Looking for stocking suggestions for a 35 gal hex tank.?

Question

Hi I now have a 35 gal hex tank ready for fish. I am not sure what type of fish will do good in this tank. I saw some rams that looked nice. Any suggestions will be appriciated.
Thanks

Answer 1

Well, when you stock a hexagonal tank, you have to keep in mind that the footprint of the tank is smaller. So, less ground surface for territory and less air surface for gas exchange... So you have to pretend like it's a 20-25 gallon when you're stocking it.
That said, your options are still numerous.

If you want to go with rams, by all means. Bolivian rams are considerably easier to care for, and are much less finicky. Gold and german blue rams, on the other hand, are much more delicate; they require soft, slightly acidic water and lots of plants. If you're up for the challenge then go for it ;) but if you're not into perfect maintenance, then stick with bolivians.
Another option would be a pair of apistogramma, or a pair of kribensis cichlids.
Any of those will happily spawn for you, too.

All those I mentioned are peaceful cichlids, and they are bottom dwellers. To populate the upper levels of the tank, you could go with an angelfish, or a school of tetras or danios, or even a school of hatchet fish.


If you want something a little more african / aggressive, then tanganyikan shellies would be a nice choice. You could get a pair of yellow leleupi, or even calvus if you can find them. They're really awesome little guys - no plants, just sand, shells, and maybe some texas holey rock. They're little characters, they love to handscape.

Answer 2

Lol no. initially thats a large overstock, 2nd of all none of those fish can surely stay in a 5 gal tank. Dwarf gourami will outgrow a 5 or maybe a 10 gallon. Guppies are too energetic, they choose a minimum of 10 gal and somewhat better team. Tiger barbs are energetic schoolers which could attain 3 inches, they choose a team of a minimum of 6 and 25 gallon tank. they actually have a attractiveness for being nippers so as that they are in a position to't be stored with fish that is nipped like fancy guppies and gourami. purely fish which could stay a cushty life in a heated and filtrated 5 gallon tank is one siamese combating fish (betta splendens), you are able to later upload one snail (nerite or male secret) or a team of three amano shrimp for algae administration in a protracted time. Undergravel filters are crap, replace it with a sponge filter out. Bubbles are additionally ineffective (they do reason some water circulate, yet in a 5 gal hex its no difference over purely a filter out), get rid of it.

Answer 3

There are a few things that you need to address before deciding what kind of fish to put in your tank. Is it fresh or salt water? Cold or tropical? Aggressive or community fish? Once those questions are answered, just be sure to add the proper chemicals (to remove chlorine and reduce ammonia). When you first start adding fish only get a few, as the tank will need to cycle, usually takes 1 to 2 weeks. The water may appear cloudy and dirty during the cycle, do not change all of the water. If is gets extremely cloudy do a water change but with only 25% of the water, and add the chemicals again. During this time you may also lose a couple of fish so I would recommend starting with less expensive types. After the cycling process has completed and you have your tank settled the only maintenance you will need to do will be to rinse the filter cartridge weekly, add water as needed along with monthly water changes (25%), and monthly filter cartridge changes. Now in regards to the type of fish here are some suggestions:

Cold Water: Any type of goldfish or guppies

Tropical (temp must be between 72-78 degrees Farenheit)
Community: Mollies, Guaramis, Tetras, Catfish and Bala Sharks... if they are the same size as the other fish in the tank.

Aggressive: African Cichlids,Oscars, Needles Nose Gars.

If you go with Salt Water, I would stick to smaller fish: Angels, Tangs, etc. These fish also need tropical water temperatures and the upkeep for salt is much more involved, as the salinity needs to be at the proper balance, I would not recommend that if this is your first time setting up a fish tank.

Another thing to keep in mind is the number of fish in the tank for fresh water the general rule is 1 in of fish per gallon of water (i.e. 35 one inch fish or or around 13 two inch fish, etc) Salt water is one in of fish per five gallons, so it you should have considerably less fish and in smaller size with salt water.

Good luck with your tank and remember if you have questions your local pet store should be able to help you out!

Answer 4

Small tropicals or maybe some dwarf Cichlids are your best bet, but remember, tank volume is not nearly as important as the tanks surface area ....... co2 is exchanged for Oxygen at the waters surface so the larger surface area is far more important than the actually volume of the tank. Personally I would go with small tropicals ( Guppies, Sword Tails, Mollies, Platies ) with a cople or three Corydoras cat fish to keep the gravel cleaned up.

Answer 5

Rams would be a nice addition to the tank. With them I would suggest a school of small to med tetras, things like glolights, emporer tetras, silver tipped tetras and of course the every popular neons. a few small cory catfish would work well too as would a few live bearers like platys or mollies. All of these have fairly similar water requirements and will play nice together.