Ed's Oddball Tank.

[aether.ed]

Hi im Ed just joined and finally found the right section to show off my tank.

Its all African riverine species of oddball fish. Before anyone flames me about the Mbu puffer as you can see he's just a tiddler and I do have MASSIVE plans for this fish and will be housing it accordingly. The Tetras are all sitting on the bottom as they are very skittish when im near the tank, as soon as I step away they're back to normal chasing each other about!

Inhabitants: 19 x Congo Tetra, 6 x Featherfin Syonodontis Catfish, 2 x Upsidedown Catfish, 3 x African Spotted Leaf fish, 1 x African Butterfly fish, 1 x Peters Elephantnose Mormyrid, 1 x female Kribensis, 1 x African Brown Knife fish and 1 x baby Mbu Puffer fish.

Its a very rewarding tank to keep feisty yet peaceful, the only one in the tank i'd consider a bully is the Elephantnose he just wants all the caves to himself, not that the catfish even notice him trying to batter them, they're bulky old things and Eephantnose doesn't have any way of dealing any sort of damage to them so he just bounces off and the catfish are none the wiser.

Ive got an interesting old time ahead of me as this little Puffer grows to be the 2.5ft monster im hoping him to be, I will still want to recreate the African river thing just on a MASSIVE scale!

Just to give you a sense of size and scale the Brown Knife fish is 7inches, puffer 4inches including tail and the Elephantnose fish is 8inches tip to tip. Yup Congo Tetras really can get quite big!

Imagine the Java Ferns are African Ferns, it makes the whole Biotope thing alot more convincing!

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=COkOoOSaog0&feature=plcp

Anyone have any experience on keeping multiple elephantnoses? Im thinking maybe 6-8 or more (if possible)in my future 800-1000 gallon tank along with the puffer, some larger oddballs and big syno catfish. Read that in the wild elephantnoses are a schooling fish and in aquarium they are solitary and teritorial (mine certainly is) but given a footprint of over 8ft+ x at least3.5ft could it be done? would i be able to encourage a more social behaviour with this sort of scale of set up? its gonna be a year or so down the line yet but already got a dude to build it for me and the funds, just need to find a new house to rent with some nice big patio doors to fit a tank like this in! I just like to have a plan thats all. Also anyone ever kept african arowana? I know they get huge but I will have the space, just heard that they are extremely tough fish to keep and grow big but i really cant find much info out there.

Well enjoy the video, il be hovering about posting puffer progress over the coming months, I have loads of time to consider suggestions for stocking the giant tank so fire away, puffer will be in there for sure but dont know if I should just do what im doing already just on a massive scale or go all out monster fish in this tank. Think a slice of the congo in my living room. I only know of bichirs and big river talapia cichlids, any ideas? would be great to go huuuuuge freeekin school of the congo tetras like 100+ in there as would look amazing but im worried if I go BIG fish then they may get munched. ALL ideas welcome!

Thanks

Ed

edit: Oh forgot to say, current tank is a 500ltr with strange dimensions, Got it built a few years back for 6 axolotls and floor space was the priority over anything else so the tank is alot wider than it is tall. Heavily filtered with 2 fluval 305s and an internal fluval u4 with sod all lighting (a single 38W tube i think). Suprised any plants grow at all hence my java fern substitute!

 

[prankster705]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/393694-afrian-arowana/

Nice tank. How's the elephant nose at competing with the catfish for food?

As for big tank suggestions - there's a bunch of wonderful synodontis you could keep - angelica, decora, brichardi. Perhaps a spiny eel from the region?

 

[wayne the pain]

Vey nice set up, a nice shoal of African red eye tetra's (Arnoldichthys spilopterus) would go great with your congo's.

 

[aether.ed]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/393694-afrian-arowana/

Nice tank. How's the elephant nose at competing with the catfish for food?

As for big tank suggestions - there's a bunch of wonderful synodontis you could keep - angelica, decora, brichardi. Perhaps a spiny eel from the region?

Thanks

Oooh forgot about those spiney eels, i never see any african ones tho! they okay with an mbus? wouldnt want one getting slurped up like a big worm haha! yeah i love synos and the way they whizz about often upsidedown, would definately be intrested in more, the featherfins are amazing, the finnage is incredible soo high on some of them. Would like some of the more erm ... 'not so much colorful but prettier if you know what i mean' ones.

