Journal: New 40 Gallon Breeder

[Machete]

I finally bought a 40 gallon breeder after years of wanting something bigger than a 29 gallon.

Here are some photos of the set up. It's gonna be a planted community tank for South American fish. Any stocking ideas?

Edited December 6, 2020 by Machete

[lefty o]

that looks really good. i see tetra's galore, and maybe some harlequin rasboras. so many choices.

[The nano tank man]

I love this idea. I would do like 25-30 tetras like ember tetras.

[Machete]

I already have some ember tetras in my other tank that I´m planning to transfre to this one!

[JettsPapa]

I'm a big fan of black neon tetras.

[Matt_]

I love the scape especially the sandy beach in the front right corner!  Tetras, Corys, and Otocinclus would make great choices.  Pencilfish are also a nice top level swimmer that do not make a huge bio load if you are going to have a lid on your tank.  A German Blue Ram may be a good choice if you are going with a higher temp.  A group of 6 or more Sterbai or Panda Corys would really stand out against that dark substrate, but then Corys and Plecos are my favorites and may not interest you.

[Machete]

Yes, those are exactly some of the options i had in mind! Last time my main tank years ago had panda corys, neon tetras, dwarf pencil fish, a pair of rams, and one ancistrus.

This time, I was thinking of having hatchets on the top layer instead of the pencilfish, and maybe having angelfish instead of dwarf cichlids, but I'm still hesitant about these. Anyone has experiece keeping angelfish in a 40 breeder? 

Edited December 25, 2020 by Machete

[Matt_]

I looked at your bio and those fish/tanks look amazing!  Hatchet fish would be really cool in this tank if you are going with a tight fitting lid.

I kept two marbled angels in a 40 breeder in the 90s, but I would personally would not repeat that again with a 17" tall tank (more like 14" with the water level and substrate).  Here is a photo of that tank with the angles in the bottom right corner (best available photo):

I think that angels are going to get relatively tall/large compared to the rest of your scape and claim a large area of it.  They get really mean when breeding and you will want to make sure that the other fish you select will not fit in their mouth fully grown.  You could always start with angels  and upgrade the tank when they reach full size if needed but I highly recommend having a backup plan especially if this is your only tank.  If you are going the angel route, my recommendation is to decide how many/what type angels and then plan around that, add everything else to the tank first and the angels last, and have a solid backup plan if they do not work - which fish stay and which fish go.  I am finding that I love seeing the fry and small fish in my tanks so I would not keep angels again without a huge tank - they will hunt down and eat anything that fits into their mouth in a tank the size of a 40 breeder.

[Colu]

I would put 25xray tetras 2ancisturs to with alge  and some Ramshorn snails  x-ray tetra look great in planted tanks 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Colu

[Machete]

Thanks,  that's good advice! How long do angelfish take to grow full size? I'd like to get a 55 gallon in the future,  but it'll be a couple of years at least until I can do that...

[Matt_]

They are adults at about 10-12 mo. (total) and grow more slowly after that.  It is also telling that the tank mates for my angels were 3 adult Australian Rainbows and a Pictus Cat at the time of the photo (please don't judge the stocking - this was pre-Internet for me and I did not have reliable info on Pictus Cats at the time I got one - never again 😬).  I kept the angels for years and have seen enough of their behavior to know that they are going to systematically hunt anything that looks/acts like food to them in a 40b.  With less than 6 they may also have hierarchical or territorial disputes at adulthood that may become a problem to the point where you loose a fish (not enough to spread out territorial aggression and nowhere to run for a fish that gets singled out).

[Matt_]

30 minutes ago, Machete said:

Thanks,  that's good advice! How long do angelfish take to grow full size? I'd like to get a 55 gallon in the future,  but it'll be a couple of years at least until I can do that...

I would rely on Dean's Angelfish care advise:  Freshwater Angelfish Care - 50 years of Experience! - YouTube

He discusses tank size at about 4:00, but I recommend watching to the whole video and discussing proposed stocking with your LFS before you select angels.  I think that the key will be having a backup plan if aggression gets too high (Dean has a large number of tanks so he can move problem fish to another tank).

[Machete]

First update: It's been 6 days since the aquarium started running. 6-hour light cycle. Most plants seem to be doing well. The vallisneria is not, though. No algae so far.

pH: 6.4

KH: 2

GH: 2

NH4: 0.50 

NO3: 10

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by Machete

[Daniel]

7 hours ago, Machete said:

Most plants seem to be doing well. The vallisneria is not, though.

This has to be one of the most common experiences on the forum. Vallisneria either grows like a weed, or no amount of coddling will coax it to grow?

[Colu]

If don't remove some vallisneria ever week l would have no swining room left for my fish

[Matt_]

Beautiful tank!  Have you tried putting root tabs directly under the Val?  I do this with my val and it grows like a weed.  May come back though since it has only been a week.

[Machete]

There is a root tab in that area, but not directly under the Vals. I just noticed that all of them were uprooted (the filter intake kept them in place, that's why I didn't notice). I'll plant them again and see if they get better.

[Paul]

This my 40B. Panda Corys, Ottos, Kribs, Von Rio Tetras, and Brilliant Rasboras.

https://youtu.be/Gh_PhP-UUt0

[Machete]

Two-weeks update! Plants are doing great except the Val that got toast  ☹️. I got some some brown algae but it receded pretty fast. I'm getting some green algae now but it isn't too bad. It's mostly on the sand and the substrate. I wish I had planted more extensively on the foreground to help prevent this, but I can't complain: this is the easiest cycle I've ever had in any tank 🤞

I've seen some planorbis and if the CO2 level is too high I I can see detritus worms floating around. 

Levels after 2 weeks:

NH4: 0 mg/l

NO2: 3 mg/l

NO3: 20 mg/l

pH: 6.5

KH: 2

GH: 4

I used some media I put in my mature 5 gallon for 2 weeks to try and accelerate the cycle, but it seems that the experiment didn't work...

When the cycle is done I'll transfer my 5 ember tetras from the 5 gallon and have them there for a week before I get them some friends to complete the school. 

Edited December 20, 2020 by Machete

[Machete]

I took a quick video too

 

[Ken]

Is that java moss on the arch? How did you attach it?

[Machete]

I used green thread. After a while the moss itself should anchor onto the branch and I should be able to take the thread off if it's still visible. 👍

[Machete]

Last night I finally put my 5 ember tetras in the new tank after 2 days with nitrites at 0. It's quite an upgrade for them from the 5 gallon they were in! I'll wait a week or so before getting them some friends.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2020 by Machete

[Fish Folk]

For a small-fish centerpiece South American fish, maybe try some dwarf cichlids . . . like a pair of blue frost rams . . . or apistogramma cacatuoides super reds. 

Or a single bright red discus (don't hate me internet!) 

[Machete]

8 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

For a small-fish centerpiece South American fish, maybe try some dwarf cichlids . . . like a pair of blue frost rams . . . or apistogramma cacatuoides super reds. 

Or a single bright red discus (don't hate me internet!) 

Yes, that's what I had in mind. I was wondering if I could keep two couples, one of rams and one of either cacatuoides or agasizzi. I made the landscape with that in mind too, so there are at least 3 different "turfs" that each couple could take.