# New tank - 33 gallon tall. Looking for odd ideas



## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

Howdy folks.

You know me, I'm usually really good with the offbeat ideas, but tall tanks tend to stump me.

This is a 33 flat back hex. I got it for free from my girlfriend-in-law (bro's lady at the time), and the missus has been neglecting it as her classroom tank for the last year (1 of 15 neons survived.) So she gave it back to me.

The tank is 36" long, 12", and 20"+ tall, with 5" of the front corners knocked off. I'm running a Penguin 350 on it. There is a heater, but ambient in my room is about 80 through the summer. I've terraced it, and there is a good sized hunk o' driftwood. The substrate is complex, ranging from fine sand through half inch pebbles and including several different things good for plants. It's fully cycled. Lighting is an anemic 20 watts, but that will change once I get around to building the canopy (which will require a saw that will cut a 22.5º angle, but one problem at a time.) Currently planted with Wisteria, Vals, Java Fern, and Java Moss. The Wisteria is expendable.

PH and Hardness are going to be what comes out of my tap - just the acid side of neutral, soft, with high carbonates.

Current occupants are 1 Clown Pleco (Mr. Pleakly, my oldest fish), and a bunch of MTS to keep the substrate stirred.

The best idea I have for it at the moment is 2 pearl gouramis, 10 rummynose tetras, 6 paleatus (or similar) cories, an SAE (because this tank is a BBA farm), and Pleakly. Replacing the wisteria with Swords and crypts. No doubt a pretty tank, but I find it uninspired.

Could y'all float me some other ideas? South or Central American cichlids that won't eat my pleco and will thrive in this amount of space. Fish that would work in a Rio Orinoco root ball. Communities based around Oil Catfish or Peacock gudgeons or Betta not-splendens.

I don't have the wherewithal to keep critters than need live (not frozen) food.

Thanks!


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## Mr.Todd (Mar 8, 2007)

I would consider the following fish, as they are plenty off-beat.

1.African Butterflyfish
2. Indian Dwarf Puffer (very cool)
3. Elephant Nose (may be a little big for a 30G)
4. Celebes Half Beak
5. And of course any compatible assortment of freshwater eels and knife fish.


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

ABFs I have covered in an African predator tank. Good thought though.
Pea Puffers would get lost in this tank. There isn't enough footprint to put in enough of them to make it effective. (I'll do a 20 long for them next year).
I think for one reason or another any of the rest I would want to put in a 4' tank.

All good thoughts, but this is such an awkward size tank. It feels like it's too big for any of the smaller fish, too small for the larger, tall enough that it's going to end up bottom heavy, yet the dratted lid is basically just a prop for the light, so surface dwellers with airborne propensities are problematical.

/ Such problems I do not mind having for free, though.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

What about festivums? They like the vertical space but don't get as huge as angels. I think they'd be a perfect fit for that size aquarium.


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

iamntbatman said:


> What about festivums? They like the vertical space but don't get as huge as angels. I think they'd be a perfect fit for that size aquarium.


Festivums might work well.

2 Festivums, Shoal of Cories, School of Rummies, and Pleakly? Actually, I think Festivums would work better than Keyholes, now that I think about it, as the aquascape doesn't have a whole lot of cave type spaces - just plants.

I think I will have to put in another driftwood to give cories some overhead cover.

Unless someone else comes up with a really brilliant idea, I think we have a winner.


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

So, I go over to the LFS where my friend works on Monday. They have rummies for $2.98. I figure I'll head down the street to the unpleasant woman's store, and lo, they have nicer rummies for $2.99. There've got to be at least 40 in each place, so I figure, I'll come back later in the week and get some. So Thursday I go to the first store. They've moved the tanks, ad re-priced them to $4.98 each, 5 for 19.98. Joy. So I went to the UW's store and their rummy tank, still $2.99 each, has the worst case of ich I have ever seen. Seriously. Evey fish looked like it had been salted. As if they had been crossbred with a pretzel. No joy. No luck on Festivums either. And the fellow who was going to sell me the sword plants jerked me around all week, and finally told him to sell to someone else. (And to top it off I got bit on the face by a yellow jacket on the way home, but I digress.)

So as not to lose my cycle, I put 10 smallish Sunset platies in.

Then, the fellow who's 17 year old daughter Mrs. Hat has been tutoring in Spanish for the last 8 or 9 years turns out to be a former killifish pervert  and current Koi & livebearer guy. He traded me a bucket of gorgeous solid red/orange swords and mindblowingly stunning half black delta tail guppies for a half dozen white cories. (He culls his 75 every couple of weeks, and he's just been fertilizing his rose plants with the culls.) So I stuck the swords in the 110, and the Guppies (3 males, 5 females) went in here. Once I get the stands for my room built, I'll move the livebearers to sex separated tanks and give it another go at Rummies and Festivums.

It's a really pretty tank, now. They're really sweet guppies, and the bright orange, almost creamsicle looking platies really contrast nicely. Wish my camera were working....


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Bummer on the festivums. I was just in Pittsburgh and stopped in a LFS in Monroeville that was selling some 2" festivums for $2.99 a piece. I almost bought some myself, even with the long car ride home and the lack of any sort of housing for them once they get here.


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

Added 5 Corydoras arcuatus (Skunk Cories - one of the five didn't survive). Hoping they'll breed for me at some point.


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

Two of the skunks have kicked the bucket.  
Going to see what comes up at the auction tomorrow night, Cory Wise.


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