Stocking ideas for a newbie 40 gallon breeder aquarium

[gikas1]

While im not a newbie in fishkeeping Ive never before got such a large aquarium(already planted and cycled) and so I dont know many things when it comes to the stocking options I may have... Ive already searched online for stocking ideas but I didnt see any mention of the species I definetly want to have in: Red platies. So if you have any recommendations on what other fish I can keep with them(same size or larger) or the amount of each species I could keep it would be great.

Many thanks for any recommendations!

 

[Mother of fish]

With the platy fish I would do a betta sorority. I have my girls with platys. I know people say they are more difficult but mine is easy. I would do 7-8 females. How many platys do you have? Is the tank live planted?

 

[Mother of fish]

I am assuming it is live planted just double checking but also does it have a good amount of hiding places? Betta's are really good in my opinion. They are gorgeous, come in a wide array of colors, and have the worlds most unique and amazing personalities.

 

[jake37]

There are several paths you can take - i'm a fan of dwarf cichlid and there are some that are easy to keep such as apistogramma borelli. Conversely you could stick with live breeders and add guppies and mollies (not swordtails since they can cross breed with their cousins platys). You should consider something like pygmy cory to explore the bottom (10 to 15 works well in a 40B). Also ottos are good at eating algae and 10 or 15 of those would look nice. The thing is that in picking your fishes a bit depends on your water condition. If your water is naturally soft the fishes i have mentioned will do well. While live bearers prefer harder water they can do just fine in soft water but hard water can be a bit more difficult for some of the egg layers (depending on just how hard). When I did my first 40B a while ago - i went with guppies, swordtails and cardinals as well as kuhli loaches (kuhli loaches are also a very interesting fish - small and looking more like eels but they are a true fish). Anyway there are 100s if not 1000s of fishes we could suggest but without knowing more about your water condition and direction you want to take your tank it is hard to make suggestions. One fish i would avoid (which are popular with novice is dwarf gourami - if you want a gourami go with either 5ish honey or 5 to 10 sparkling gouarmi).

 

[pezcaito]

I have 4 red Platty's and here are their tank mates:
-neon tetras
-Molly's
-guppies
-mystery snail
-bristlenose dwarf pleco
-green cory's
- 2 dwarf gouramis
-zebra fish

and after a year with this crew I have tons of fry, Guppy's, Platty's and Molly fry. They seem like a happy crew.