# New 46 Gallon Tank - Choosing the fish!



## Rilmas

The company that I work for has gotten me a 46 gallon bow tank for my office. This being the first real tank for me to care for, I'm pretty clueless with fish keeping and which fish go well with which fish. So, right now I'm in the process of researching which types of fish to put in it. 

I've gone to a few local pet stores and here are my favorites so far... Opeline Gourami, Pearl Gourami, Clown Loach, Pleco, Ropefish, Red-tailed Shark, Bala Shark, Iridescent Shark, and pretty much any of the African Cichlids. 

From what I've learned so far (and from a little common sense  ) I'm very much aware that not all of these fish are compatible nor would they all fit in a 46 gallon tank. With that said, I've cut the list down to the following. These are the ones that I would really LOVE to have as one community: Opeline Gouramis and Pearl Gouramis (not so sure on the qty yet), a Pleco, a Ropefish, and a few Clown Loaches. Again from what I've read, these seem to be pretty compatible with each other. 

My main concern now is that when they reach their full grown sizes, it will be to much for a 46 gallon tank. At the same time though, I'm curious as to what the odds are that they will even reach their full grown sizes. I definitely have the fish's best interests in mind so I don't want to overcrowd the tank and stress them all out.

Another worry that I have is that they will breed. Being a complete newbie to fish keeping I don't want to have to worry about taking care of 'fry'. Then again, if I get same sex pairings won't that increase the aggressiveness in the Gouramis?

One last question, if you feel that any of these fish are incompatible with each other, can you please give me some more suggestions as to which fish would work well? I would really like to have the Gourami's so please keep that in mind when figuring out which tankmates would work well. 

That's it for now! All I want is a happy and healthy fish community (with some variety) who will be fun to watch and take care of. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!
- Mandy


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## tep05

If it is a your job, i would say peaceful, non agressive fish.lol,how would it look when a fish is eating each other at a meeting.okay, just ask your local distributer, pet store poeple and ask them to show you peaceful fish.Neon Tetras are small but very peaceful and have a line of a blue neon on their body. Angel fish are agressive when in say 15gallon tanks or less, but in your case, 1 or 2 andel fish would be fine, they are very cool looking,elegant almost. I would say only one though because angel fish grow to 7 inches. If you are looking for a lot of fish, livebreeders are good, but reproduce to about 100 babys. Also, schools of fish would be great, like the Algae Eater or as i said, Livebreeders. you could possibly even sell your babys(if you want) to the pet shop or distributer. Enjoy.


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## tep05

If it is a your job, i would say peaceful, non agressive fish.lol,how would it look when a fish is eating each other at a meeting.okay, just ask your local distributer, pet store poeple and ask them to show you peaceful fish.Neon Tetras are small but very peaceful and have a line of a blue neon on their body. Angel fish are agressive when in say 15gallon tanks or less, but in your case, 1 or 2 andel fish would be fine, they are very cool looking,elegant almost. I would say only one though because angel fish grow to 7 inches. If you are looking for a lot of fish, livebreeders are good, but reproduce to about 100 babys. Also, schools of fish would be great, like the Algae Eater or as i said, Livebreeders. you could possibly even sell your babys(if you want) to the pet shop or distributer. Enjoy.


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## tep05

sorry for te repeat, and i meant angel fish not andel fish


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## Pac-Man

i think u could defintely have some gouramis in that tank. You could even a group of coydoras to go with them. They work as bottom feeders.


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## flynngriff

Gouramis would be fine in a 46... You don't want to get a common pleco, though, but a bristlenose pleco would be fine. They're more interesting, too (IMO). You should stay away from the clown loaches, too. They'll get too big for that tank, and the same goes for the ropefish. _Absolutely _do not get a Bala or Iridescent shark. They get huge. 

Here's what I would get: 

1 bristlenose pleco 
6 assorted gouramis 
6 corydoras catfish 
1 red-tailed shark 

Cories will do better with sand instead of gravel, fyi. Gouramis usually get along with most fish, but can sometimes be a little aggressive. I also wouldn't worry about you fish breeding at this stage... Most fish need specific tank conditions in order to breed, and unless you try to create those conditions, it's pretty unlikely. 

If you like the ropefish, you might want to check out some of the varieties of eels. I think a peacock eel would be fine to include in this tank, and it won't get as large as the ropefish. 

Good luck!


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## Pac-Man

alright!! griff used my corydoras idea


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## Rilmas

Thanks for the input!

OK, so as of right now, it's been suggested that I drop the Clown Loaches and Ropefish. I'm a litle bummed out because I really like these guys, but I guess this is fine since if everything goes well with the tank at work, I may invest in a larger one to keep at home. I'll just wait until then to get these two. I've already dropped the Bala and Iridescent Sharks because I knew right away that they grew to be to large for a tank this size so no worries there.

As for the Gourai's, I'm really hooked on this fish! Would getting (3) Opaline and (3) Pearl be an ok match? Does anyone here have a main focus on Gouramis?

Now, the Pleco and Catfish. Would it be necessary to get some of both? Don't they both basically have the same function? I've never seen a Bristlenose Pleco around here so I'm not sure if they're common or if I just overlooked them. Are there other species that would work? Also, what are some other options for Catfish species? I remember when I went to a local pet store there were a couple types that I really liked, but now I can't think of the names of them or even what they look for that matter. I know that it wasn't the Corydoras.

Another question, the guy at the pet store recommended that we buy fish in 3's to avoid sudden overcrowding and to prevent the danger levels in the thank from skyrocketing. This sounds pretty logical to me, but I was wondering if this a general good rule? What 3 fish of my choices should I start with? How long after I introduce my first 3 can I add the next fish?

