# help me with my 46 gal.



## fishface76 (Mar 8, 2008)

46 gal diamond shaped for the corner. Beautiful tank and stand finished in oak. Got all the filters, heater, lights, hood etc.

So far all I have done is fill it and taking a water sample in today to have it tested before I buy some goldfish to get the cycle going. I am doing freshwater. I made the stupid mistake of buying a neutral colored rock and let's just say that with the oak finish it is less than what I hoped for. I'll probably get some bright colored gravel to sprimkle around the top to give it more color.

I have a couple of questions.

Fish- I am leaning to Jack Dempseys and oscars and other mid agressive fish. I want fish that get big and look cool, but I want a lot of variety as well. Along with maybe an eel or lobster. Maybe some sort of shark?


Decor- I am looking at ships, planes, castles, and rock formations. As far as plants I'm kinda torn between fake and live.

I haven't had a aquarium since I was about 13(18 yrs ago) so I am a little lost.

I want something that's bright, vibrant, beautiful, and relatively low maintenance.


I am open to any suggestions.

Thanks


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## fish_guy (Mar 6, 2008)

Gold fish are not very good for cycling a tank
Zebra dano's would work much better and are cheap as well as just about bullet proof.
You may want to try them instead


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

Also I find that blue gouramis make a great fish to cycle with. Down side is they get agressive to smaller fish ro single fish with no friends. As far as fish I am still studying how they go together and what is passive and aggressive. But as plants go I always go live. IMO they bring a brighter color to the tank and looks way better. Post some pics please


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Don't put an oscar in a 46 gallon. A 46 gallon tank is really pretty small, and diamond-shaped will limit what you can keep even more. Can you give us the exact dimensions of it? (length, width, height)


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## Blue Cray (Oct 19, 2007)

Oscars grow way to big for a 46g so don't get one With lobsters or crayfish youre very limited on bottom dwellers and theyll eat all your plants. I suggest a couple angels maybe some indian flasher barbs. With cichlids its better to stick with a much larger tank unless you go for kribbs or other dwarfs which is obviously not what youre looking for.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If you sprinkle colored gravel on top, it will eventually get thoroughly mixed in, so keep this in mind. Do you want natural with specks of blue? I suggest dark brown or light natural to get you a different look without looking too weird. You can't really have 'lots of variety' and 'fish that get big'. You have to choose a variety of small to medium fish or 1 big fish. Eel, lobster, oscar, dempsey are all in the 1 per tank category and even then they may outgrow the tank. Kribs, severum, & angels are all attractive and attentive (to people) and a pair in that size tank could breed for you. Live plants are more money and work to set up. But they are colorful and may reduce your need for water changes. The fewer, smaller fish you put in the tank, the less maintenance you will need to do. Unless you have a pond in your backyard, I would skip the goldfish, they will outgrow the tank in no time and need a lot of water changes to deal will all the waste they make. 

Suggest you try 'fishless' cycling. That will give you a few more weeks to research and make up your mind.


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## fishface76 (Mar 8, 2008)

trashion said:


> Don't put an oscar in a 46 gallon. A 46 gallon tank is really pretty small, and diamond-shaped will limit what you can keep even more. Can you give us the exact dimensions of it? (length, width, height)


I'm starting to realize that. I guess they don't have to be that big, but I don't care for angel fish and I want something of decent size that allows me to have a lot of fish, but is very bright in color as well.

The reason for the oscars and Dempseys is that I had a friend a few years ago that had one of each(in different tanks) that were bigger than my hand, and I've wanted big beautiful fish evere since. I guess that will have to wait for the next bigger tank.

I am very open to any bottom dwellers as well. Was just going by what friends have had.

As far as dimensions, I'll have too measure it later as I am at work, and don't know if I'll have a chance tonight.

Thanks


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1

P. Salousi or other small (max 4"), mild tempered mbuna. Bright, colorful, hardy, and ok to overcrowd. You can have 8 in that tank. You would need rocks and possibly a larger or second power filter.


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## fishface76 (Mar 8, 2008)

emc7 said:


> Unless you have a pond in your backyard, I would skip the goldfish, they will outgrow the tank in no time and need a lot of water changes to deal will all the waste they make.


The goldfish were actually just to get the tank started. The guy at the shop said to use them for a few days to get some bacteria going. After that thery were going to go to my daughter.


