Large Empty Tank And Thinking Of Oscars.....

[Verminator89]

Lucky then!


I bought mine (ok 2 years ago), for £25 each as a 1.5" specimen. That was the cheapest i could find at the time.


Price aside though, they are still a liability especially with the health problems they are prone to.

 

[Verminator89]

On the subject of the tank after much thought i've decided if this were my tank i'd do one of a couple of things;


1) - I'd make it into a piranha tank. I've always fancied a shoal of some of these beautys.
2) - Convert it to brackish and have a shoal of Mono's and Archer fish. That would be ace.
3) - Go for a big ol' low light, low tech planted tank with wood and java fern + anubias and have an army of true SAE's with Boesemani's and a few angels.

 

[Davo86]

1 x oscar
1 x red spotted severum
1 x frontosa cichlid
1 x BGK
2 x sun catfish (already got these)
1 x pleco (not decided which one yet)
1 x EBJD
1 x Nicaraguense

Even though the Flagtail is on my 'list for the future' I think it is probably the odd one out in the group; being very active and rather skittish, whereas all of the others (except maybe the cats at times) are generally quite graceful and fairly slow moving. Therefore I think if you dropped it from the stocking, the setup could potentially work quite well,

I wouldn't be too worried about the EBJD if you can find one that is around 5-6" which would generally turn out to be quite a strong/healthy specimen if it has survived to that size, that said it may turn out to be the most expensive purchase,

To get an idea of the size of the tank and how the fish would look in this kind of setup it may be worth searching through youtube, IMO 5 medium to large cichlids and then 4 others (which potentially will be hidden much of the time) would be fine in a tank of this size.

This vid shows a 200G tank, not the same dimensions granted but a similar number of species)
200G

 

[rdp50734]

What about 2 x oscars
6 x salvinis
6 x firemouths
1 x Aspredo aspredo
4 x Crenicichla reticulata or Crenicichla sp. Belly Crawler

If oscars are not a must then I would go with a type of vieja instead, argentea or synspillium, green terrors maybe! (I love terrors ), or a group of texas cichlids, or even a group of blackbelts!

 

[mattlee]

On the subject of the tank after much thought i've decided if this were my tank i'd do one of a couple of things;


1) - I'd make it into a piranha tank. I've always fancied a shoal of some of these beautys.
2) - Convert it to brackish and have a shoal of Mono's and Archer fish. That would be ace.
3) - Go for a big ol' low light, low tech planted tank with wood and java fern + anubias and have an army of true SAE's with Boesemani's and a few angels.

1, i did think pirahnas as ive liked them for ages but ive been put off by people who have kept them in the past saying that they become quite dull....
2, this tank was brackish when i first got it and contained archerfish and columbian sharkcats, they have now gone as it just wasnt for me!
2, i think this would look great but i really wanted to make full use of the tanks size and feel if i didnt have big fish then i would soon want to get them.....

 

[mattlee]

1 x oscar
1 x red spotted severum
1 x frontosa cichlid
1 x BGK
2 x sun catfish (already got these)
1 x pleco (not decided which one yet)
1 x EBJD
1 x Nicaraguense

Even though the Flagtail is on my 'list for the future' I think it is probably the odd one out in the group; being very active and rather skittish, whereas all of the others (except maybe the cats at times) are generally quite graceful and fairly slow moving. Therefore I think if you dropped it from the stocking, the setup could potentially work quite well,

I wouldn't be too worried about the EBJD if you can find one that is around 5-6" which would generally turn out to be quite a strong/healthy specimen if it has survived to that size, that said it may turn out to be the most expensive purchase,

To get an idea of the size of the tank and how the fish would look in this kind of setup it may be worth searching through youtube, IMO 5 medium to large cichlids and then 4 others (which potentially will be hidden much of the time) would be fine in a tank of this size.

