Building My 50,000 Gallon Monster Mega Tank
- Thread starter arapaimag
- Start date
Sorry about the delay in answering. At this time of the summer I don't get online as much.Hi Arapaimag how big is that black shark? And how come he did so much damage on the RTs? Competition for the territory? I am very curious about this fish behaviour in such a large tank like yours
Cya!
PS: Do u keep any central american cichlids in the 50k? If so which species you keep? Do they get along with the other monsters?
Bye o/
The black shark (Morulius chrysophekadion)
is 24-26". Their mouth is constructed for eating slimy algae of rocks. When they start eating the slimy skin on big fish they just put holes into the fishes sides. Enough holes and the fish dies from the accumulation of injuries. On redtails the get on top of the larger fish and actually eat holes into the bony plate on the top of the redtails head. The shark actually eats right until it hits the redtails brain. I don't think the shark has any idea of the damage he is doing he just wants to eat. As I mentioned earlier we caught the shark and after a couple of weeks in a 180 it was moved to an outside pond (16 x 8) for the summer.
I have a few central american cichlids in the 5ok+ and they include:
Cichlasoma nicaraguense
Cichlasoma argentea
Herichthys dovii
Herichthys managuense
Herichthys nigrofasciatus
Herichthys octofasciatus
Theraps wesseli
They survive
by using the rocks and drift/bog wood to avoid preditation.Hi Arapaimag, thank you for your explanation, i didnt have the slightest idea of such kind of behaviour from the black shark, that is really a curious (altought nasty) behaviour, and i think you are right the shark might not be doing it to harm the RD, he might just wanna eat (as all the fish doSorry about the delay in answering. At this time of the summer I don't get online as much.
The black shark (Morulius chrysophekadion)
is 24-26". Their mouth is constructed for eating slimy algae of rocks. When they start eating the slimy skin on big fish they just put holes into the fishes sides. Enough holes and the fish dies from the accumulation of injuries. On redtails the get on top of the larger fish and actually eat holes into the bony plate on the top of the redtails head. The shark actually eats right until it hits the redtails brain. I don't think the shark has any idea of the damage he is doing he just wants to eat. As I mentioned earlier we caught the shark and after a couple of weeks in a 180 it was moved to an outside pond (16 x 8) for the summer.
I have a few central american cichlids in the 5ok+ and they include:
Cichlasoma nicaraguense
Cichlasoma argentea
Herichthys dovii
Herichthys managuense
Herichthys nigrofasciatus
Herichthys octofasciatus
Theraps wesseli
They survive
). My passion is for the central american cichlids, unfortunately i have limited space so i can only manage to have 1 individual of each species, from the ones you have mentioned, i currently have the managuense, nigro, octofasciatus, i also have a cople of more fish including a citrinellum and a trimaculatus. For me it is a bit confusing to see some big central america in your tank no the position of prey and not predators (they are predators and very agressive in a 150 gallon but they must get quite small in your tank in comparison with the other giants such as RD and others alike... ). I imagine that a nicaraguense or a nigrofasciatus/octofasciatus which are like 5-10in long should be a candy for the others... have you ever seen a dovii or a managuense preying on those fish or others in that tank? Or being preyed on ? I ve read that dovii and managuense can get quite big, i ve heard dovi could reach +20in and managuense almost the same size (mine is around 11in), isnt that big enough for they to go swimimg "in the arena" or they are still afraid and stick near the rocks? Ah, how big is your biggest dovii/managuense? Can they manage to breed in your tank? Thank you very much for your patience in reading my post, i dont want to be annoying but its just that i would love to see your tank but that is just impossible for me (i live in Portugal, a small country here in europe) so i must rely on your descriptions and your kindness/patience in order to imagine how are the fish behaviour in your gigantic tank
Thank you in advance for your patience,
Best regards,
Fernando, Portugal
Hello Fernando,Hi Arapaimag, thank you for your explanation, i didnt have the slightest idea of such kind of behaviour from the black shark, that is really a curious (altought nasty) behaviour, and i think you are right the shark might not be doing it to harm the RD, he might just wanna eat (as all the fish do
Thank you very much for your patience in reading my post, i dont want to be annoying but its just that i would love to see your tank but that is just impossible for me (i live in Portugal, a small country here in europe) so i must rely on your descriptions and your kindness/patience in order to imagine how are the fish behaviour in your gigantic tank
Thank you in advance for your patience,
Best regards,
Fernando, Portugal
You live in a great country. I have many friends in the aquarium, pet bird and motorcycle hobbies from Portugal (None from basketball though). Best wishes in your next soccer game. I have many friends from all 4 countries in the semi finals, so I guess I can't lose.
