# Stocking ideas for 40 gallon tank



## Opal

Hi,
I have a 40 gallon tank and I was thinking of setting up a tropical community fish tank. After some research I thought of: about 20 tetras, 2 Bolivian rams, and some sterbai corys. Is this overstocked? Though I am open to anything :grin2:


----------



## jaysee

If those 20 tetras were congos, then yes that's too much. Neons, and you're no where near overstocked.


----------



## Opal

I was thinking of 7 cardinals 7 rummynoses and 7 penguin tetras.:smile2:


----------



## jaysee

Might as well do 10 of each, in my opinion. I think fish are more enjoyable to watch in a larger school vs a smaller one. If the tank is a 40 breeder (not very tall) I would suggest just 2 schools of 10-15.

Another thing I would suggest is to mix it up a little. Tetras are nice and all, but they all pretty much act the same. I think adding a school of cherry or gold barbs in the place of one of the tetras will add a lot of depth to your fish viewing pleasure. They are way more interesting to watch than tetras, in my opinion. Especially with cherry barbs because they are so easy to tell males and females. That alone is worth an extra hour in front of the tank a day ;-). You can really follow the social dynamics much better with fish that are sexually dimorphic.

Of course, there's nothing inherently wrong with your list so if you want to stick to that, then by all means enjoy. Just thought I'd throw out a couple suggestions.


----------



## Opal

Thanks, I may do cherry barbs in place of the cardinals and maybe harlaquins instead of penguins...


----------



## Moleen

I just LOVE my 40GB! Fave of all my tanks! In mine. I have a school of 10 Rummies, 5 Dwarf Neon Rainbows, 1 Pygmy Rainbow (he was a rescue and schools with my Dwarfs), 3 Pearl Gouramis (2 girls, 1 MAGNIFICENT male), 2 dwarf Petricola, 3 Panda Garra & 4 Black Neon Tetras......heavily planted and heavily filtered. I would definitely add some bottom dwellers...maybe a school of 5-8 Panda Corys, or 3-5 Panda Garras if you have good flow.


----------