This vid shows a 200G tank, not the same dimensions granted but a similar number of species)
200G

nelly posted a video of his 5/2/2 and it looked small with big fish inside, mines not that much bigger maybe if i lost the EBJD and flagtail then from what ive read and learnt it might just work
1 of my lfs had EBJD in at about £10 yesterday. it was labelled as a rare colour form and they had 1 left.... they also stocked everything in the list except the Nicaraguense so i could get all of them from the same place. the most expensive being the red spotted severum at £17 for a 3 inch fish. if this was to be the stocking list (which no doubt will change...) then am i better getting smaller fish and letting them grow up together?
from memory the prices were-
oscars - £4.99 about 3.5 inch
red spotted sev - £17 about 3 inch
frontosa - £10 about 3 inch
BGK - £10 about 4 inch
sun catfish £4.50 about 2.5 inch
pleco £? not decided on species yet
EBJD £10 about 2 inch
this lfs is normally quite expensive but they are the only one near me that stock these kind of fish

 

[Verminator89]

I supppose piranhas are quite a bland choice, i just think they are so unique and different looking. I think its the menacing expression they have permanently on them.


Maybe not so much the archer fish in my suggestion, more the monos! They are magnificent.


Its funny how different people class things in different ways. To me a large tank like this full of fewer numbers of bigger variety big fish is a waste, but to you a big tank with lots of less variety of small/mid size fish is potentially a waste. Each to their own as they say. I think the magic of fish gets lost when you keep a bunch of single specimen varietys together. The real magic of fish keeping for me is groups of fish kept together. The bigger tank size would enable you to keep more pairs of firemouths/ellioti in a tank successfully, which most of us can't do due to our tank restraints.


What currently seems to be the most exciting prospect in your head?

 

[mattlee]

I supppose piranhas are quite a bland choice, i just think they are so unique and different looking. I think its the menacing expression they have permanently on them.


Maybe not so much the archer fish in my suggestion, more the monos! They are magnificent.


Its funny how different people class things in different ways. To me a large tank like this full of fewer numbers of bigger variety big fish is a waste, but to you a big tank with lots of less variety of small/mid size fish is potentially a waste. Each to their own as they say. I think the magic of fish gets lost when you keep a bunch of single specimen varietys together. The real magic of fish keeping for me is groups of fish kept together. The bigger tank size would enable you to keep more pairs of firemouths/ellioti in a tank successfully, which most of us can't do due to our tank restraints.


What currently seems to be the most exciting prospect in your head?

i agree with you about the pirahnas, they do look great and the fact that they are potentially dangerous adds a bit of "i want them" in there..... but they dont really do much from what ive been told and read!

i also agree with you that a tank of this size filled with a huge number of cardinals, a few angels, a few discus a big group of corys etc etc would look awesome especially planted. but the way im looking at it is that my next biggest tank is 240L 4FT and contains denisonii barbs, cardinals, super red b/n, otos and in my eyes it looks great as there isnt too many mixed species in there. this tank im happy with for once and i see the big tank a chance to have big fish as none of my other tanks are suitable for anything bigger than what i have already have. not that many people get the chance, due to room, to own a tank of this size and there are many wonderfull species that are just too big for the average tank.

what i was originally planning was just a pair of big fish to keep as wet pets instead of a display tank. ive thought of rescueing a single RTC to give it a better life for a while, pirahnas, small rays, planted com tank, biotopes and now a mixed cichlid set up with a few extras its just so hard to choose between them all..... 1 fish ive always wanted to keep was a BGK as i find them a wonderfull individual oddball fish. since owning a sun cat when i knew no better and was told bad advice ive always wanted them again and this is my chance to keep the cats and BGK. im also looking forward to keeping fish with real personalities like oscars etc, more as a pet than another fish. dont get me wrong i love my current fish, they are wonderfull to watch but there isnt any interaction! does that make sense? ive kept discus not so long ago and as beautifull as they are they didnt really do it for me. this tank im planning is currently in the garage and until we can afford to convert the garage into a kitchen (which isnt going to be soon )it will stay there as we dont have the room in the house so this tank is a 'me' tank as not many people will actually see it unless they ask to or like you guys on here, as im sure many pic requests will be had as normal i dont want to fill it with fish i just want several interactive and stunning fish that hopefully will live in peace together

 

[Davo86]

nelly posted a video of his 5/2/2 and it looked small with big fish inside, mines not that much bigger

Too be fair though the majority of Nellys fish are far bigger and certainly much more active than your current stocking plans,

I mean i have a 5ft 125G with a Severum, Nic, Chocolate cichlid, JD, Green Acara and a lone Geophagus Abalios, and granted they aren't all fully grown yet, (severum, Nic and acara probably are) but there is seemingly room for territories as all live in harmony

 

[Verminator89]

I see where your coming from Matt, i'd just be wary of over doing the stocking because "you can" have them in there. I don't see a focus on your stocking, and thats where i think the essence of a tank gets lost. Ok its just for you to see mainly, and thus can be stocked entirely how you see fit, i'd just be wary.


