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Stocking Ideas for a 44G

6K views 31 replies 9 participants last post by  Tyyrlym 
#1 ·
I am moving up from a 29G to a 44G corner tank... any stocking ideas?
I am down with anything.
 
#2 ·
what about a big school of neon tetras, some red eye tetras, corie cat fish and some other stuff?

I've always been a fan of big having multiple large schools, thats just me though!
 
#5 ·
i had both neons and an angel together,
the neons were in the tank first,and the angel added later,the angel in question
was a Koi,and it was bought when very small,and grew up with the neons.
perhaps i was very lucky,however none of the neons went missing.
 
#8 ·
I have a 55 gal tank that is a community tank that has 1 anglefish,a school of 7 glowlight tetras, 2 male gold dust mollies, 1 male balloon molly, 1 female blk dalmation molly, 2 albino plecos, a school of 6 Harlequen Rasboras. You can also add Cory catfish to this for the bottom of your tank. Think of the 3 levels. Top, Middle, Bottom. I was reading post to see what to put in my new 55 gal. tank. I was told that if you get 1 baby angelfish it will grow up with the rest of your fish in the tank and get along. I have had no problems with the 1 angelfish. I needed 1 larger fish in the tank. If you get a pair you might have a problem as they will fight if they pair off and be mean to all the other fish. That's why I only have 1 now it's about 4" big now but was about 1" when I got it and can grow to 6" big. It might bother any newer smaller fish you add to the tank that it did not grow up with.

If you go with aAfrican Cichlid Beware. They will have alot of babies. I can find alot for free on Craigslist in my area. They also get to be about 8" when they reach adulthood and are semi-aggressive. I think you can mix them with other cichlids only. They are really pretty. I my self like a different mix of fish in my tank. Remember go by 1" per gallon to keep your water quality good. This is adult size to go by.

Try using this web site:
Tropical Fish and Aquariums Compatibility

This will help you in finding what goes good with what fish. I saved this web site under my favorites. It's a big help.
 
#11 ·
hi
you can start with a few angels,then once they pair up you'd need
to seperate them.
mopani/bog wood. sand or gravel,or sand and gravel half mix.
plants like java ferns,penny wort ,hornwort,valisneria,anubias,swords,anarchis,elodea.
rock work incorperated with the wood perhaps.
if you want some other inspiring tanks to look at apart from the ones here
check out this.............
Rate My Fish Tank - Aquarium Photos, Articles and Tools
i have often spent hours looking through all the tanks,some are very beautiful.
 
#13 ·
i think you can keep them on their own,if you have a very large aquarium
you can keep them in a large group.
i would like someone else to give input on the angels though. :)
 
#15 ·
I posted a picture of my 55 gal. tank futher down this site under( Changing out substrate). I have pool filter sand in one and black sand in the 6 gal. tank check out the pictures. The black sand is really nice for plants as it has iron in it and plants like it. If you go with the sand that I have you might have to put plant tabs under the plant to grow well. I have a mix or real & fake plants, I think that a 44 gal. tank it's nice to have a community of fish. 1 Angel would be fine. Mine gets along with all the others that I have. Remember they will grow to about 6" full grown. This way you can mix it up abit and not have to worry about pairs or them being aggressive with the other fish in your tank. Alot of people like the ideas of a group or more with angels but like just having 1. check out this site for compatibility.
Tropical Fish and Aquariums Compatibility
 
#16 ·
44 gallons is not big enough for a group of angels when they are full grown. I have two females in my 30(29) gallon, and they get along fine. I think that within the next nine months or so, I will have to be getting rid of one of them as they will get too big for the tank. It might be possible to have a group of three to four in your 44 if and only if you had no other mid to high level dwellers. Even then, you still run the risk of getting a male and female that will pair off and kill the other because of such close quarters. A lot of plants will help out with this. If you want a visual, just cut a diamond shape piece of paper 6 inches in length from point to point and 10 inches in height from point to point and you can see how quickly you tank will fill up.