Thanks again,
- Mandy


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## Mobern

6 Gouramis
1 Bristlenose
6 Corydoras Catfish
5 Tiger Barbs
1 Red-tailed Black Shark

sound good?


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## flynngriff

Whoa! Hold it right there...

Before you buy _any _fish, you need to decide how you are going to put your tank through it's nitrogen cycle. This is what the guy at the pet store was referring to when he told you to only put a few fish in at a time.

Most people around here (including me) recommend you do a "fishless cycle" to get your bacteria colony up and going before you buy any fish at all. There are lots of articles about it on the web, and here in fishforums there have been many discussions on it. Search for it. Generally fish stores don't really want their customers to do a fishless cycle, since that means they won't sell any fish for 4-6 weeks. You'll be happier if you cycle your tank before you add fish, though.

I like to have corys in addition to one of the smaller varieties of pleco, because it's fun to watch them swim around in a school, plus, they're pretty good for cleaning up any food that didn't get eaten immediately by the rest of the fish. The bristlenose pleco is a good algae eater, so you won't have to clean the algae off the glass as often (if ever). Plus, they're neat lookin!

Bristlenose plecos are relatively common, so look around. Most fish stores carry them, but if you can't find any check aquabid.com. Another good choice ofa pleco is a rubberlip pleco. These both stay around 6 inches long, so they won't outgrow your tank like a common pleco will.

I'm no expert on gouramis, but I believe 3 and 3 should be fine. Somebody chime in here if I'm wrong!

Oh yeah, one more thing... Get yourself a _big _ tank if you want a school of clown loaches. They do _so _much better in large groups that you'll want at least 6-8 of them. They're the most social fish I've ever seen. Lots of fish are schooling fish, but clowns just seem to love to play with each other. They pile up and tumble over and under each other. I have 6 in a 125, and the clowns are worth the cost of the tank by themselves! (to me, anyway)  

Good luck!


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## osteoporoosi

Mobern: tigers (especially in a small group) might attack on gouramis fins.
The tank is too small for clown loaches. Ropefish isn't suitable either, it will grow up too 2 feet and eats anything smaller than itself!

My suggestion:
6 small gouramis (dwarf,honey,etc.)
6-8 panda corys(fine sand for gravel)
15 harlequin rasboras
(1 bristlenose if you really want one)


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## Guest

you dont have to go through a fishless cycle....if you want, buy one or 2 hardy fish that you would like to keep and buy some cycling bacteria. it's sold in small refrigorated packets and once your tank is up and running, duimp it in with those one or two fish (gouramis maybe) and in a few days, your tank should be fine. this is always whati use to cycle tanks and it hasn't let me down yet.


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## Pac-Man

even though cycling with fish works, i would suggest doing a fishless cycle simply because its easier. and since its at your job, it would be really hard to maintain those fish through those first few weeks of a fish cycle. all you need for a fishless cycle is a source of pure ammonia and a test kit, and most times it actually works faster than doing a cycle with fish.


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## fishboy

if you want to speed up the prosses i heard Bio Spara (correct spelling?) is a hard to find but effective "instant cycle product"


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## Fishfirst

I agree totally on the fishless cycle... you don't want to be working over time doing water changes to keep those two fish alive right?


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## Thunderkiss

> Cories will do better with sand instead of gravel, fyi.


Sand is no good for cories as i have come to know. I heard once that the constant rooting they do wore away thier barbels. I thought it was bunk, til lo and behold, my newest addition no longer has long barbels ob his mouth.

Also i wolud strogly reccomend against sand for a n00b tank. H2S, filter grinding, poor rooting for live plants and more make it a reccomendation i only make for the more experienced aquarist.


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## fishboy

if it were me i'd do 4 or 5 fancy goldfish or cichlids


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## osteoporoosi

Thunderkiss: Do you have fine sand or rougher? Fine sand doesn't cause barbel woring. If the bottom of the tank is dirty, they might get infected but I can't imagine that fine sand would do anything like that. I have fine sand for substrate in all of my tanks (5), I must say that it is the best substrate for the plants, fish and fishkeeper.


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## MyraVan

May I propose that rough substrates wearing corydoras' barbels is another of those aquarium myths? Check out the "Barbel Erosion" section of this article:
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/fishes/catfishes.shtml

BTW, I have never kept cories, so this info is all secondhand. I have heard of many reports that cories seem more "happy" and at home with sand substrates, and this seems like a valid reason to have a sand substrate. But I don't think that the barbel erosion thing is a valid reason for a sand substrate.


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## osteoporoosi

The reason why I use fine sand is to keep the plants growing and corys happy. In the wild they live in areas, that have fine sand for substrate. I know rough material doesn't cause wearing, it is usually infections and dirty substrate.


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## Thunderkiss

My main tank has fine sand, or playgoround sand. 5 bucks for 50 pounds. My plants only do marginal in this tank as the compaction ratio is greater than larger varieties available, and my cory cats barbels are a mere 2 mmish long as opposed to the usual 4-5. I decided to test it when i addeda new one in, and payed special attention to its length. Now, several months later, they are VERY noticably shorter.

No myth, practical experience.


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## osteoporoosi

Are you sure that the sand has not gone bad? Have you noticed any bad smelling bubbles coming out of it? My guess is that the wearing and the plants not growing aren't caused by the sand.


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## Thunderkiss

Nah, no hydrogen sulfide, theres only about an 1"-1 1/2" in there.


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## osteoporoosi

Odd.. A true sand mystery.


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## Lydia

just a suggestion....if you cant find bristlenose plecos around where you live, maybe rubberlip plecos will work? im not sure about this, you will have to get some elses opinion, but i have heard that they are small enough....i think they are cool looking, too....but like i said im not sure if they are small enough for that size tank....please feel free to correct me if i am wrong


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