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Hello fellow fish lovers,

I have a dilemma. As the title suggests I'm looking for ideas on a 37 gallon tall tank. Right now it's got 3 very large Angels, 8 Neon Tetra, and 4 Emerald Green Cory (the ones that aren't true cory cats).

As much as I love my Angelfish, I'd really like to do something a little more exotic and different. The angels are getting re-homed and the rest are going to various tanks around the house.

I love the idea of doing an African tank but from what I've heard I'd need a larger foot print than the 37 tall provides (It's only 30 inches across). And my wife WILL stab me in the face if I buy ANOTHER tank.

I'd like to avoid saltwater if at all possible. Is there anyway I could turn this into a Mbuna tank? Any ideas? I already have a community tank (South American) so that idea is out. Any suggestions would greatly appreciated.

Hi and Welcome to Fish Profiles.
I refrain from stocking other peoples tanks... It's safer that way. I would only suggest that while it is a 30G tank, it does not have the surface area of a "Normal" tank. "We now use a more modern way of determining the quantity, and in some cases the types of fish and that is by alloting them a certain amount of surface area per fish.

http://www.howmanyfish.com/#page=page-1

You may want to use the above link to help you with your choices.

Remember, the "Show Tanks" were designed to keep the subject fish restricted to how much lateral movement they had. The show tank allowed the judge to stand and judge the fish without chasing it with his/her eyes as it fled from one end of the tank to the other. It could move up and down, but only just so much left and right. Hence their footprint, surface area, is smaller than a normal tank.

In a sense my wife was a lot like yours. I had a 30G tank and every time I got a new issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist (TFH) and I walked out of the spare bedroom with a tape measure, she would follow me and as I measured prospective spots for another tank, she would simply say "NO." I had the spare bedroom for my electronics shop and radio room (I'm a Ham Radio Operator) and if it diden't fit in there, it was not going to happen.

We moved, built an addition onto the home 20 years later, and I had the floor renforced for a 300G tank, and she suprised me with a suggestion that we also put an indoor pond in the garden room!

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Going with the idea of Africans, that tank would be a great size for a single species of Tanganyikan. You could have julies or a breeding colony of brichardi types.

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Thanks so much for the advice.

After doing some serious research (and holy crap there is a lot of information out there on African Cichlids) and consulting with my LFS I've decided to go with a single species brichardi breeding tank.

Already picked out a beautiful mated pair. I'll make sure to post pictures after everything is setup.

Thanks again.

Awesome choice! Those fish are beautiful and so interesting to watch when they get to breeding.

I've had them before but the tank was in a corner of the house where I really didn't give them the attention they needed so I eventually traded them in. I have some N. falsicula now which are similar but mine are so shy I rarely even see them.

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