Elephantnose does well, he feeds just before lights out before the synos start foraging but to be honest he would just try push the cats out the way if he wants something. He always gets his own way, hes the one in control in that tank! The featherfins are very timid when the light is on and u'll hardly see elephantface but as soon as the worms are in the tank hes out like a rocket flickin up worms with his chin. Also I feed a helluva lot in each feeding just to ensure everyone gets their fair share (probably more than I should but by morning the tank is spotless!) I just do it every other day. Its the voracious congo tetras that are the main competition in this case, they are ravenous but i spot feed with a turkey baster to ensure the elephantnose gets first dibs or hide worms around the tank where the tetras wont look but elephant nose will sniff out! The big synos bother no one but themselves but seem to love being in a group, they act just like giant corys always bustling about in the shadows, not the agressive territorial monsters alot of people seem to report, the elephantnose is the only monster in there in that respect!


Gonna look up those intresting spiny eels now. Hows about the harlequin shark or whatever its called, lebeo something maybe? Heard they get to a good size and are suitably agressive for a more boistrous tank? I thought I knew all i needed to know about african species but since this opportunity "ehem! excuse" for a monster tank has arisen im in an unknown world, everything I have ever read has been specifically for my current tank, this is a completely different ball game and now ive got a whole lot more learning and research to do, good thing i love it!

Thanks for the reply

Ed

 

[aether.ed]

Vey nice set up, a nice shoal of African red eye tetra's (Arnoldichthys spilopterus) would go great with your congo's.

Haha id love to agree with you but i felt i was fully stocked even before I got the puffer. Its just that the 3 bush fish are still babies and get to 6inches (they are growing lightning quick!) not to mention the fast growing small but giant puffer i have aquired, I added a 3rd filter just for him as an extra caution. Also the big catfish, there are 6 of them in there all a good 8inches+ and each is a huge bulky fish, i think id be pushing a 500ltr to its limit adding anything else surely?.

The red eyes maybe a good suggestion for the future giant tank, a massive schoal of red eyes, a massive schoal of congos, mbu puffer, really would love to try a group of elephant nose (still need advice there), a few nice bichirs and groups of various synodontis sounds good! Are red eyes similar sized to congos?

Any large fish from the region that would be of compatible size to the mbu and are mid swimmers? Thats why was thinking the african arowana, something abit different preferably, but would the congo tetras be an expensive meal for them? is fish their natural prey or are they insectivores? (or monkeyvores like their SA cousins?) maybe a few oscar sized fish, what are my options there? being limited to african rivers, preferbly the congo!

Thanks for the comment, suggestion noted!

Ed

P.s if say i did go for a ton of tetras, where the hell or how would i source that many fish to populate a 8-10ft tank? would i still go through my lfs or direct to a supplier? say 100 congos and 50 red eys or something and 10 or more of a particular syno? for example. Should I just go to africa and catch them myself? haha that wont be happening unfortuantly!

 

[wayne the pain]

Could look at Disticodus sp for larger fish to mix with your Mbu. D sexfasciatus are stunning when young and tough enough to cope with a puffer.

 

[pretzel23]

That's a nice tank you got going there and good luck with the plans!
How about some ropefish as well maybe?

 

[aether.ed]

Aha never even heard of distichodus, did abit of reading and read alot of reports of extreme agression when older, but given a vast amount of space and get a number of them maybe the aggro would be spread out between the distichodus and none of the other fish will suffer for it. Good suggestion tho, would never have even thought of em! looks like a planted tank maybe out of the question with these tho!

Ropefish, you know what? probably would go for a fair few! I had 2 of them and they loved each other, even to the point of the fateful day when i found them both on my floor next to each other bearly alive they must have followed each other out of the tank (they diddnt pull through unfortuantly). I heard how good they are at escaping and made every precaution i could blocking up every gap but they still managed to get out somehow! Loved them to bits tho, one was well over 2ft long! Only worry i have is the mbu, he only seems to go for shelled things like cockles and snails and other crustations but when he's bigger he would have the ability to chomp a ropefish clean in half. This maybe nothing to worry about as he seems fine and relaxed around other fish at the mo and may never attack another as long as he lives but would still be worried tho, all the puffer would need is that one moment of boredom and could get abit angry and may snap at something. Most large deep bodied fish should be okay as the puffer couldnt get its jaws round it and at most may lose a bit of fin of something, I just worry that a ropefish being long and slender may be more at risk of a fatal injury if the puffer did decide to go abit mad. I may be worried about nothing tho so if anyone can let me know if im over reacting here! at the mo i would have no doubt ropefish will be fine but the puffer is only 4in and extremely friendly with everything, the hope is that bringing him up with other fish from a baby would get him used to being around other fish would make him alot more tolerant of other species when he's bigger. Id just hate to wake up and find a ropefish chomped clean in half in my tank, its the thing nightmares are made of!

