40 Gallon Hex - Stocking Ideas *Edit* FLAT BACK HEX...

[PK Tester]

Hi all...

Im trying to plan out what fish Im going to place in my 40 gal hex.

Right now all I know is my PH is about netrual 7.2 to be about.

Here is what I Might but in it...I do not know how many of each yet though!

I would like some clow loaches but I just think my tank may be too small

MAYBE some Dwarf Gourami (This is unlikely though as it is difficult to find them here)

Tiger Barb

Marble Hatchet or any Hatchet if I can find any

Either a Cory or a Pleco

A schooling tetra that is easy to find? Does one exists? Lol

Ahh I don't know for sure...

Anyone have any ideas?

I'd like a nice community tank with some nice colors

TIA

[SerLunchbox]

well, personally i would go with cardinal tetras, a gold nugget or royal pleco, if you aren't too fussy about the loaches then i would go with wither a yo yo loach, kuhli loach or even a ref finned blue loach as i have found that clown loaches get big FAST. The tiger barbs will pick off the schooling fish one at a time (personal experience has taught me this one) and dwarf gourami MAY get agressive but if the schooling fish is fast enough then you should be fine (there are lots of dwarf species of gourami, it is the species of fish i started out with when i first got a tank). If you can do without the schooling tetras then you could do a school of corydoras, your pleco of choice (i prefer gold nugget myself), a few dwarf gourami species (they can generally all co-exist), a forementioned loach species and your hatches. That is just based on my own experiences with most of those fish.

HTH

[puffergirl]

Royal plecos get big, I would do the gold nugget or maybe even a couple of clown plecos. If you want one that is really colorful look at a zebra pleco, they are quite costy though not sure how much you want to spend on one fish. I pesonally like tiger barbs, they are great shoaling fish and are fun to watch. They are always up to something, I find my tetras to be a little boring not doing anything until after lights out. Tiger barbs are really nicley colored as well.

[ChileRelleno]

I've kept a few community tanks before.
I always liked keeping a large school (15-20+) of Neon Tetras when I had'em for their color, but there are a lot of beautiful Tetras (Glowlights, Congo's ect...) and I believe most of'em prefer each others (type specific) company.
Being as there's not alot of bottom in a Hex tank and what you have'll probably be halved for plants/structure, a smaller species of plec is a consideration, perhaps Bristlenose, Clown or a Zebra (this one likes a meaty diet) to name a few.
If you get Cories, get all one species and get atleast six (6) of'em, they are much happier and a'heck'of alot more fun to watch when in a shoal... They get very comical when in together
I don't know jack about Loaches...
But I'd say either do the Loaches, Cories or the Plec, Cories'll be more fun to watch IMO...
Dwarf gouramies are nice, I liked the Fire Red dwarfs.
Tiger Barbs will harrass just about anyone if there's not enough of'em to keep the majority of pecking amongst each other.
If you do the Hatchets with the Gourami there may be a little strife being as they both like to cruise-n- hangout at the surface.

Just some of my thoughts...

[ChileRelleno]

I've kept a few community tanks before.
I always liked keeping a large school (15-20+) of Neon Tetras when I had'em for their color, but there are a lot of beautiful Tetras (Glowlights, Congo's ect...) and I believe most of'em prefer each others (type specific) company.
Being as there's not alot of bottom in a Hex tank and what you have'll probably be halved for plants/structure, a smaller species of plec is a consideration, perhaps Bristlenose, Clown or a Zebra (this one likes a meaty diet) to name a few.
If you get Cories, get all one species and get atleast six (6) of'em, they are much happier and a'heck'of alot more fun to watch when in a shoal... They get very comical when in together
I don't know jack about Loaches...
But I'd say either do the Loaches, Cories or the Plec, Cories'll be more fun to watch IMO...
Dwarf gouramies are nice, I liked the Fire Red dwarfs.
Tiger Barbs will harrass just about anyone if there's not enough of'em to keep the majority of pecking amongst each other.
If you do the Hatchets with the Gourami there may be a little strife being as they both like to cruise-n- hangout at the surface.

