# empty 46 gallon bowfront-what would you do?



## gryffin (Feb 11, 2008)

I have a 75G tank that will house some relatively peaceful South American cichlids including a severum, some keyholes and either another severum or an acara. Now I am trying to decide what to do with my 46G bowfront.

I'd like it to be a cichlid tank, but I am trying to decide between South American, Central American, mixed New World or African.

What would you do if you had an empty 46G and could choose any type of cichlid?


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

Some Bolivian rams or apistos, an angelfish, black neon or rummynose tetras, several corys, and a bristlenose. The height is good for the angelfish and the other fish will give an interesting variety of behaviors and color.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I would do Angles or Discus since it's a taller tank... and Dwarves in the bottom (Apistos or Rams).

But that's just me


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

G'day *gryffin*,

What are the dimensions of your 46gallon bow front?

I don't really think the tanks that big that you could be looking at Angels of Discus. I'm not saying you couldn't do them, but I'd prefer something like a 90gallon where you could have a small school of either.

If it were me, I'd be looking at doing a low tech planted SA community tank based around a pair of dwarf cichlids. Something similar to my Laetacara dorsigera tank in my sig. I'd stick to dwarf cichlids that do better in pairs or trios, like dwarf acaras or apistos, rather than dwarf cichlids that prefer to be in social groups like Bolivian rams.

It really depends what dwarf cichlids are available to you.

Instead of having a group of corydoras as your clean up crew, you might look at having a pair of fancy plecos instead, something like Peckoltia sp. (L134) Leopard Frog Pleco.
Instead of a school of tetras, you could look at having a school of red line pencilfish, Nannostomus mortenthaleri.


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## gryffin (Feb 11, 2008)

The tank is 3 feet long, 12 inches wide at the edge to 16 inches wide in the center of the bow, and 20 inches tall. It has a Rena Filstar XP2 canister filter- I am planning to add a Penguin biowheel HOB- not sure what size yet. The 75G that I am picking up on Monday comes with two Marineland biowheel filters and I plan to use one of them on this tank.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

What ideas sound most interesting to you Gryffin? Give us a little more input as to what you like and we could give you better input that would make you happy... as opposed to just what we could consider for ourselves...

As for Discus, I know several local Discus Breeders that use standard 29 gal tanks for a breeding pair, which is why I mentioned them for the 46 Bowfront...


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

Psst: Don't tell my Tang. buddies... 
but I would line the back high with rocks and put as many P. saulosi in there as I could, 
following what's recommended by the Mbuna experts.


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

I would do saulosi or labs and demasoni

Go african.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

alicem said:


> Psst: Don't tell my Tang. buddies...
> but I would line the back high with rocks and put as many P. saulosi in there as I could,
> following what's recommended by the Mbuna experts.


100% agree. Saulosi are my all time favorite fish, then Calvus, then...OMG I can't decide.lol
In a 46 you could do 1M, 5F Saulosi and 1M, 4F Rusties. That would look nice. You would have 5 yellow, 5 Rust and Lavender colored, and One tank boss, a beautiful blue and black striped!


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## gryffin (Feb 11, 2008)

Well- I'm torn between the following 3 ideas:

*South American or mixed New World planted tank with:*
Apistos (I have a pair that I was planning to put in a 20H)
Keyholes (I have 3 in with my severum and rainbowfish- if I put the keyholes in the 46, I could and go with blue acara and another severum in the 75- or maybe I could even try an EBJD in with the severum)
Angelfish OR Rainbow cichlids. 
One benefit of staying with New Worlds is that it would give me the option to have a back-up plan if I needed to move a severum because of an aggression problem in the 75G.

*Electric Blue Jack Dempsey* (perhaps that would still allow me to move a severum in if I had to)

*African tank with lots of color*
The 1M/5F Saulosi with 1M/4F Rusties idea sounds really neat. I guess the disadvantage would be having to manage the fry- though it would be fun also. My pH tends to be on the higher side on its own, so I probably have a good situation for Africans.

I do like pet quality of the medium to large size New Worlders...

I was planning to do a 20H tank in addition to the 46G- does that give me any possibilities for colorful Africans if I make the 46G an New World tank? If not, what is the smallest tank that would let me have Saulosi or a mix of Saulosi and Rusties or some other colorful combination? I could try to find a larger tank and set that up instead of the 20H- leaving my 20H for fry, QT and emergency use.


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

If you went with the african choice, the 20H would be fry growout. Not a chance in keeping mbuna. You could do shellies but there is no point. THey will stay at the bottom and give you empty top water.

I love my africans, so much personality.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

If you added some Syno Petricola (smaller than multis) for fry control to the African tank, you wouldn't have to worry too much about babies. Just let them spit in the main tank, most will get eaten. And, Synos have sooo much personality, if you get 3-5. 46 gallons is a llittle on the small side still, but the two varieties are smaller Mbuna. They should only get 4-5 inches at most. IMO Apistos can go in the 20 high, with some smaller Rainbows, Don't miss out on Mbuna, if you have never had them. They are awesome!... Decisions, Decisions..... 
opcorn:


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

If you go with a Blue Dempsey, I suggest keeping him in the 75 gal, at least when he's getting bigger. I hear a lot of people saying that Blue Dempseys do not get as large as standards, but this is not my experinece... and I have a 9.5" male Blue Dempsey that will argue this point as well 

Also, provided they are size compatible, a Sev & Blue Dempsey should make good tankmates.


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## gryffin (Feb 11, 2008)

Well, I think I am hooked on the African idea since I have never had them.

I'm going to stick with just one severum in the 75G to reduce the chances of aggression in that tank.

The apistos will go in a 20H, maybe with one keyhole if one of the 3 keyholes I currently have ends up as the odd one out.

You mentioned that with the Synos, Rusties and Saulosi that it would be a bit tight on space. Would it held to reduce the number of females by one or 2 for each group, or do I need 1M/5F Saulosi and 1M/4F Rusties to keep the the males happy and females healthy?


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

what about a nice tang setup?


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## Our_Tanks (Jan 6, 2009)

I would do a pea gravel bottom with drift wood set up and a few fake (or live?) plants for color. Mixing in there a few random large stones. And i would probably do mixed smaller cichlids.... but thats just me


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