With almost any fish no matter how peaceful it is, or who it grew up with. Once it finds out that a certain fish will fit in its mouth(if it likes the taste) it will go after fish of that size for food. With angels this doesn't happen all that often, but there is a possiblility that in a couple years they might find this out about the neons. I would say it was less than a 25% chance, so you still are pretty safe for that stocking. Keep in mind that angels have pretty small mouths, so it would have to be a really big angel for this to happen. For reference, my 3" blue rams have two to three times the size of mouths as my 5"x7" angel.

As for african cichlids, the odds are against you for keeping them in your tank with other tankmates. Most africans(especially from lake Malawi) are extremely aggressive and need to be overstocked in the tank with other africans. Also the water parameters that they need(high ph) will rule out most other fish possibilities.
 
#17 ·
I just checked out the link that eileen posted. That is a great place to start and it is very conservative on its approach. Keep in mind that what works for one person, wont work for another, and everything that people on this site recommend is based upon their own experience and tried and true combinations. Pretty much anything that is classified as peaceful will work together as long as the water params are correct for their species. Once you get into cichlids(which the angelfish is) it will be based upon the individual fish's personality.
 
#19 ·
Your current choices 1 Angelfish "6 = 6 inches
8 Serpae tetras "2 = 16 inches
6 Corys= "2-3" = 12 inches

You have about 34" of fish in your tank with this selection if your Corys only grow to 2" max. Some get to be 3" or 3 1/2 depending on type. You need to research what type you want to get. I like going by the 1" per gallon rule . You have about 10" worth of fish if you go by this rule. Understocking is better then overstocking that's why I like this rule. You can put 5 more 2" fish in the tank I have Gold dust mollies in mine they are a bright yellow color but they are only male They are( livebearers) so I do not want any females. Any pairs of livebearers or trios will make excess babies but the Angelfish will eat the babies so you can go that way also once the Angel gets big enough to eat the baby fry.
 
#21 ·
Your current choices 1 Angelfish "6 = 6 inches
8 Serpae tetras "2 = 16 inches
6 Corys= "2-3" = 12 inches

You have about 34" of fish in your tank with this selection if your Corys only grow to 2" max. Some get to be 3" or 3 1/2 depending on type. You need to research what type you want to get. I like going by the 1" per gallon rule . You have about 10" worth of fish if you go by this rule. Understocking is better then overstocking that's why I like this rule. You can put 5 more 2" fish in the tank I have Gold dust mollies in mine they are a bright yellow color but they are only male They are( livebearers) so I do not want any females. Any pairs of livebearers or trios will make excess babies but the Angelfish will eat the babies so you can go that way also once the Angel gets big enough to eat the baby fry.

The inch per gallon rule rarely ever works. It is just a selling tool that pet stores like to use. You couldn't fit two 12" oscars(only 24" total) in your tank(not even one for that matter), but on the same token you could put 60-70 tetras in your tank and be just fine. Tetras look great in large groups, so I would add 4-6 more serpaes and add another group(6-10) of a different type(rummynose, neon, cardinal, x-ray). You will have 52" of fish and still possibly be understocked with only standard(5x HOB) filtration. If you had double HOBs or a canister filter rated for larger tanks, you would have no problem adding more cories and possibly another group of tetras provided there would still be room in the water column.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Large schools of tetras do look nice. I have 6 Harlequen Rasboras that school around with 4 dwarf rainbow fish, and the 7 glow light tetras school together and sometimes they all school together.Some mollies get really big. Black sailfins get up to 6 1/2 ", Black mollies 3", Dalmations 4", Balloon mollies "3, But I have a tiny balloon male in my tank that I have had for over a year and he is small. You asked about Gouramis Dwarf Gouramis get 2" max, reg Gouramis get about 4". I forgot to tell you I got a Bushy nosed Pleco that does a great job in cleaning my tank of algae. It is one of the best fish I've ever got. It will only grow to about 4" max.
 
#26 ·
hi
glad you want a larger group of serpaes,they can be a mean fish.
rummy nosed tetra look really nice in a large group,i found mine always
swam together which always looks nice,i found the neons/cardinals to often go
there seperate ways around the tank.
cichlids are an agressive fish when they get older,mine at the moment
are under an inch and beg at the tank to be fed like puppies.
 
#29 ·
MTS are fine. What's the planned stock so far?
 
#28 ·
personally i like the MTS snail,i have some in my tank but not many
as the loaches eat them,so i have a colony living in my filter.
 
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