Building My 50,000 Gallon Monster Mega Tank
- Thread starter arapaimag
- Start date
Turkey and christmas pudding????????Are the fish also going to get a christmas meal ?
I actually stick to my month long daily/feeding schedule for all my fish right through holidays. The 2 big tanks are scheduled for a Martin's pellet meal on the 25th. It will consist of a mixture of trout, catfish and koi pellets. Floating and sinking consisting of 2mm to 7mm in size. The other 100 plus tanks will get Hikari bloodworms, Jako herring and cocktail shrimp. Baby/grow up fish like Benthochromis tricoti, Nandopsis haitiensis, Ophthalmotilipia ventralis etc will get tetra granules and tetra/wardley flake. Fish like Campylomomyrus alces, C. cassaicus, C. rhynchopterus, Gnathonemus tandua, G. petterii, Indostomus crocidilus, Hypancistrus zebra etc. normally get finely crushed herring (I use a mortar and pestel), two feedings of bloodworms, fine flake ( any of the several I feed) and a few small sinking pellets.
On the 26th the big tank is not scheduled for a feeding. The other tanks however will get Tetra Crisp flakes/ Tetra granules, Wardley flakes,small hikari cichlid pellets (where appropriate), Hikari betta pellets, Massivore pellets, a serving of herring to just Hydrocynus vittatus, Hydrocynus goliath, Wallago atu, Phalacronotus bleekeri, Platysilurus mucosus, Zungaro zungaro and a couple of others.
Several fish are fed Macrobrachium lanchesteri a small shrimp like animal found in Thailand/Viet Nam. I find fish like my Mastacembelus erythrotaenia, Apterontus albifrons, Lepidosiren paradoxa, Platystomatichthys sturio, Tetraodon mbu, Colomesus asellus, Mystus bicourti and all cichlids really fatten up on these so they are fed on Mondays and Friday the shrimp.
Have a happy sun filled holiday in fantastic South Africa and best wishes to you and all MFK for a great new year.
Thank you for giving such detailed responses to my fish questions! Your tank is just so unique it spawns many unique questions.. I sometimes day dream which leads inevitably to thinking about monster fish and the mecca of monster fish keeping is your tank. I wanted to know if you've even seen any of the anguila eels since you put them in since I know they prefer to hide. Also will the aba aba enter the big tank ever?/Have you ever had a fish that couldn't go into the 52k due to agression? And finally have you ever thought of putting a Goliath African Tiger fish in there? Your one of the few who could do it properly and they are beautiful fish when large. The yellowcheek predatory carp would look impressive at full size in there also.
Thank you and have a great holiday season-Ryan.
I saw them a few times in the late 90's. Then once again in March of 2000 when Stuart Grant and Ad Konings were visiting me. Here is a pic of the late Stuart Grant (Lake Malawi exporter) taken in March 2000 using a remote control submarine equipped with dual cameras in my big tank.
The fellow sitting and watching is Neil Burgess (African Fish Zone..Guelph Ontario) a fantastic cichlid breeder.
After that I did not see any till the smallest one was dying in 2008 at 39".
I will never add the Gymnarchus niloticus to the big tank. I would have trouble feeding it and the potential that it might be eaten, injured or killed is very great. Although it is over 36" it has a very slender build. The Wallago's are a great threat to that shaped fish. The G. niloticus has very poor eyesight and only the Sachs organ which is not used for defence only for navigation and locating prey/food.
Agression?
A fresh water Carcharhinus leucas would interest me but it would be toooooooo aggressive don't you agree?
Have thought about it but if I do grow the Hydrocynus goliath and vittatus I have now up to the 20" plus range they are more likely to go into the 15k. I have 12 or so big Brycon guatemalensis (some are 26" 66cm) in the 52 and they are a lot tougher than the ATF in actually having a rumble.
I do have a dorado (Salminus brasiliensis) in the 15k and might have to move him first as he might also cause a problem if they were to fight.
H. goliath and H. vittatus in my experience are great predators but not great fighters.
Funny you should mention it. Found this site on web, and according to them the Goliaths aren't bad fighters "well against a barracuda anyway".
http://www.wildanimalfightclub.com/lion-fight-tiger-vs-gorilla-attacks/?Tag=Tigerfish%20Fight
http://www.wildanimalfightclub.com/lion-fight-tiger-vs-gorilla-attacks/?Tag=Tigerfish%20Fight
I find that the Hydrocynus I have had are very skitterish and although they are tough among themselves they are very delicate when receiving bites from other fish. They also are easily injured and seem to lose scales easily, just bumping into plants or other objects. Perhaps when they are large they are a lot tougher but since I have never even owned one that reached 20" yet I can only relate to my own experiences.
I know that you are very restricted in what fish are legally owned in South Africa. I don't think from the list I saw on your South African fish forum that you can keep Hydrocynus as pets. Is that right?