I have found black sharks are very dangerous to large fish once they get about a foot long. Beside the big black I also had a 19" gold one also. I tried him in the 50k+. The first 3 months were OK but after that the gold shark was chased whenever he tried to swim in open water. The 24-26" black never left him alone and caused big wounds/bleeding. He was caught in a lucky moment and put into a 500 with a 36"+ african lungfish and a 30"+ alligator gar. He recovered from the wounds then started sucking the scales off the gar and dug huge holes into the side of the lungfish.
He had to be removed and placed in a 180. Both his victims recovered in time.
The cichlids do swim in open water lots of time when I have several lights on in the tank. However they are much more cautious when the lights are dimmed. There are many other scfhooling fish in the aquarium under a foot long (ie african cichlids, barbs, monos,etc).
The 12"+ managuense never appears to be on the hunt in open water but probably captures smaller cichlids among the lava rock. The dovi I received at 7-8" from a DJ"s pet shop because it was killing everything put in its tank.
When I received the dovi I put him into a 180 with a young redtail (16"+-). I worked in the fishroom for about 15 minutes on other tanks and then happened to look over at the dovi's tank. He had ripped the much larger redtail to shreds. I quicky moved the dovi into a similiar sized tank with a 24"+ african lungfish while I berated myself for being so stupid.
I soon realized I was even dumber than I had imagined as the dovi then destroyed the lungfish in less than an hour. He absolutely ripped the lungfishes fins to bits. Damaged the sides of the big lungfish as though someone had tried to fillet him with a knife.
Quickly I moved the dovi to a 50 by himself. I then put medication in both the catfish and the lungfishes tanks and it took 4 to 6 weeks for them to heal and return to normal
This hobby can humble every aquarist (It has me, many times over).
In time I moved the dovi to the 50k+ where upon it's introduction, bit a much larger 12"+ alpha male oscar as he was released on his way down into the 9 foot depths. We just laughed this dovi is not scared of anything.
Within 1 week all five 12"+ oscars had disappeared (They had been in the tank since 2004). I believe the dovi must have chased the oscars out of their territory and left them vunerable to the big Wallego leeri and other predators.
It has been in the large tank about 6 months now and because of the wide open spaces it no longer attacks everything it sees. This dovi is one of the most evil fish I have ever owned. A Mystus(I believe it's Hemibagrus this week) nemurus I got at the 1990 ACA in Chicago and a Mystus (Hemibagrus this week) wyckii ranks with the dovi. I am sure the little dovi would destroy my old 22" dovi in the 15k if they ever met.
It must be a female
.....................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Enjoy your monsters
sir i would like to bow before thee , that must have been lots of mula and time to get that wonderful lake attachment on ur home ....just amazing.......that is my life goal now..lol what is the rough estimate on this wonderful project?
thank you for the wonderful pics
USAFJETTROOP
thank you for the wonderful pics
USAFJETTROOP
Hello Fernando,
You live in a great country. I have many friends in the aquarium, pet bird and motorcycle hobbies from Portugal (None from basketball though). Best wishes in your next soccer game. I have many friends from all 4 countries in the semi finals, so I guess I can't lose.