Just some of my thoughts...

[Concubine]

change up your ph and get some colorful discus. if you don't want discus and you want color, get some blue rams. a hex is also great for angels.then just mix and match some cool lookin' plecos or loaches that you can handle in a 40. i don't know why you would want to put cardinal or neon tetras in it (the only real cool tetras there are would be the vampire tetra)

[ChileRelleno]

OOOO! I do agree with Concubine...
It would be a nice tank for a pair of Discus, Angels or such in a real nice Bio-tope tank set-up. You could have a single smaller Plec in there as they are usually mild mannered enough so as not to agitate the Discus.

That would be a nice set-up.

[SnyperP]

Get some shrimp! =p I just recently got Amanos and i love them.

[FishLover14]

Personally i would go with 10 Black and Red Phantom Tetras in a school they are stunning-2 Bushy Nose Plecostomous-3 Zebra Loaches-1 Dwarf Gourami.

JMO

[ChileRelleno]

2 Bushy Nose Plecostomous-3 Zebra Loaches

Naw, its a 40 Hex, he won't have alot bottom habitat if he puts in alot of plants and some structure. I think he'd be better of going with one type of bottom dweller i.e. Cories, loaches or Plecos, rather than making multiple species share a limited habitat.
I vote for a shoal of Cories or the Loaches, more fun to watch and both will keep the bottom spotless.

[ChileRelleno]

Though I agree those are nice Tetras if has his heart set on a school of tetras

[PK Tester]

Actually, I do not know how much you know about 40 hex but the bottom space is MUCH larger than just say a normal 40 gallon...

As far as plecos...

The only thing I can obtain in this area are pretty much common plecos and nothing else.

I'm really leaning towards angels...but I do not like the idea of them killing if they pair off...and I really don't like the idea of never being able to spawn them!

Im going to have to keep looking for some more options because I'm just not very happy with any of the ideas yet :-/

Anyhow thank you all for all your ideas! I'm just very picky.

[ChileRelleno]

Actually, I do not know how much you know about 40 hex but the bottom space is MUCH larger than just say a normal 40 gallon...

Just going by my experience with our 35 Hex, even though the 40 Hex would be proportionately larger I had somewhat limited open bottom after plants-n-structure. Particularly with my first vote being for Cories as they love having room to race around and lots of "grazing" area when searching for those tidbits of leftovers.
Multiple bottom dwelling species could have some disputes over territory... JMO

[PK Tester]

Thanks Chile...I do plan to limit my bottom dwellers.

Why is your 35 hex not in use?

My 40 gal isn't exactly a HEX because its a flat back hex from oceanic.

So its a normal square aquarium with justting out sides.

I mean to mention that before! Sorry!!

[ChileRelleno]

Why is your 35 hex not in use?

I'm a longhaul truck driver so my wife is the primary fishkeeper when I'm away...
I'm away for a month to a month and a half at a time 8O .
Keeping up with our 75 and 10's maintenance, while mothering a "special needs" six year old boy kind'a stretches her limits sometimes.
We sold some tanks (a 5 & couple 10's) awhile back, but the 35 Hex is a keeper. I'd like to see a couple Fancy Fantail Goldies in it like we used to have, but its her call ...

When I'm home (about a week+ at a time) I try to get my Fish Fix !

[SerLunchbox]

I'm really leaning towards angels...but I do not like the idea of them killing if they pair off...and I really don't like the idea of never being able to spawn them!

Well, my 2 of my 5 angels have paired off. They have spawned (but eat the eggs which can be moved). Sure they get more agressive, but wouldn't you if you were protecting your eggs from the evil egg eaters? Angels agression and spawning tendencies are also correlated to what is in your tank, water conditions and other factors. Then again, just because mine aren't killing everything doesn't mean that it can't happen or hasn't happened to someone else. I say give it a try, you never know what will happen when it comes to fish.