I think stocking it with big fish in approriate numbers is far more worthwhile than single specimens of a few varietys. You mention your sun cats, BGK and an oscar (or two). I think thats a very good base point to start from. The trouble is deciding between the many amazing fish that can be kept in such a tank. To get the most out of a "wet pet" IMO you need to focus on it somewhat. Your previous lists seems somewhat generalised to alot of fish that you'd "like", albeit the list is to drool over, i think its a bit to broad.


I harp on about the same basic concept. Less is more. I feel like i'm chasing my own tail somewhat


x2-3 Sun cats
x1 BGK
x1-2 Oscar
x10 BIG dithers (no idea what) denisonii? shoal of angels perhaps? [would that work?]
x1 Pleco (even a big ol common would be ace IMO)


That would be my inclination so far from what you've mentioned. The idea of lots of cichlids together singularly is off putting in my mind. I get a headache just imaginging what i'd put in a tank that size lol, possiblities are endless and 100's of ideas all seem amazing. Its just finding that combination that makes you have a huge sigh of "ahhhhh, thats the one"


I need to dig out my fish encyclopedia that i've lost and have a field day browsing through hundreds of possibilities

 

[star4]

You could always just have severums, there are so many to choose from, green, gold, red spot, Rotkeils (got some Rotkeils going cheap )

 

[mattlee]

You could always just have severums, there are so many to choose from, green, gold, red spot, Rotkeils (got some Rotkeils going cheap )

i have been thinking of your fish to be honest.... and your not a million miles away!


does anyone know of a crystal eyed catfish? the reason i ask is that ive just been offered a beauty thats about 20+ inches. jet black with a white tip to the tail fin, absolutely stunning but is it another tank buster? it shares a very small pond with a 8 inch plec at the minute with no problems

 

[Wills]

one of these? http/www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Hemibagrus&species=wyckii&id=639 sounds quite interesting though this bit sounds quite bad

"In general it must be kept alone, as a single specimen. It is highly aggressive and territorial towards any other species, including bigger fish. It will simply kill (or attempt to kill) anything introduced to its tank. It is no better behaved towards conspecifics, either. Adults have even been known to attack their owner, so perform tank maintenance with caution. It should be said that some success has been had keeping it with other large species if this is done from an early age. The situation is entirely unpredictable, though, and much depends on the individual specimen."


HOLY BAJEBUS why have I not thought of these before!! What about doing a group of Gulper Catfish There is a guy on AQ selling 5 adults for a few hundred quid which is a bargain since most of them go for around £1000 each amazing fish with an amazing appitite

 

[mattlee]

one of these? http/www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Hemibagrus&species=wyckii&id=639 sounds quite interesting though this bit sounds quite bad

"In general it must be kept alone, as a single specimen. It is highly aggressive and territorial towards any other species, including bigger fish. It will simply kill (or attempt to kill) anything introduced to its tank. It is no better behaved towards conspecifics, either. Adults have even been known to attack their owner, so perform tank maintenance with caution. It should be said that some success has been had keeping it with other large species if this is done from an early age. The situation is entirely unpredictable, though, and much depends on the individual specimen."


HOLY BAJEBUS why have I not thought of these before!! What about doing a group of Gulper Catfish There is a guy on AQ selling 5 adults for a few hundred quid which is a bargain since most of them go for around £1000 each amazing fish with an amazing appitite

yeah thats the fish i think.... the 1 ive been offered has a white top to the tail fin though. its in an lfs and they want £100 ono. after doing a bit of research maybe its too big for my tank and a bit risky it is a beauty though

 

[mattlee]

im kind of agreeing with verminator on this 1... i think i started out looking for a few large fish and have just listed lots of fish that i would like to have! i dont really want lots of fish, this wasnt the plan. i think ive got a bit carried away as we all do (dont tell me you dont cos i wont believe you )

i really want a BGK and i have the sun cats so they are 100% in the mix. im really liking the frontosa at the minute too for its shape and colours/markings and ive always liked oscars so maybe 1 of each... with a group of shoaling fish that wouldnt get eaten and a plec.

i seem to be changing my mind every day