40 Gallon Stocking question

[spoonie]

So after having many cichlids tanks up to a 90 gallon with many mixed and succesful African/South American Cichlids. I finally decided I would like a peaceful planted tank. Before going crazy and buying the 125 I wanted .

I decided to start with a 40 gallon Aquavu tall. I have set the tank up with a nice large piece of bogwood, a 12" tall amazon sword, two 8" cork screw plants, two 8" java ferns, white sand substrate, and a few smooth 6-8" river rock boulders. I am running the standard Eclipse hood with 150 watt heater.

I have had the tank setup enough to read 0 across the board. So far I have added 11 Danio Pearls, Three 1-1/2" Balla Sharks, two golden Gouramis, and a Dwarf Red Gourami. I am looking to stock the tank more since it looks very bare and was thinking about adding 11-17 Cardinal tetras, Tiger Barbs, clown loaches, ect.

With all that being said what extra fish do many of you recommend and how many more can I add total ot all at once. Oh and just to shake things up after moving to the 125-150Gallon I plan on adding a Fresh water Motoro Stingray. I have always wanted stingrays and have talked to many keepers that have kept them with peaceful fish.

 

[jo3olous]

UHHHH you sound quite stocked already. and my guess is youre planning on moving the bala sharks to the 100+ gallon tank right? they're active swimmers 40s going to be cramped

 

[LadyLail]

So far I have added 11 Danio Pearls, Three 1-1/2" Balla Sharks, two golden Gouramis, and a Dwarf Red Gourami. I am looking to stock the tank more since it looks very bare and was thinking about adding 11-17 Cardinal tetras, Tiger Barbs, clown loaches, ect.

With all that being said what extra fish do many of you recommend and how many more can I add total ot all at once.

40g tall and even 1 Bala don't go. And Gourami's are quite territoral, so to have them in with the Balas and Danios... that's just be a disaster waiting to happen. Might I suggest actually taking all of the Balas back and seeing how the rest do if you're set on the Gourami's, although, I have the sneaking suspision that the Danios will eventually fall prey as the Gouramis get bigger and meaner. I'd also be worried about how the DG would fair with the GG's...

 

[MissFishy]

Unfortunately a 40g tall tank will hold a lot less than a 40g long tank because the surface area and swimming room is much more limited. (fish swim side to side, not up and down). I agree, you are already pretty much stocked. Balas get up to 12" and need lots of swimming room. Gouramis are very territorial. If you wanted to start over, a 40g tall would make a good angel tank.

 

[spoonie]

So against what all people have said I decided to fully stock my tank the way I like it. I have added 15 more Red Eye Tetras, 3 Blackfin Corys, 1 Dwarf Gouramis, and a Blue wood Shrimp.

I know many of you feel the tank is already stoked pretty well but it looked very bare. The water parameters are still good and every other day checks will take place for the next couple weeks. Like I was saying I am going to upgrade to a 125-150g tak within the next 1-2 months. So as for the balla sharks that are 1-1/2" long they still have alot of swimming area and are very active. As for the Gouramis the GGs have paired together as have the DFs. The pairs spend time in diffrent areas so neither have been in any squabbles.

I have had many cichlid tanks with fish, people said could never go together " Jack Dempsey with Frontosa with Kenyas, ect". But I will keep you all up to date with how they are doing. So the stock list consist of
11-Danio Pearls
15-Red Eye Tetras
3-Balla Sharks
3-Blackfin Corys
2-Golden Gouramis
2-Dwarf Gouramis
1-Blue Wood Shrimp

 

[jo3olous]

I think you're okay with everything in the tank except the bala sharks, that's just because they are active swimmers. I'm assuming you have a lid; cramped balas will abandon ship and jump right out if they overstress or get spooked. Looks fully stocked bioload-wise... IMO you overstocked the tank with mid-top dwellers, I would've ditched one pair of the gouramis and gotten some bottom dwellers to add more to your tank. The list makes your tank seem packed because all the fish hang out around the same area.

Also note your mix of SA and Afri Cichlids was a unique case. it is a GENERAL RULE not to mix the 2 cichlids, but each individual fish has a different personality, you could have just gotten the right selection and everyone liked each other. Logically the 2 fish groups should not work out, but just because you got away with bending the logic once doesn't mean you should do it 100% of the time.

GL WITH THE TANK SIR

 

[misterking]

Yeah, not only are bala sharks active but they grow pretty big, too big for a 40. You could be fine if you keep on top of your maintenence in terms of water quality, just be on the look-out for gourami aggression because weaker individuals will become extremely stressed in a 40 gallon.

 

[jo3olous]

Oh also note, Miss Fishy said balas get up to 12 inches, yeah they can get bigger than that... anywhere from 12-16 inches really.

"As the Bala sharks grow in size, they would need a 6 feet fish tank. "

Just keep this in mind.