I love ropefish, ropes and bichirs are what got me into the hobby in the first place!

Will continue my research!

Between us im sure we could come up with an immense stocking plan for a very intresting giant african tank. All good suggestions so far especially the distichodus (how have i never heard of them after years of researching african rivers?), being plant eaters id assume that congo tetras could still be a vaiable choice for stocking. i almost get the impression they are like the african equivalent to the larger asian shark cyprinids like the bala shark or redtail and things, please correct me if im wrong there tho!

Thanks everyone keep em coming!

Ed

 

[wayne the pain]

If you could find them the Banded Scat (Scatophagus tetracanthus) would make a excellent addition, but they are hard to find

 

[aether.ed]

If you could find them the Banded Scat (Scatophagus tetracanthus) would make a excellent addition, but they are hard to find

Ah wow never seen or heard of this fish but its exactly what im after, unusual, rare, something you dont see every day, good size without being able to harm other fish. absolutely spot on! Cant belive these things eat poo tho thats just grim! Although they may be hard to find there is an excellent shop i know of that can get hold of most fish on request no matter how hard rare, they seem to specialise in getting hold of the weird and wonderful that i can never find anywhere else. From what i gather if no fisheries supply what they need they send out a list of fish they want and a local fisherman will go out and catch to order.

I hate the fact that the majority of my fish have been pulled from the wild, i dont really think its nice considering the abundance of captive bred species but with unusual tastes like myself there is no other option. I just make a huge effort to do everything i can for them to keep em happy as possible to ease the guilt, lol. I feel the monster tank would have been inevitable even without getting the mbu, i know i can never create the immense volume and roaming area of a river but my god i shall do my best to create something as close to their natural home as i possibly can, 850-1000 gallons will be a good start until i can find an old abandoned sealife center or zoo or something to move into haha!

Excellent suggestion, very impressed by your knowlege of such species, esecially since its such a hard fish to come by, theres not even a wikipedia article on that species (not that wikipedia is my first port of call) very unusual looking for a perciforme, what are the scats like in groups? would they exhibit any agression? from what ive read so far they seem peaceful but is that for an individual specimen or they good in numbers too?

Thanks for that!

Ed

 

[wayne the pain]

Yes they do very well in groups, probably better in groups to be honest.

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwUhs8pdQ8g

 

[ZoddyZod]

very nice tank. Thanks for sharing! Will love to see the future home of Mbu as well. You have to guarentee you'll post that up!

Wayne - I'm giving you the prize of TFF lurker of the decade. Member for 7yrs and only 10 posts. That's quite some restraint you're showing

 

[wayne the pain]

very nice tank. Thanks for sharing! Will love to see the future home of Mbu as well. You have to guarentee you'll post that up!

Wayne - I'm giving you the prize of TFF lurker of the decade. Member for 7yrs and only 10 posts. That's quite some restraint you're showing

Lol, i dont even keep fish at the minute, but i am looking at getting a tank soon. Once you have the fish bug it never leaves you

 

[aether.ed]

very nice tank. Thanks for sharing! Will love to see the future home of Mbu as well. You have to guarentee you'll post that up!

Wayne - I'm giving you the prize of TFF lurker of the decade. Member for 7yrs and only 10 posts. That's quite some restraint you're showing

Lol, i dont even keep fish at the minute, but i am looking at getting a tank soon. Once you have the fish bug it never leaves you

So true! haha!

Mate those tiger scats will defo be on my list, its so refreshing to see fish of this sort of shape and size that isnt a cichlid! And in that vid they are crammed in that tank and i see no chasing or nipping so as you say a group should be good for em maybe 6-8 of them may be a good number?!

Of course, will keep yall posted every step of the way, please bare in mind that this could still be the best part of a year away tho. Its not the tank thats the problem its finding a place id be happy to live which would be able to handle a tank like this. Need a big room with big doors/easy acces for a huge tank and above all things a solid concrete floor that can take well over 3 tons of weight!

Keep those suggestions coming!

Ed

 

[lloyd]

Yes they do very well in groups, probably better in groups to be honest.

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwUhs8pdQ8g

Do these appreciate brackish water like other scats?