Complete Guide: 40 Gallon Breeder Tank [Including top picks 2023)

40 Gallon Breeder Tank

 

When assembling a 40 Gallon Breeder Tank, the basic principle for not getting it wrong is to study the size of the aquarium versus the fauna you imagine adding. There are infinite types of mounts, from marine tanks to fresh, to biotopes and plantations. Creating can be easier than it sounds. This tank gauge is the best seller in the aquarium industry. Breeder tank has been growing in the market every year. Every day we see more websites aimed at breeder fish and other animals. Articles on fish breeding have given us a lot of important information for successful fish breeding.

About buying a 40 gallons tank, What fish should I pick? How to correctly size the 40 Gallon Breeder Tank? Is it possible to have a good aquarium in 40 gallons of water?

Comparison Table – 40 Gallon Breeder Tank

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40-gallon breeder fish tank dimensions

The most common dimensions of this aquarium are 100x50x30 cm; it is equivalent to 40 gallons. It’s a great fish tank size. They are widely used in large fish breeders. It is usually an aquarium gallon size used by freshwater fish breeders. It is commonly used in saltwater aquariums for corals.

40 Gallon Breeder Tank

Is a 40-gallon breeder tank suitable?

It’s common for people to move to smaller tanks right away, but did you know that the smaller tank is more difficult to maintain? Mainly in parameter control.

The tank has to be strategically thought; the measure of 40 Gallon Breeder Tank was thinking about having more space, ease of maintenance, and compatibility with most lighting fixtures.

It is better to have more area (length vs. width) than height, making maintenance and lighting incidence very difficult.

Setting up a 40-gallon breeder tank.

This item considers the positioning of rocks or trunks, substrate placement (fertile, neutral, or that acts in the alkalinization of water), placing the water, connecting the devices to start the system. Don’t forget to have a good piece of furniture to support your aquarium; you need to keep it safe. After all, we are talking about glass!

Glasses for 40-gallon tanks are the most manufactured standard. So you find a lot of furniture out there, but keep your glass safe from crumbling supports. Glasses are sensitive to vibrations, sudden temperature changes. And safety in fish farming is essential.

40 Gallon Breeder Tank

Cycling the breeder tank gallon to receive the fish

Considered when the aquarium is running at full steam, just after assembly: filters on, lighting on as required (8h daily lighting? 10h? need to see which plants and fish you have chosen, to see what they need), CO2 introduced in the water, heater, in short, everything.

Sometimes particles can make the water cloudy for some time; the cycling period is also helpful to allow time for the particles to settle or be filtered out until the turbidity decreases.

Above all of this, our attention should be focused on the good bacteria communities, which begin to fix and transform nitrogenous compounds into non-toxic forms. The use of tests will likely be required frequently at this stage – at least pH and ammonia tests are essential.

Oscar fish is a favorite of breeders.

Its size and need for territory mean that each fish needs a lot of space. Start with 40-gallon breeder tank dimensions for the first Oscar and add an extra 40-gallon aquarium bill for each additional Oscar.

If you’re a breeder looking to turn your tank into a community tank, you’ll need to pick some big, passive fish that will stay out of Oscar’s way while still being able to defend themselves.

The ideal is to have only one Oscar fish (if it’s a relatively small tank or 40 gallons). Alternatively, a group (for a large enough tank), then a hierarchy will form in the school, and there will be relative peace.

But maintaining a group can create a problem in the medium-term if developing couples start fighting over territory. If the tank is not big enough, at least 40 gallons, you will need to separate those getting too much to avoid deaths.

Oscar fish breed in captivity with some ease. When they form a couple, they will be together for life. The problem is that when this happens in community aquariums, the aggressiveness of these fish tends to increase and with the enormous risk of parents eating their offspring due to the stress caused by the simple presence of other fish in the aquarium.

In these situations, the ideal is for the breeder to separate this couple into a tank just for them if they want to reproduce.

Is it possible to breeder a marine tank at 40 gallons?

Yes, it is possible. The difference is that you will need some other equipment that in a freshwater tank would not be necessary. For example, the Skimmer. Saltwater fish demand strong currents, good water circulation.

If you own corals, it is essential to know correctly and need lighting to be used. It ends up being a little more limiting the amount of fish possible to put in a 40-gallon marine tank for the size and varieties available in fish stories.

Marine fish breeders usually tend to start with an even smaller tank. This is because the price is much more prominent than in a freshwater tank.

These marine aquariums tend to be very popular in home environments, especially in children’s rooms. Although it looks big, it is clear that the space for corals and fish when it comes to saltwater is relatively tiny, but enough for you to have a healthy tank.

setting up a tank for breeding aquarium fish

 

The Importance of Partial Water Change in the fish tank of This Gallon Size

The partial exchange of marine tank works as follows:

It varies from tank to tank, but the rule is to change 20-30% water per month. You can change it all at once or split it and change it little by little until you complete the monthly percentage.