I have found black sharks are very dangerous to large fish once they get about a foot long. Beside the big black I also had a 19" gold one also. I tried him in the 50k+. The first 3 months were OK but after that the gold shark was chased whenever he tried to swim in open water. The 24-26" black never left him alone and caused big wounds/bleeding. He was caught in a lucky moment and put into a 500 with a 36"+ african lungfish and a 30"+ alligator gar. He recovered from the wounds then started sucking the scales off the gar and dug huge holes into the side of the lungfish.
He had to be removed and placed in a 180. Both his victims recovered in time.
The cichlids do swim in open water lots of time when I have several lights on in the tank. However they are much more cautious when the lights are dimmed. There are many other scfhooling fish in the aquarium under a foot long (ie african cichlids, barbs, monos,etc).
The 12"+ managuense never appears to be on the hunt in open water but probably captures smaller cichlids among the lava rock. The dovi I received at 7-8" from a DJ"s pet shop because it was killing everything put in its tank.
When I received the dovi I put him into a 180 with a young redtail (16"+-). I worked in the fishroom for about 15 minutes on other tanks and then happened to look over at the dovi's tank. He had ripped the much larger redtail to shreds. I quicky moved the dovi into a similiar sized tank with a 24"+ african lungfish while I berated myself for being so stupid.
I soon realized I was even dumber than I had imagined as the dovi then destroyed the lungfish in less than an hour. He absolutely ripped the lungfishes fins to bits. Damaged the sides of the big lungfish as though someone had tried to fillet him with a knife.
Quickly I moved the dovi to a 50 by himself. I then put medication in both the catfish and the lungfishes tanks and it took 4 to 6 weeks for them to heal and return to normal
This hobby can humble every aquarist (It has me, many times over).
In time I moved the dovi to the 50k+ where upon it's introduction, bit a much larger 12"+ alpha male oscar as he was released on his way down into the 9 foot depths. We just laughed this dovi is not scared of anything.
Within 1 week all five 12"+ oscars had disappeared (They had been in the tank since 2004). I believe the dovi must have chased the oscars out of their territory and left them vunerable to the big Wallego leeri and other predators.
It has been in the large tank about 6 months now and because of the wide open spaces it no longer attacks everything it sees. This dovi is one of the most evil fish I have ever owned. A Mystus(I believe it's Hemibagrus this week) nemurus I got at the 1990 ACA in Chicago and a Mystus (Hemibagrus this week) wyckii ranks with the dovi. I am sure the little dovi would destroy my old 22" dovi in the 15k if they ever met.
It must be a female
Enjoy your monsters
Hello Araipaimag,
1st of all thank you for your wishes of GL, actually at the moment i am writing the World Cup has just finished and Portugal ended up in 4th place, thats really nice considering our small country size and after leaving behind nations like england, holland, and big countries like brasil and argentina which have also stayed behind
Italy won btw, and that is good italian people are very friendly two I am also happy to know that you have friends here in portugal and other interests, i would be very happy to receive you if you ever come to portugal, i hope you can come someday you would be most welcomed
Regarding to your descriptions of your tank im really delighted to read them, thank you for all the explanations and stories of your fish extraordinary behaviours.... you must spend hours delighted by just watching swimimng around i imagine... Ah, and i hope your dovii continues to grow, mayeb one day he will be one of the rulers of your tank and get big enough not to be eaten by anyone
Btw, did you ever considered adding one umbriferus to your tank? i saw lots of photos and descriptions of that beautiful ciclhid, i think he gets very big just like the dovii, and he is a swimmer in the open water !Well, i gtg now, its late here in portugal and tomorrow i have to work
If it is not ask to much, maybe we could talk sometime over msn? my msn is fernando_tabanez@hotmail.com, add me if you want or leave your contact and then i will add you
Best compliments,
Fernando, Lisbon
geeez my mom was *****ing at me cause she though my 60 gallon tank was too big.
she'd probably drop a load in her panties if she saw that tank
she'd probably drop a load in her panties if she saw that tank
