatures, so my suggestions are any type of smaller eels. If you swapped your 46 and 55 gallon, you could keep a fire eel. Fire eels are a bit expensive, but very interesting. Peacock eels are also nice and there are a few different color/pattern variations. Spiny eels are another type of eel.
 

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L

littletankbigworld

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#20
Aug 16, 2009
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SW Pennsylvania
#20
I adore kuhlis, but I've heard that they don't do well unless kept in groups of 6. I see you have a smaller group (minus your unknown fry.) How do they do in a smaller group? Petsmart just got a few in stock and I'd love to have them. Especially since Petsmart has rocky gravel in their tanks and the kuhlis are banging their heads off the bottom of the tank, trying to burrow.
 

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