35 gallon Hex

[LeftyTwin]

Hello, I am new to the site, and am excited to hear any suggestions you all may have.... Quick background, here in the Northeast when we were hit with the bad storms and power was knocked out, I lost all of my fish.... I had a 55 gallon Oscar tank, and a beautiful community tank 35 gallon... I lost about 25 fish in total.....

I am now in a new house, and am ready to start again, I was given a 35 gallon Hex tank that goes awesome in the corner of my downstairs.... My kids loved our fish tanks and now are excited about the new one....

Can I have some suggestions, for a tank this size as a stocking list.... I was leaning to maybe a angel fish, but haven't ever had much luck with them lasting so what schooling fish with alot of activity would be great for my little ones to watch as they are downstairs playing..?

THanks,
Rj

 

[librarygirl]

Hi and welcome! Sorry about the loss of your fish. Oddly shaped tanks like hex's are a bit tricky to stock due to their dimensions, but you still have a lot of options.

You could do 6-8 of two schooling fish, most tetras, danios or rasboras would work. Harlequin rasboras and neon tetras are one example but there are others.

If your substrate is sand (preferred) or rounded (not sharp) gravel, you could do 4-5 corydoras (panda, for example but there are others). You could also do a centerpiece fish like a bolivian ram or dwarf gourami.

You might want to visit some local fish stores, write down fish you like and then research them and ask here.

 

[LeftyTwin]

My issue is that the LFS, im pretty sure I know more about the fish then some of the kids they have working there....

I am thinking about doing three differnent levels in the tank, such as top dwellers, mid and bottom...

I like the Cories for the bottom, and tetras are cool and my kids like them... But again, I am not sure if I put a centerpiece fish in the tank, or just make it a very active community...

Also, any suggestions on decor for the tank, I have never had one this tall, and don't want it to look cheesy...

 

[librarygirl]

True, most LFS don't give the best advice, but no need to ask them anything. Just browse the fish, write down fish that interest you and then research them on your own to ensure they'd be suitable for your tank before you buy anything.

I don't suppose you saved the filter media from your other tank and kept it wet? If not, you'll need to recycle the new tank, unfortunately.

Tall tanks can be hard to scape. Maybe some taller low-light plants like Swords and hornwort; you can try vallisneria too, it may or may not work depending on your light but it can be worth a try as it's pretty cheap. Some branchy driftwood might fill in some of the spaces too.

 

[LeftyTwin]

I was thinking the same thing as a planted tank, but never did that before and am kinda intimidated...Lol,....

Funny thing is I did keep the media, and brought it to work, where I have a 90 gallon oscar tank.... So I took the media which was still wet and hung it into my tank... I am pretty confident that witht he help of my old media, that I can add some fish asap...


I will do the research and see what happens from there... I am a addict when it comes to my tanks, so I really am all over the place when I am trying to figure out what to put into this one...

 

[librarygirl]

Oh well you should be good in terms of media and cycling then!

It can be hard to decide what fish to add, there are too many options lol

 

[LeftyTwin]

I am taking my little man today after school to look at fish, so we will see what I come up with....

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated....

 

[LeftyTwin]

Stock List

How bout this....

1 Dwarf Guorami
4 cory
6 neons
6 cardinal


What you think>

 

[librarygirl]

Looks good. Cardinals and neons look very similar though; if you like them that's fine but you could do something else for the second school to add something different. You could do up to 8 of each schooling fish and 6 of the corys. You could add a couple of guppies too, if you wanted (I'd get the same gender unless you want a lot of little babies).