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I'm working on my boyfriend to let me get another aquarium (he doesn't understand that having 5 tanks already will not keep me from wanting more). In my ideal world, I would get a 40 breeder (36"x18"x16" and have some fairly gentle oddballs, or at least larger and semi-unusual fish.

My first question is will a wrought iron tank stand safely hold more than one tank? I've seen this done a lot, but I'm not 100% sure a pre-fab welded tank stand from the LFS was made to hold 600+ lbs. of aquaria. If I can put 2 tanks on one stand, my dreams would come true and I could have my oddballs in one, and a small tanganyikan community in the other.

My other questions pretty much involve stocking. Can 2 small birchirs live comfortably in a 40 breeder? I'm referring to senegal birchirs, or if I can get my hands on some juveniles, I'd really like some P. dehezi. As far as I know, niether of these species will exceed 12" or so.
Would I be able to also have a ropefish or small spiney eel such as a peacock or zebra eel?
Other inhabitants might be an African butterfly fish, some leopard ctenopomas, and if there's room, a school of Congo tetras.
How does that sound?

The Tang. community would be a later project, but I'm thinking some small neolamps like a shell-dweller species, N. cylindricus, and possibly N. Brichardi or similar lyre-tailed neolamp, and some Juli species. Would there be room for some cyrichromies for a total of 5 species in that tank, or would it simply be too crowded?

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Hi illustrae,

I'm sure you'll be disappointed to learn i can only comment on one thing, but I would nix the congo tetras idea for the 40 breeder oddball tank. Pretty big fish, have a good amount of mass to them for a tetra, so they'll produce a good amount of waste. Stick with one or two species for that tank.

As for bichirs, not too sure with them, but in general wouldn't it be best to keep only one largely carvivorous 12 inch fish in a tank that size?

Looking at one species profile I find the following from aquariacentral.com:

"A native of African lakes such as Lake Albert, Rudolf, Senegal and Chad, this Bichir species is territorial and intolerant of its own kind unless provided with ample room in the aquarium. Keep with other fish of the same size and temperment. Stock the tank with lots of plants, driftwood and rocks. Feed meaty foods such as beef heart, as well as live fish on occassion if possible."


Maybe one would work, but large oddball fish of this type are best kept in their own tank, with maybe target fish that may be eaten.

40 breeder is a great tank for tangs though Lots of surface area,,,

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Back in the saddle!

Hi Nowhere,
Interesting... I've been reading posts on MonsterFishKeepers.com lately, and while it's true that the vast majority of people there own absolutely HUGE tanks, many of the people who keep birchirs keep several in the same tank, even several different varieties, and I've seen them all crowding together on top of each other and just chillin' out like loaches. I do realize they're carnivorous, but I was under the impression they weren't terribly aggressive. I'll have to look into that more.
I was pretty sure there wouldn't be room for congos... Clearly I'll have to get another big tank someday so I can have a bunch of them!

I've really been wanting to try an African cichlid tank for a while now, so maybe I'll start with that and save the oddballs for later.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...