40 Gallon Tank Fish Suggestions

[cfbreuer]

Hello all,
I am new to posting on this forum but I have read many articles and everyone seems so helpful and I have learned a lot by reading through all of the posts. However; now it is my time to get some advice. I have a 36-40 gallon planted tank. I did everything right this time and got the right lights with plenty of wattage and I got a good substrate of Flourite. I also add Flourish and Flourish trace twice a week and I keep up with my water changes. Right now I have two Pygmy Corys and a school of 5 Neons. I plan to get about 4 more neons to have a nice school and I also want another Pygmy or two.. The Corys clean up the tank just fine and the Neons add a little bit of color and I like schools. Everyone gets along so far, but I need some larger fish that are very nice looking and will compliment my plants as well as the Neons. My Pygmys are less than an inch and my Tetras are a little over an inch. Thus; I ask for your suggestion on what I should get for a little larger fish that will get along well with my current fish and won't eat my plants. My temperature is pretty constant at 78 degrees. Any suggestions will be considered... Thank you in advanced.

Curtis

[gregpape23]

How about a boesemani Rainbow or some other rainbows. http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_...53&pcatid=1053 (The links aren't working so you're going to have to copy and past into your browser.)
Maybe a gourami? Try looking at some of the picture threads within the forums, you can get some great ideas on fish as well as some brilliant setups.

[RJRofFL]

Hello cfbreuer. Let me extend you a warm welcome to the forum. You will find we all are friendly folks here. Congratulations on your tank setup.

Coinsidently, we have recently completed a brief video suggesting a few stocking schemes which might suit your setup. I apologize for the links not working at the moment, as our tech team is working on it as we speak.

However, I think you can reach the video by copy/paste the following: (minus the [url] brackets.) into your browser.


Good luck and keep in touch.

Bob

[Judge]

Welcome cfbreuer to FTF. You have found a very friendly site here and we glad to have you. Feel free to wander around and get to know some of the nice fishy people we have swimming around in here.
Sounds like you have a great set up. I have some Neons myself, they are very peaceful small fish so whatever you decide on for a "bigger" fish you might want to remember the old rule, "if it can fit in another fish's mouth eventually it will end up there". I have Discus with mine, they are very peaceful but require a little more room. We will look forward to hearing of your progress. Good luck and have fun with this great hobby.

[pagan___mother]

I enjoyed my red flame dwarf gouramis. they dont get to big though...maybe around 2.5 inches. very hardy and love planted tanks. The thing that attracted me the most about the gourami is the pectoral fins, they will reach out and feel things with them including tankmates. I foudn this interesting behavior to watch.

[cfbreuer]

Wow, I thank you all for your quick replys back! That just shows how helpful this site is and how much everyone wants to help.

I really like Gouramis but I have heard mixed remarks on their compatibility.

For Gouramis, I like the Dwarf, Neon Blue Dwarf, Honey Dwarf (however I read that it is difficult), Pearl, and the Flame Dwarf. I have read about Gouramis and I understand that they breath off the surface air. Does this mean I should do anything special to be sure my surface air is of good quality? Also, what is a suggested diet?


As for those rainbows...
I love them! Those colors are great! However I have a concern about my tank size... The link that gregpape sent me suggested a tank that is "at least 4 feet in length" for the Boesemani Rainbow. Is this true? My tank is only 31 inches in lengh.

I like the Praecox Rainbow as well. Any feedback on this one?



Any other suggestions will be greatly apprechiated.

Thanks,
Curtis

[gregpape23]

Originally Posted by cfbreuer

I have read about Gouramis and I understand that they breath off the surface air. Does this mean I should do anything special to be sure my surface air is of good quality? Also, what is a suggested diet?


As for those rainbows...
I love them! Those colors are great! However I have a concern about my tank size... The link that gregpape sent me suggested a tank that is "at least 4 feet in length" for the Boesemani Rainbow. Is this true? My tank is only 31 inches in lengh.

Some gouramis do breathe off the surface air however, that is the same air that is going into the water, so there should be no problems. As for the diet, I've never fed mine anything special, but then again, I'm no gourami expert.

And for the rainbows- A 40g tank would be plenty. I have a few australian rainbows in my 55g and they are about 2-3 inches and for the most part, have stopped growing.

Hope this helps,
Greg

[aufo8mycat]

Originally Posted by cfbreuer

Wow,

For Gouramis, I like the Dwarf, Neon Blue Dwarf, Honey Dwarf (however I read that it is difficult), Pearl, and the Flame Dwarf. I have read about Gouramis and I understand that they breath off the surface air. Does this mean I should do anything special to be sure my surface air is of good quality? Also, what is a suggested diet?

Curtis

I used to have 3 dwarf and 2 honey gouramis and they were all fine with everything in my tank, but not with each other so much so i ended up taking them back,( but i was told at my lfs shop this is very rare she even came to my house to see them going at it eventually found a good mix of fish including blue rams and butterfly rams, a little extra water care is apparently needed for them, but i have had no troubles, but i am a bit anal about perfect water

[pagan___mother]

I never found my gourami's to be difficult. I had blues and gold (both deriving from the 3 spot gourami) kissing and dwarfs. As what was said earlier, gourami do great with other community fish...but seem to have a prob with others of the same species, expecially the males. you should only keep ONE MALE per several females. Some gourami have a gendar morph like the dwarf neon and flame, the males are vibrant and the females are drap. The blue, gold and three spot male and females all have the same coloring, so you have to look at the dorcel fin. a long point dorcel is a male while the smaller rounded tip is a females. as for the kissing gourami they dont have a gendar morph so there is only 2 ways to tell who is male and female. 1: venting (dont do this unless you have experiance) and 2: wait for spawning, who ever laid the eggs is the female lol. i wouldnt recommend the kissies in a 40g as the get BIG!!
They dont need a special diet, tropical flakes do fine. I used to give frozen brine as a treat once a week

i hope this helps

[Joe.]

clown loaches alwayse look nice in a planted tank.

you could also go with the many types of tetra's, or live bearers like mollies or sword tails