i am setting up my 40 gallon breeder as a community tank and i am looking for ideas so hit me

If my water would allow me too, I've always wanted to have a tropical community tank with 2 or 3 angels and a school of rummynose tetras, and then a few cory cats to keep the bottom of the tank busy. Of course, lots of plants! A dark substrate would be a plus, as it would REALLY show off the colors of the tetras.

I've thought about a school of black skirts as well, or maybe even bolivian or german blue rams. Of course, all of these require at most a maximum of 7.6 pH. I know angels can survive with it that high, not sure about the german blue ram. If you have alkaline water, you can always try a few different species that can tolerate the higher pH. Just make sure that you acclimate them MUCH longer than you normally would. For example, if the species prefers 7.5 and yours is 8.3-8.5, be sure to acclimate them over 8 hours. Put a cup of water in there every 30 minutes to an hour. This allows them to SLOWLY adjust so when you dump them in the tank, they don't go into shock. You want it to be as comfortable as it can be. Trust me, I've acclimated alot of fish to my 8.3 water. If I don't acclimate them as long, they normally take a plunge after a few days. If I extend the acclimation period to over 4 hours, then from what I have found they have a 50% higher chance of making it through the initial pH adjustment.

Hope this helps you, bartier. Keep us posted on what you decide. You may even give me a few ideas about what to do with my 40 gallon.

i like the sound of the rummynose tetras im hoping to go down to the petshop and look through at some fish and get an idea of what i want then do some research and see what is compatible with what because i am new to community tanks i hope the shop has rummy nose tetras though

Great idea about doing research. You'll find your fish will do a whole lot better and you'll be able to get the perfect tank. If they don't have them in stock, see if they can order them for you. Usually they will just put them in with their regular order and you can have them take care of them for a couple of days to make sure they are alright and disease free. Kind of a quarantine. You can tell them to order them but you won't purchase them for a week or two because you want to make sure they are healthy. You can even pay down if need be. That makes it alot better for you if they don't have a guarantee on their fish.

Be sure to send us some pictures though!

On a side note, I've had 4 blue rams at 7.8 pH for 2 weeks now and they show no sign of slowing down. :up: So it's possible.

i went down and changed my mind completely and i am going to get a cichlid of some kind i just can't keep away from them :) i was wondering if you could keep two pairs or convicts in a 40 gallon breeder or not there are some other fish i was looking at however i don't know much about them so i will post soon on any thoughts i have

Leema -

Thats cool about the 4 blue rams in 7.8 pH water. I can't wait til I can get an RO unit. I'm going to wear the thing out in a year. I want some soft water!!!!

I've been dying to keep angelfish and tetras. I would love to have a school of about 20 neon or glo-light tetras and a few angelfish. I know they would eat them, but this is just a dream, right? B)


bartier -

I don't know if you read the convict post that I replied to, but I think you will be much happier with just 1 pair of convicts. I think if you went with two you would run into serious aggression problems. Convicts are aggressive anyway, and breeding pairs always are, but when you put both of those together, you can get one mean cichlid. Just MHO.