# New 3ft Tank - What Fish ???



## LadyFrenchies

Hi, i am getting a new 3ft long tank on sunday and im not sure what fish to put in it, i want big fish bacause my mum has a 3ft tank downstairs with small fish in it like guppys, neons and mollys, but im not keen on it so i want big fish, like adult plecs and stuff but i want them all to get along, any suggestions xox


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## Guest

First things first, does your tank have all the necessary equipment and do you understand the basics of fishless cycling and water quality?

I'm assuming you want a common plec and a selection of other large fish such as cichlids? Unfortunately your tank will be too small for these, common plecs (_Liposarcus multiradiatus_) can top 18"/46cm and will grow far too big, most of the larger cichlids and other fish growing bigger than 5-6"/13-15cm will also be too big. I would recommend fish that grow no bigger than around 4-5"/10-13cm. If you did add a large selection of fish that grow bigger than the sizes already mentioned you will have serious problems with overstocking, which in turn will cuase water quality problems.

However there are some smaller cichlids available such as Kribensis and Keyholes that would be suitable for a tank of this size, both of these fish grow to around 4"/10cm.

If this is your first tank I would stick with the peaceful community fish such as platies, tetras, anabantoids (i.e honey gouramis) and small catfish such as corydoras and smaller plecs such as Panaque and Hypancistrus until you learn the ropes. Once you are able to obtain a larger tank (at least 72"/180cm for a common plec) you will be able to start keeping some larger fish.


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## LadyFrenchies

yep ive kept fish for over 10 years along with my mum breeding many breeds and i get the tank on sunday and wont be buying fish until the tank as been up and running for at least 2 weeks with good and bad bacteria, i am not really looking for huge fish mainly middle sized ones like cat fish and stuff but i really like plecs starting from babies so then i have time to get a bigger tank before they get 2 big, i have a 1 and a half foot tank in the kitchen with my Lobby in he is a blue lobster, he is so cool, lol thanks for replies i really only want fish breed advice... but thanks anyway... xox Danielle xox
Forgot to mention im 16 and i have kept fish before, ive had over 10 tanks starting from when i was 6, i love small livebarers and do already keep baby guppys in my 10 gallon, baby platys in my other 10 gallon and now i keep my neons and adult platys and adult guppys in my other 3ft tank xox


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## Guest

What is the width and height of your tank?


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## LadyFrenchies

3 feet length, 2 1/2 feet tall and 1 foot wide, i like the keyholes they are cool lol xox


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## Guest

Well in that case... 

How about a couple of small plecs such as the L134 plec and the Clown plec (_Panaque maccus_)? Both only grow to around 3-4"/9-10cm. A pair of Keyholes would also be suitable and you might like a large shoal of pencilfish or congo tetras. You might also like a couple of Synodontis catfish such as the Upside-down syno (_Synodontis nigriventris_).


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## LadyFrenchies

they all sound very cool lol i can already see them swimming around the tank lol xox thanks pleccy xox


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## LadyFrenchies

sorry to double post but how big do oscars grow, i really like them and some 1 has 2 babies for rehoming for a small fee...
omg i found these pics on google and is this tank healthy for 2 oscars of their size the tank looks abit small to me ?? xox

http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e271/pantigokitten/?action=view&current=IMG_0956.jpg
http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e271/pantigokitten/?action=view&current=IMG_0957.jpg


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## Guest

As fishyfins has said oscars would be too big however there are a couple of smaller species of Geophagus available, a pair of these would be suitable for your tank.

Malawi cichlids such as Mbuna and Haplochromides would be OK however the tank isn't very wide so very important floor area would be somewhat limited, you would also have a lack of room for rockwork.


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## LadyFrenchies

i was looking at chiclids last night and i think im going to get into them, i really like the colours and they seem alot eisier than oscars lol, my mum runs the thing for 2 weeks cos we usually buy online at preloved and many other places, they say dont clean the filter and let it run for a week or 2 for the water cycle to be okay, i jut copy my mum as her fish have lived for 2 years straight... lol xox thanks for ur help pleccy xox


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## LadyFrenchies

okay thanks for all replies people xox


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## matsp

Pleccy said:


> As fishyfins has said oscars would be too big however there are a couple of smaller species of Geophagus available, a pair of these would be suitable for your tank.


I personally would not recommend Geophagus spp. in such a small tank. Some species may not grow very big, but they are very sensitive to water quality issues (they get hole in the head for example) if the water is not top quality. By keeping them in a larger tank, it improves the amount of time before the water gets too bad.

Many Geophagus species are also hard to tell apart in the shops (and not always correctly labeled), whether it will grow to 5" or 10".

My rule for size of fish vs tank is 4L x 2L x 2L as a minimum - I will not (knowingly) buy fish that may grow longer than half the shortest side of the tank or a quarter of the longest side of the tank. Most of my fish are much smaller than that, but it's the maximum I allow. For very active fish, you need a bigger tank.

--
Mats


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## LadyFrenchies

Great news ive got my 4 footer today, ive just set up and im leaving it running for 6 to 8 weeks... im not sure what fish to keep yet so can sum 1 please close this topic as im not going to be keeping fish until the 6 to 8 weeks are up... thanks for all replies people xox


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## Guest

matsp said:


> I personally would not recommend Geophagus spp. in such a small tank. Some species may not grow very big, but they are very sensitive to water quality issues (they get hole in the head for example) if the water is not top quality. By keeping them in a larger tank, it improves the amount of time before the water gets too bad.
> 
> Many Geophagus species are also hard to tell apart in the shops (and not always correctly labeled), whether it will grow to 5" or 10".
> 
> My rule for size of fish vs tank is 4L x 2L x 2L as a minimum - I will not (knowingly) buy fish that may grow longer than half the shortest side of the tank or a quarter of the longest side of the tank. Most of my fish are much smaller than that, but it's the maximum I allow. For very active fish, you need a bigger tank.
> 
> --
> Mats


While agree with you on the size of these fish, there are a couple of species available in the trade that only grow to around 5-6"/13-15cm such as _Geophagus parnaibae _ (formerly known as _Geophagus_ sp. "Red Head Tapajos"). Most good aquatic stores should be able to tell the difference between many species.

All large fish such as cichlids are susceptible to hole in the head, however by maintaining a reasonable water quality (meaning no ammonia, nitrite and a fairly low level of nitrate through water changes through regular maintanence) then this shouldn't be a problem.


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## matsp

Interesting, Weidners "South American Earth Eaters" say that this species "barely exceeds the 20cm mark". 

And my point about tank size was more to the effect of "a larger tank doesn't need quite so many/large water changes" to keep the nitrates in check (hopefully, with mature and sufficiently large filters, ammonia and nitrite should not register on the test-kits). 

--
Mats


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## Guest

I've just found this on www.fishbase.org, Geophagus parnaibae, . This states that _Geophagus parnaibae _only grows to 7.6cm, however most other sources on the internet and even one of my Baensch atlases states that it grows to around 15m/6".


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