Excluding extreme cases, never change more than 30% as marine animals are not used to sudden changes of any kind. You only siphon the sump to remove that dirt that accumulates at the bottom.

Only siphon the rocks from the tank if you want to remove any pests, such as algae, planarians, and cyanobacteria, etc. If dirt is on the substrate, you can siphon only the surface without touching the sand using a thin hose.

School fish and a 40-gallon aquarium

Acid pH fish are pretty common in tank stores; the beauty of the community tank usually focuses on shoal fish; below, we will mention four species that can make up this aquarium, our suggestion is an average of 15 units of one of these species (be careful in overcrowding).

The suggestions are: Paracheirodon axelrodiHyphessobrycon amandae, Hemigrammus rhodostomus, and Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi. From this list above, the biggest highlight for a closed school is the Rodostomus; they swim in sync and have very high activity in the fish tank.

Medium and large fish are compatible with 40-gallon tanks.

In this case, a quantity of 6 specimens would be fascinating to compose your aquarium; it is essential to note that the two species suggested below also swim in schools. Pterophyllum scalare and Symphysodon aequifasciatus, will always be the favorite. It is worth noting that both species can prey on smaller fish, especially the angels, when it is not used to the aquarium fauna.

This fish tank is it meant to be a community?

Community fish tanks need more attention as they require a more accurate calculation for size and filtration needs. But it is possible to mix school, medium, and even large fish. Everything will depend on the behavior of the chosen fish. It is also essential to know the necessary parameters for each species to live well.

The 40-gallon tank is one of the most recommended and used by aquarists today. With good versatility and easy maintenance due to its size, it turns out to be a perfect tank for those who want to start the hobby. It is seen a lot in creating guppies and mollies as well.

It is a tank that, with little investment, you can provide a good quality of life for the inhabitants.

Guppies and Mollies are the most bred fish in a 40-gallon aquarium.

The famous Poecilids, who has never had one. They are famous for being resistant fish and with a high reproduction rate, very suitable for those just starting with fishkeeping. However, make no mistake, as any other animal requires particular care.

The amount of fish can vary a lot, but take into account that they are fish that reproduce at a very high speed, so about 3~5 groups of 1 male to 2 females is quite interesting; some of these species can breed with each other.

Setting up a breeder tank for freshwater fish

 

Is it possible to have plants in a 40-gallon tank?

If you are starting now, we strongly recommend slow-growing, low-maintenance plants. The suggestion below is genera with dozens of species and varieties; most of them do not change the way of cultivation and are common in the main fish store.

Anubias – They are among logs and rocks.

Echinodorus – Due to their size, they make the background and tend to leave the fish tanks.

Eleocharis – If you have fertile substrate, you can choose to have a beautiful soccer field style carpet, but they are slower and even slower if you don’t have CO2 injection.

Please pay attention to the dimensions of the plants to be used so that they don’t get too dense in the tank and remove the free spaces for the fish.

These low-light plants are excellent for breeding in this tank pattern. So you can create a small aquascaping without spending too much, making it look enjoyable and giving a better adaptation to the fish breeder there.

The advantages of having a 40-gallon freshwater breeding tank

One of the main advantages is the ease of keeping the parameters in this tank. The ideal filtration is easy to find, as pumps and filters made for these tanks are ubiquitous.

In addition, the larger the tank, the smaller the variations in parameters due to the amount of water available there.

This is very noticeable about sudden temperature changes, which are always slower in these tank sizes. You’re sure to spend a lot less energy on your heater on a tank of this size.

Hardscape for 40-gallon breeder aquarium

Driftwood is welcome when it comes to fauna for acidic water as they tend to lower the pH. Be careful with those sharp ones; they can hurt medium and large fish.

Rocks like dark basalt rocks can give a nice touch to the aquarium. Some rock types can raise the pH, being useful for the alkaline pH group. Better if the bottom of the aquarium is free of a substrate, it helps with maintenance.

Essential Equipment for a 40-gallon fish tank

For filtration, it is best to use a foam-type filter or a hang-on, always scaling the water flow needed for the species. A heater is required to maintain the temperature stable.

Final Thoughts-  40 Gallon Breeder Tank

As a general rule, the larger the tank, the greater it is stable. So this size tank fish for beginners is a good start. Breeding is not always easier when starting with small volumes of water.

The main fish we see in these aquariums are the famous guppies, colorful and of great variety; they attract any eye. But a 40 Gallon Breeder Tank allows us to go further.

It is possible to have marine and freshwater fish. Have a high density of fish as well as medium to large fish. Have plants and corals.

It’s up to the breeder to know how to shape their ideas, keeping it as a suitable principle for the animal life contained there.

Articles to teach how to keep fish in these dimensions are increasing every day on the website.

The search for fish that are possible to 40-gallon breeder in these fish tanks is the new trend of the moment. Search more about this size tank and keep fish in your house room.