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## fishface76 (Mar 8, 2008)

Tank dimensions-

5 sided
2 long v shaped panels along the back 22"wx24"h
3 front panels 13"wx24"h

Length across the top- 25"
length from side to side(widest point) 32"


I have given it some thought and I am dropping the big fish idea. And I thank you guys for talking some sense into me. Instead I would like to put an array of different fish and schools of fish. Still want very bright colors, and would like to have a lot of fish. I will start slow and add a few at a time as someone suggested.

As far as decor goes. i saw some great pics on here and have decided to build a rock pile and maybe throw in some logs along with artificial plants. Nothing too crowded though.

As far as my equipment goes I have a marineland penguin 200 biowheel, and a good heater. I am going to buy some sort of bubbler and a gravel vacuum this week as well.


Now that I have a real idea of what I am doing with this, will you help me choose the right fish for my set up along with some sort of bottom feeder that will be added later.

Thanks.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Can you post a picture of your tank? It sounds interesting!


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## fishface76 (Mar 8, 2008)

Here is one I just took. As you can see i have already put some gravel in it. Started witht the natural and then added a little blue to give it some color. Added a few plants and bought a big base rock today. I plan on adding a few other peices, maybe some shale to create some caves.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Thats a pretty tank. I would keep angels in it, they like height. Not a lot of swimming room, so keep your schooling fish small (rasporas, neon tetras, etc.). Its big enough for a small shoal of corydoras, too.


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## fishface76 (Mar 8, 2008)

emc7 said:


> Thats a pretty tank. I would keep angels in it, they like height. Not a lot of swimming room, so keep your schooling fish small (rasporas, neon tetras, etc.). Its big enough for a small shoal of corydoras, too.


Thanks. I was at the LFS yesterday getting some ideas. Definately going with some small tetras, the guy there suggested a couple types of gourami that were very pretty. I didn't really wanna do angels, but after being at the store yesterday and seeing how attentive they are I think I will add a couple.

The guy there said to cap your fish at about an inch per gallon. So 46 gal - rocks and gravel = about 40 gallons. SO not much more than 40 inches of fish when considering them fully grown. is this a good rule of thumb?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I don't like this rule of thumb. One 15" goldfish produces a lot more waste than 15 neon tetras. I also think 40" of fish may be too much for the tank. High tanks should be understocked because they have less surface area and therefore less oxygen exchange that short tanks.. Make a list of what you like and post it and we will tell you if they fit and go together.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Look at this thread and similar "stock my tank" threads about 29 & 30 gallon tanks. Your tank has about a 10% bigger footprint that a 29H and a slightly smaller footprint than a standard 30g. 

http://www.fishforums.com/forum/general-freshwater/19587-what-add-my-29-g.html


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## Guest (Mar 10, 2008)

I agree with emc.....the shape of the tank isn't really suited for stocking of a 40 or 46g tank, but more like 30 or 29g. Yes, you have more gallons than that, but its not very long and length is more important than height, since fish swim horizontally. Tall fish, like Angels are great for these shaped tanks though.

It's a little premature to decide on stocking, since you need to cycle the tank first, but you can definitely start thinking about what you like.

I suggest 1-2 Angelfish, a school of 10-12 fish, and some bottom feeders, like Cories or small non-aggressive loaches. I personally wouldn't suggest 2 schools, if you want the Angels, since the shape of the tank is tall and narrow. If you were to skip the Angels and replace them with a pair of dwarf Cichlids like Rams or Apistos, then you would have more room for 2 schools of about 8 IMO.

I suggest you buy a test kit for freshwater. The Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit is a good one. During the cycle (which can last from 3-4 weeks or more) you'll want to test regularly and it will get old having to go to the fish store every time. You should test every day (especially with using fish to cycle) and do water changes when the levels get above 1ppm for ammonia and nitrite. Even though they are goldfish, they are still fish and shouldn't be treated any different IMO. 

Here are a couple articles to read so you'll know all about cycling and what you are checking, and why:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cycling.php

If you'd rather do cycle without fish, here is an article about fishless cycling:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/fishless_cycling.php (scroll down until you see Basics: Fishless Cycling)

You can use a jumbo shrimp from the grocery store to cycle the tank. It takes about the same time though.


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