200 gallon stocking ideas

[Jtpainter25]

Okay so I have a 200 gallon tank that I’ve thought about turning into a giant community tank. I have several pieces of nice sized driftwood and I’m going to plant around the drift wood but plan to leave some more space to allow fish to have plenty of swimming room and wanted to field some ideas of what stocking other people might put in there. I’d say I have medium experience in the hobby and just looking for ideas. Any input would be greatly appreciated

 

[JuiceBox52]

Before we can give stocking suggestions we need to know your GH and PH. You should be able to find the GH on your local water providers website once we know that I've got some ideas

 

[nttrrss]

Decent sized tank with lots of potential! It all depends on the parameters of the established tank. Drift wood lowers Ph levels to the point some fish may find it bothersome. Gouramis, tetras, plecos and loaches etc will be fine in lower ph. If I had a 200 gallon I’d most certainly use it as a cichlid tank and other similar fish!

 

[Jtpainter25]

Before we can give stocking suggestions we need to know your GH and PH. You should be able to find the GH on your local water providers website once we know that I've got some ideas

we have a well and the ph stays around 7-7.2

 

[Willbacon23]

we have a well and the ph stays around 7-7.2

I love albino Bristlenose pleco. You could even get 2 in a tank that size especially ifnlots of wood hiding places etc. I’d suggest maybe a huge shoal of something. Neon tetras etc if you don’t want Cichlid tanks could have like 40 easily

 

[JuiceBox52]

You could have a couple hundred small tetras, if you have sand you could have corydoras

 

[Essjay]

If the GH is soft.

if it's hard, there are other options.



Look on your water provider's website to see if they give your hardness. You need a number and the unit of measurement (they could use any one of several units)

 

[Jtpainter25]

Before we can give stocking suggestions we need to know your GH and PH. You should be able to find the GH on your local water providers website once we know that I've got some ideas

we are in a well so the water stays right around 7.0-7.2 if that helps any

 

[Metalhead88]

Whatever you do, get rainbows.

 

[Jtpainter25]

Whatever you do, get rainbows.

The Iranian reds are definitely at the top if I do

 

[utahfish]

we are in a well so the water stays right around 7.0-7.2 if that helps any

Whats the GH?
GH is general hardness of water.
Some fish need hard water some need soft water.
If you could nail down the GH of your water we could make suitable suggestions that match your water.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Since you are on a well you can take the water to a pet store and ask them to test it for you. Or you could buy a GH kit but since you only need it once that would be a waste of money

 

[Jtpainter25]

Since you are on a well you can take the water to a pet store and ask them to test it for you. Or you could buy a GH kit but since you only need it once that would be a waste of money

If I remember correctly we have softer water but I can always double check

 

[JuiceBox52]

If I remember correctly we have softer water but I can always double check

That would be helpful thanks!

 

[Jtpainter25]

That would be helpful thanks!

I used to have South American cichlids for years but looking for something a little different this time. Maybe a pair of electric blue acara and some larger tetras/barbs