I wan't something terrifying, yet harmless...

[Paul_MTS]

Siamese Tigers are great!, such a litle charater and there hunting skill are supreme like dan said, so funny how they choose the peice of food thats going to keep them weighed down for days!

Bichirs/Polypterus are along my favourites, depending on what other fish you want you may want to go for a smaller species thatn the ornate which grows to 24". There's plenty of species which only get to around 12-14" yet still beutiful. These fellas will down quite a few lance fish in 1 sitting when of a descent size of aorund 1ft.

Eels are very nice, My peacock spiny eel is the most active although the smallest growing at aorund 10" so would b a snack to the ornate bichir. My fire eel will come out alot at night when it's feeding time confidently and hand feeds even. Although my favourite is my tyre track, his pattern is awesome and like the siamese tiger he wolfs down large bits of food. Except he is quite a rare site to see out of his tube.

Another one to consider might be the black ghost knife fish, quite funny in there movement but are stunning fish once they reach 8" or so.

 

[astroboy]

If you can get a hold of the lower jaw bichirs (lapradei, endlicheri, e. congicus), they would make a great addition to your tank.

This is an endlicheri

This is a lapradei

and i don't have a congicus ,but they are very similar to endlicheris (fainter and thinner stripes)
They do get large, eventually hitting > 30"

 

[Fishy411]

not an oddball but take a look at the spotted or striped raphael catfish. Spiky, evil looking, has armor. mine hides all day under a rock but is active at night.

if youre intent on an oddball i would suggest any species of bichir. my senegal is very active but if you looked at it you would probably ask if it would eat my other fish. that is if you didnt know about it.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

please remember though that most of our suggestions are quite predatory and will inhale any fish under 2". so that means no smaller tetras, no guppies or platys, no dwarf gouramis, no juevenile fish. its not a huge deal, you just need to be aware of it.

and if you're still thinking "maybe" on brackish, there is a limited number of plants that will thrive in a brackish environment. most will simply disentegrate and be yucky. you'd need to do wood/rock decorations and silk plants in a brackish tank.

 

[logan89]

What about a payara? I can't find much info on the sucker yet, but I haven't really looked hard yet...

Is 250gal big enough for that thing?

Also, I think a fire eel, and a birchir or 2 will be plenty, and just what I wanted, so thanks for that info.

Also, I may just get some fish, let them grow to a decent size (3-4"?) and then throw the meanies in there...or should I just introduce them all to each other in one short period of time?

Anyways, great fish suggestions so far guys.

Oh, and forget brackish...alot of people said its not the best thing for a complete novice to start with, so i'll just move my way up eventually if I wish.


Thanks again, great info guys,

-Logan

 

[Earthgirl]

Why can I see this being my son in ten or so years......
Have you thought of rays?
I just love mine.
You could keep them with a birchir since the others have seem to have you set on them.
Also, I saw these Lung Fish in the store, UGLY looking little buggers, maybe someone here has some insight.......


Anyways, with a 250 you should have fun, cause I sure had fun with a 230 (although hubby HATES my choices)

 

[SirMinion]

I would go with the dragon goby too, I have a small one at the moment and you cant see its teeth, but I am sure SirMinion will post a pic of his.

Your wish is my command...

This is quite an old picture, his teeth are bigger now.
I'll try and get a new toothy picture sometime soon.

 

[logan89]

Super nice...

Heard dragon gobys can be dangerous to my other fishies...fact, fiction?


Oh, and i'm not set on anything...I could end up going with 5,000 guppies and gold fish
It will be another 3-5 months before I get the tank populated.

I have to reinforce my floor, buy filter, heaters, and all that jazz. Also a hood is going to cost me out the a$$, a 72x18 is like $205. My tank is somewhere around 84x24", or am I supposed to buy two hoods? still have no clue, i'm just too involved in teenage summer activities right now, however I have gotten $120 saved up after only a week. I made my own little fish fund...

Oops, getting off topic, but all these fish you guys are shwoing me are fantastic, the lung fish is repulsive, should do nicely

Thanks for all the comments, and nice dragon goby SirMinion, anyone else have pictures of their nasty looking fish?....

-Logan

 

[SirMinion]

Heard dragon gobys can be dangerous to my other fishies...fact, fiction?

Big fat fiction.

They wouldn't even eat livebearer fry on purpose.

 

[logan89]

Lol, thats good news.

 

[CFC]

My advise on payara is stay well clear, they are damn near impossible to keep alive in captivity with 99% of them suddenly dying for no reason even when appearing apperently healthy. I bought two, managed the rare feat of getting them to take frozen food so they had a good varied and regular diet, grew them from 4" to 8" and then after 6 months they both keeled over and died in the space of a week

Lungfish are one fish per tank fish only, when adult their jaws can break a mans arm, imgine what that does to fish They are super mean predators that consider anything in their tank to be food, including your hand if your not carefull.

 

[logan89]

Break a grown mans arm? Lol, that's crazy man....

About rays, i'll check them out.

Thanks for all the info. guys.

-Logan

 

[astroboy]

My advise on payara is stay well clear, they are damn near impossible to keep alive in captivity with 99% of them suddenly dying for no reason even when appearing apperently healthy. I bought two, managed the rare feat of getting them to take frozen food so they had a good varied and regular diet, grew them from 4" to 8" and then after 6 months they both keeled over and died in the space of a week

Lungfish are one fish per tank fish only, when adult their jaws can break a mans arm, imgine what that does to fish They are super mean predators that consider anything in their tank to be food, including your hand if your not carefull.

I've heard it may be due to the fact that they live in fast flowing water, and most people who own them keep them in normal tanks. I've heard many times of them dying for no apparent reason at the 12" mark.

Very cool fish though, i would give it a try

 

[CFC]

I've heard it may be due to the fact that they live in fast flowing water, and most people who own them keep them in normal tanks. I've heard many times of them dying for no apparent reason at the 12" mark.

They were in my 200g which has 3 eheims running at 1000lph each and two 1200lph powerheads which creates a fair bit of current as the majority of my larger fish come from large powerfull rivers and appreciate some water movement. It was almost like they just gave up wanting to live, the first one went to the bottom where it laid on its side for two days before dying and the second one followed suit a few days later, there were no external signs of disease and up to that point both fish had been feeding well. I dont think i'd try them again, its just too upsetting to have a fish do great for months and then just drop dead on you.