 

[spoonie]

So last night I scored a major deal on a 150Gallon with stand, lids, and light for $200 so in the next 2-3 weeks I will be swithcing everyone over to the new tank. I have to paint the trim, stand, and the back of the tank first which i will do today. But after thats complete I'm going to start cyclying the new bigger tank. I am pretty stoked to because its 48"L x 24"W x 31"T. So i should work great. I will post pictures later of both setups.

 

[brian1973]

one thing no one has mentioned tall tanks are harder to keep plants successfully, it is hard for the needed light to reach the bottom.

Now with you new purchase you should be able to light it with no problem, but the cost of proper lighting is around 100 to 200 bucks.

 

[spoonie]

So I finally got around to taking pics of the 40 gallon and I am pretty hapy with it until my 150 is ready.

Here are some of my old cichlid tanks

My two favorite fish

 

[hari-goshi]

Why would you come here and ask for advice , only to hold everything people here told you in complete disregard? Kind of wasting time isnt it? Clown loaches and bala sharks get way to big for a 40 tall , and you are overstocked , regardless of your past success with tanks.

 

[Michaelh218]

Hey, hari, go easy on him

The thing is as someone else mentioned, that with different personalities of fish, you can get lucky and succeed as he has. That being said, all over the forums it mentions to post your questions and comments, take what you want and ignore the rest and it sounds like he is doing just that.

He also mentioned that they will only be in the 40 gal for a few weeks before he moves them over to a 150, so I think they'll be fine for that length of time

 

[spoonie]

By no mans am I trying to disregard anyones opinoins. I just wanted a little more incite on what can be stoked in a 40 gallon and compatibility. I do relize that the 40 gallon is to small for the Ballas and thats why I now have a 150 Gallon for them I just got in the house. So I will be starting to set it up over the weekend. I promise to post more pictures and keep everyone up to date.

 

[hari-goshi]

Please excuse me for coming off like a jerk. This part just kind of struck a nerve.

So against what all people have said I decided to fully stock my tank the way I like it.

I guess my response was a little harsh. Compatibility issues arent the same as overstocking and size issues at all , thats what got me bothered by the situation. I completely missed that they would be rehomed soon!
I agree that there are exceptions to stocking due to a wide variation in each fishes temperament , as well some fish having a wide range of natural/acceptable water conditions. *thumbsup2

That being said, all over the forums it mentions to post your questions and comments, take what you want and ignore the rest and it sounds like he is doing just that.

That seems very irresponsible. You cant ignore important information. That type of reasoning is why people have oscars in 30 gallon tanks. The forums are to take the guesswork out of fishkeeping and to learn vital information.

 

[DesignsOnYou]

I don't think it's irresponsible to not take every bit of advice that you're given on here. There are a variety of experience and skill levels contributing to the forums, so you are bound to actually get bad advice once in a while. Now obviously if you do want to put an oscar in a 30 gallon and every single person on here and all of the websites you find say that that's not ok, then you should clearly listen. But, there are a lot of threads that get conflicting advice. When that happens I tend to agree with the mods and the people who have been on here the longest, but it's also up to you to do your own research. So, I think you do have to take what you want and ignore the rest, but do it in an intelligent way, and not just refuse to listen to logic and fact because you want something to work a different way than it does. Spoonie, none of this is picking on you, and sorry to hijack your thread, I just wanted to respond to what hari was saying. Also, it does seem just from looking at them like your previous cichlid tanks are all overstocked. I don't know much about cichlids, and I know you had success with them, but you should still be careful about not overstocking the 150 gallon, especially since it's deeper and taller than a 55, but not longer, which means the fish don't have as much extra swimming space side to side. Just throwing that out there.

 

[hari-goshi]

So, I think you do have to take what you want and ignore the rest, but do it in an intelligent way, and not just refuse to listen to logic and fact because you want something to work a different way than it does.

And heres where the problem lies. People will use that comment to use the info they want to hear , while discarding important rules because they dont. Not everyone has a good understanding of the basics. Obviously not everyone has the right information , I have read some things on here that were outrageous *laughingc. I guess I would say double or triple check the info you get. But if we run around telling beginners(not you ts , just in general) to take what info you want and ignore the rest , it only plants the seeds for irresponsible keepers. And its our responsibility as knowledgable keepers to steer people in the right direction.

 

[DesignsOnYou]

I hear you hari, and that's why I said that you have to use intelligence. Obviously, if everyone agrees and is politely telling you that you're doing something stupid, you're doing something stupid. But, like you, I have read conflicting advice on here too. So, I think you do have to triple check things and do your own research. But, I will stress again that you can't just throw out what you don't want to hear, it's when you get conflicting advice that you have to make a decision. Ok, I'm done hijacking.

 

[TMony]

The stocking issue has been covered above, so I won't mention it here.
I do however want to say that is a pretty tank. Can't wait to see pics of the 150 gallon.

 

[jo3olous]

the tanks look very nice, but those cichlid tanks seem PACKED. It doesn't look like any cichlid can get a foot of space away from another!