New tank - unsure of what to put in it

[mcloughlin2]

I bought a new tank the other day. Its an Aqua Nova and is 80cm (L) x 80cm (H) x 45cm (W). Its a weird tank and a bit out of the ordinary. I was thinking of doing the usual for me and stocking it with african cichlids but cannot see the utilizing the top space effectively. I currently have a colony of multis in there, but only because this tank was replacing their old tank. They currently use the bottom 5cm of the tank so you can see why I would like something different.

I have so far came up with the following fish that may work;

-Silver Sharks

-Blue Rams

-Angelfish

-Severums

(Obviously not all of the above - not sure on severums temperment?)

I *really* wanted some larger americans such as Geophagus but not sure how they would go in the tank.

So what I'm keen on hearing is what people think would work in this tank. ANy help would be great.

Cheers

Sam

[PsyCro]

Shellies ,a colony of meleagris,occies or mult's would look awesome.

[Josh]

I wouldn't put any of the fish you want with shellies, just dont go together IMHO

Josh

[novafishy]

I agree with Josh. Silversharks, angels and severums just get too big and will eat your multies. Blue rams need a more acidic water and sorta stay down in the lower levels too.

I suggest going for some cyprichromis or other shellies, since you have a relatively big footprint.

[mcloughlin2]

Maybe i worded my original post wrong, but I am prepared to sell the multis as they don't utilize the height of the tank. I wasn't planning on putting the angels & sharks with them. The tank is 80cm long, 80cm high and 45cm wide.

[Ash]

So tall yet so narrow, can you get latex backgrounds in that sort of dimentions? Would make it even more spectacular IMO.

I think Geos, with some rams at the bottom would work, perhaps with some nice woodwork leading upto the top area of the tank & have a large school of tetras to fit the biotope using the top area of the tank? If you have enough of them even the angels wouldn't dent their population too much if you kept them well fed.

What is the lighting like in this unit, considered any plants? Cause you'd want at least T5HO globes as a minimum with that depth. Though if you went with anubias or java fern on some wood in the upper areas light penetration would be less of an issue, and from memory crypts are fairly low light requiring for down the bottom.

If only the tank was 60cm wide, or even an 80cm cube!

[mcloughlin2]

I don't think there are latex backgrounds available for tank this size, unless of course there is a way to join two together. I am most planning on using just you regular backgrounds for simplicity. Lighting is just two 20watt tubes (Blue & white) so keeping plants on the bottom really isn't possible without some serious modications which i would like to avoid doing at this stage.

An 80cm biotope cube tank would be spectacular, but maintenance would be very hard. Its hard enough having to climb on a chair to reach halfway into this tank! Let alone the back of an 80cm deep tank 8)!

I'm loving your idea Ash. A school of cardinals, few angelfish for the top and then the rams and geo's at the bottom. A nice piece of mangrove root as a feature in the middle! Sounds good to me.

[oakes]

The tank does not have a big footprint you would want to make sure the geos you select are a small growing species. Bolivian rams are another option. Such a tall tank though, angels will utilise the top half but are not exactly surface dwelling. You could add some hatchetfish though.

Just a few thoughts,

cheers

[Phenomena]

I'd just put a pair of German Ram and a school of tetras (cardinal/rummy nose) whatever you like.