40 gallon community tank planning

[jcrabbit]

Hi yall, I'm planning on getting a 40 gallon planted tank. I'd like to have a community tank with a few different fish. I have some assumptions I want to run through with the people here and get feedback.

1. It's not a good idea to keep RCS in a community tank. It sounds like this is possible, but it seems to make things harder for a beginner. Right now I am assuming it is best to plan for a community tank that will not include RCS, which allows for including some fish that are not shrimp friendly such as the silver tip tetra.
2. Fish are hardier/easier to keep than RCS, generally speaking. I.e., guppies will be easier to care for than shrimp, assuming timely water changes. i.e., start learning with fish before trying to setup a shrimp tank.
3. It's better to buy fish from a local aquarium store than online. The main assumption is that the local store will likely stock fish that will thrive with the local parameters. It also means a more limited selection of fish to choose from.

That's all for now.

Thanks!

 

[1moretank]

Welcome to fish keeping.
I don't think shrimp are necessarily harder than fish or that they make fish keeping more difficult.  I think they are a wonderful part of a community tank.

However, I think shrimp need a much more established tank than most fish do.  Since they essentially "nibble" all day on the things in our tank, a newly set up tank may not have what they need.  They also need more hiding spots and cover than most fish do, so as your plants grow and your tank becomes more established keeping shrimp will become easier.

Wonderful that you are thinking it all out in advance - good luck and enjoy!

[Guppysnail]

Guppies are fun I love mine but once settled and children start having children they quickly overpopulate a tank. Speak with your local store and make sure you can eventually take excess stock to them. 
Guppies need harder water over 7 ph. Higher is better. 
 

The most fun easy fish I have kept are zebra danio. Very widely available in most stores and incredibly forgiving for beginners. Back in the day (decades ago) we used them to fish in cycle tanks (I do not recommend this) because they were so hardy. Very active fun fish.  Shrimp are hard to get started in new setups. They can be added later if you do decide you want them. Starting out I would skip them. 
Good luck looking forward to following your progress. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

To add to what the other have already stated, I believe that shrimp really depend on what your goal is with them. Let your tank get established, no doubt, but once established shrimp can do well in your community tank. Now, if your goal is to breed/trade/sell your shrimp, your population will explode with a shrimp only tank. Shrimp do well in all my community tanks, but I was trading them to the LFS 50-100 at a time from my shrimp only tank. 
 

Cheers to your tank and achieving what you want with it!

[Schuyler]

I think it's all dependant on what you want. RCS can be cool but I think a lot of aquascaping videos over hype them.

I know they were the second thing I got because of all the videos on YouTube but honestly, now I look at them for a few minutes when I'm feeding them and that's about it. They are kinda fun because they have so many babies and watching them grow but they limit what you can really keep in your tank.

The tricky thing about a community is that every new species you add will add more restrictions on other things you get. So figure out what you like and start with that and build out. If it's shrimp then go for it and you'll be able to make that work.

[jcrabbit]

I got started in the hobby a year and a half ago after my wife got me a 5 gallon nano tank. That's when I realized, after some research, that 5 gallons is too small for keeping fish. Well, it is not recommended for keeping fish. So my first aquarium pets are RCS. I am nostalgic for them, but I think I'd keep them in the 5 gallon tank to start with instead of trying to force them to live in a community tank.

I am looking to develop a low maintenance planted eco system in the 40 gallon, with a diverse number of species: Snails, bottom dwellers, and schooling fish. I'm starting with choosing the right fish, then eliminating what won't work with them. 

I have a long list of fish that I'm doing research on. Which brings a few other concerns to mind

• I appear to have hard-ish water. The API testing strips says I have 180ppm of kh and gh. I appear to have 7.0 to 7.6 pH. This rules out things like the neon tetra and the green neon tetra.
• I talked to one of the LFS yesterday. The employee told me they get their fish once a week and monitor them for 1 day. That doesn't seem much better than buying fish online. I want to support my local businesses but I also want to be wise.

@Guppysnail I will definitely check out the zebra danios! When it comes to overpopulating, don't guppies eat their young? How does overpopulation manifest itself?

[Guppysnail]

On 11/28/2022 at 11:19 AM, jcrabbit said:

I got started in the hobby a year and a half ago after my wife got me a 5 gallon nano tank. That's when I realized, after some research, that 5 gallons is too small for keeping fish. Well, it is not recommended for keeping fish. So my first aquarium pets are RCS. I am nostalgic for them, but I think I'd keep them in the 5 gallon tank to start with instead of trying to force them to live in a community tank.

I am looking to develop a low maintenance planted eco system in the 40 gallon, with a diverse number of species: Snails, bottom dwellers, and schooling fish. I'm starting with choosing the right fish, then eliminating what won't work with them. 

I have a long list of fish that I'm doing research on. Which brings a few other concerns to mind

• I appear to have hard-ish water. The API testing strips says I have 180ppm of kh and gh. I appear to have 7.0 to 7.6 pH. This rules out things like the neon tetra and the green neon tetra.
• I talked to one of the LFS yesterday. The employee told me they get their fish once a week and monitor them for 1 day. That doesn't seem much better than buying fish online. I want to support my local businesses but I also want to be wise.

@Guppysnail I will definitely check out the zebra danios! When it comes to overpopulating, don't guppies eat their young? How does overpopulation manifest itself?

Depends on the guppies. Even if I stop feeding my guppies they will not eat the babies. In a planted tank there are to many hiding places. They eat the young in breeder boxes or tanks that are not well planted usually. 

[JettsPapa]

On 11/27/2022 at 1:34 AM, jcrabbit said:

Hi yall, I'm planning on getting a 40 gallon planted tank. I'd like to have a community tank with a few different fish. I have some assumptions I want to run through with the people here and get feedback.

1. It's not a good idea to keep RCS in a community tank. It sounds like this is possible, but it seems to make things harder for a beginner. Right now I am assuming it is best to plan for a community tank that will not include RCS, which allows for including some fish that are not shrimp friendly such as the silver tip tetra.
2. Fish are hardier/easier to keep than RCS, generally speaking. I.e., guppies will be easier to care for than shrimp, assuming timely water changes. i.e., start learning with fish before trying to setup a shrimp tank.
3. It's better to buy fish from a local aquarium store than online. The main assumption is that the local store will likely stock fish that will thrive with the local parameters. It also means a more limited selection of fish to choose from.

That's all for now.

Thanks!

 

1.   I wouldn't say it's best, but you probably won't see the shrimp very often.
2.   Not necessarily, and there are too many variables to give a definitive answer.
3.   I agree, but only if you mean a locally owned store that buys their fish from local breeders.  Big box stores, that get their fish from big commercial breeders, will often sell fish that won't thrive in local water conditions.  There are also many online sellers that raise what they sell.  If their water parameters are similar to yours then fish from them should do just fine.