46 gallon - stocking advice needed!

[annamaureen]

I'm getting a tank for my birthday - most likely a 46 gallon. I need stocking advice! I'm a beginner (I've kept bettas in the past.) Ideally, I'd like active schooling fish that are entertaining to watch. Maybe two schools? I'm not really into the idea of tons of different kinds of fish. And perhaps something larger on the bottom? How many fish could I fit, if, for example, all the fish are under 2 inches (except the possible bottom fish?)

All advice and ideas are appreciated!

 

[clb2196]

You could do a nice big school of danios. Very active, and lots of color options. Zebra, leopard, blue, gold, and they come in short fin and longfin. Glofish are zebra danios too, so that gives you red, orange and green too.

You could do an nice big school of cories on the bottom, too.

 

[stratusfearrr]

i'd reccomend rummynose tetras and neon tetras. niether of those are excellent starter fish (especially the picky rummynoses), but they are excellent fish.
why not have a large school of tetra's, and some form of a center piece fish.

the current stocking on my 46 bowfront, which seems to be working well is,
1 cory cat
2 juvenile angel fish
10 neon tetras
7 rummynose tetra's
1 golden gourami
1 bumblebee goby
1 small weather loach
1 small black molly
1 clown pleco.

at one point, i had about 35 fish, so theres just an instance of a good amount of fish.

if you went with just one school, you could probably put a good fifty neon tetra's in there with a centerpiece fish.

 

[Blown 346]

I agree with the others. I have about 50 Neon tetras now in my 90, along with 8 corys, and 6 Black Skirt tetras.

 

[Star_Rider]

you actually have a fair sized tank if you get a 46 G tank.

a nice school of a tetra(several to choose from)
for bottom a school of coydora's a bn would also be comfy

if you go with a small plec clown or bn remember to keep driftwood in the tank(already a suggestion in design)