Fish Suggestions, 45gal.

[L33L0U]

Looking for Fish Suggestions for a 45 Gallon Freshwater Tank

My husband and I recently purchased a 45 gallon tank, but we're both newbies. The only experience I've had was taking over taking car of a single Beta fish of my brother's in my late teens. He originally received it as a gift in a small bowl. I felt sorry for it and bought a good size tank for one fish, in which I added some live plants. It lived for a decent amount of time. Due to that experience my initial thought was to get a bunch of female Beta fish.

I'm though not completely sure to what fish are out there and would be good for my husband and I start with, so I'm just looking for suggestions. Since we have three cats I think it would be neat to have very active fish that can grab their attention, this way the tank can double as a cat TV. At the same time for me I would love to have colorful fish. My husband is attracted to Bala Sharks, but I think they'd get too big for our tank (he'd beg to differ).

I appreciate any suggestions that anyone has to give, thank you in advance.

 

[flitabout]

What about a cichlid tank? They have the best color next to saltwater.

 

[aquandrew]

welcome to the forum do you want a community with multiple small fish? you could do a few female bettas in a community with several other fish. is this tank going to have fake or live plants?

 

[bettaowner]

Glow light tetras would look great with a pearl or dwarf gourami and some kuhli loaches

 

[L33L0U]

I do plan on having live plants. I do think it would be nice to have a variety of fish. I'm not finicky about the size of the fish, although I do think Bettas would be as small as I'd like to go. Ultimately I just want to make sure I don't get inappropriate size fish for our tank as well as fish that work well together. I do agree that Cichlids are very pretty. Another thing is the tap water here is very hard, so not sure if it would be better to have fish that can just simply deal with hard water.

 

[aquandrew]

most fish will adjust to your water without a problem, as long as its stable. do you have a test kit? do you know how to cycle a tank? bala sharks need over 180 gallons they get almost 14 inches long

 

[Cactuspixie]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

I would go with cichlids because-
Large variety
Most like a high ph
Most wont be scared by your cats.
I have to lock my cats out when I'm not home- they made my tropical fish VERY skittish! Sometimes I wish I had a couple of big cichlids that could charge at 'them' and give them a taste of their own medicine!

 

[Fishperson]

There are tons of different fish you could choose. If you like color, you could do a community tank with a pair of apistogramma cacatuoides 'triple red'. Those are cichlids, but they like soft water so that may not be best. I think you could do an African cichlid tank, they are very colorful and like hard water, but it may not be the best idea for a beginner.

to Aquarium Advice!

 

[L33L0U]

Aquandrew – I've never cycled a tank before, but I did read an article about it. I'll make sure to get the tank good and situated before getting any fish. I have bought a water testing kit. I did convince my husband against Bala Sharks. Now he's telling me he wants some Hatchet Fish.

 

[L33L0U]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I do like the idea of Cichlids. I also like the idea of Gouramis.


How does a tank stocked with the following sound?

3 Pearl Gourami
2 Dwarf Gourami
3 Betta (female)
3 Hatchet
1 Hi Fin Lyretail
3 Three-lined Cory Catfish

 

[aquandrew]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I do like the idea of Cichlids. I also like the idea of Gouramis.

How does a tank stocked with the following sound?

3 Pearl Gourami
2 Dwarf Gourami
3 Betta (female)
3 Hatchet
1 Hi Fin Lyretail
3 Three-lined Cory Catfish

that would work, but i would up the number of hatchets to at least 6 and the corydoras to at least five. and try to get 2 female and 1 male gourami

 

[L33L0U]

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't sure if my list was pushing the limits or not.

 

[Kristian Tombs]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I do like the idea of Cichlids. I also like the idea of Gouramis.

How does a tank stocked with the following sound?

3 Pearl Gourami
2 Dwarf Gourami
3 Betta (female)
3 Hatchet
1 Hi Fin Lyretail
3 Three-lined Cory Catfish

That will be okay as long as you only have one dwarf gourami. And u make sure all the pearl gourami are female.

Experience- I have two female pearl gourami and one female blue gourami in my tank.