Help me get started in this awesome hobby.

[Beast020]

I don't want to do things wrong or get stuck with fish I will have to get rid of because they have out grown my tank. However i do want the biggest fish that will last in my tank.

So I have a 100 gallon I am fixing and am trying to plan out right now (I have another thread on it).

Plan so far, let me know if something doesn't make sense/work:

3-4 crayfish what ever is in my 3 acre tank/pond out back.

2 bullhead catfish the smallest species.

A group of blue gills/sun fish possibly caught out back as well if I can catch them small enough. (I have heard these will out grow my tank, do they really get that big? have also heard these are cold water but they live in our huge pond out back?)

Possibly some species of pleco?

I want a few plants but definitely don't want it heavily planted.

Any change suggestions? Any additional fish that would work? Alternative to the blue gills that would work?

Also what are just in general some big fish i can keep in a tank this size?

I have a second 50 gal tank I was thinking would be good to keep feeder minnows caught from out pond? This can also be used as a quarantine tank till the big tank is stocked if needed. Also if crayfish wont work in the 100 gal tank I may use this to keep some crayfish.

What are y'all thought on this? I'm open to ideas and suggestions I'm brand new to this.

 

[Go_redfish]

Bull head will eat your sunfish. In an enclosed aquarium its just a matter of time. Also if you are going to keep local wild caught, check your local fish amd game laws to see what is legal to have. Some species are unlawful to harvest for captivity. Get some good parasite meds too coz wild fish will have them and get quickly overrun in an enclosed tank

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Bullheads should be smaller than the sunfish,forget the crayfish.

Wild caught feeders would be cool.

In your tank I'd go with:1 or 2 bluegill,1or two bristlenose plecos,either one yellow bullhead or a stonecat,or a eclipse catfish, and then some aquatic plants in the back and on the ends. Plus any minnows they'll tolerate as dithers/food.

Bluegill are classified as temperate fish,and tolerate a very wide range of water temps,with their distribution being nearly worldwide including the u.s,Mexico,s.america,cuba,hawaii,Japan,Europe ,Africa,Malaysia and elsewhere

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

How big do sunfish get? There are some at my local aquarium and those suckers are huge, 12" easily.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

How big do sunfish get? There are some at my local aquarium and those suckers are huge, 12" easily.

Depends on species, smallest is Pygmy sunfish,biggest is largemouth bass.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

You can also collect cool driftwood for your tank,old stumps that wash into the water are cool

 

[Beast020]

So much help thank you all for the reply's

Bullheads should be smaller than the sunfish,forget the crayfish.

Wild caught feeders would be cool.

In your tank I'd go with:1 or 2 bluegill,1or two bristlenose plecos,either one yellow bullhead or a stonecat,or a eclipse catfish, and then some aquatic plants in the back and on the ends. Plus any minnows they'll tolerate as dithers/food.

Bluegill are classified as temperate fish,and tolerate a very wide range of water temps,with their distribution being nearly worldwide including the u.s,Mexico,s.america,cuba,hawaii,Japan,Europe ,Africa,Malaysia and elsewhere

Why forget the crayfish just too destructive?

those catfish all should stay a smaller size?

What are some other plecos that wouldn't get to big or are there any?

I like what you laid out for me there.

 

[Beast020]

You can also collect cool driftwood for your tank,old stumps that wash into the water are cool

I was thinking about that as well

 

[Beast020]

Bull head will eat your sunfish. In an enclosed aquarium its just a matter of time. Also if you are going to keep local wild caught, check your local fish amd game laws to see what is legal to have. Some species are unlawful to harvest for captivity. Get some good parasite meds too coz wild fish will have them and get quickly overrun in an enclosed tank

Thank you I have looked into the laws of my area and should be good.

What would be some good parasite meds?

 

[Deadliestviper7]

So much help thank you all for the reply's



Why forget the crayfish just too destructive?

those catfish all should stay a smaller size?

What are some other plecos that wouldn't get to big or are there any?

I like what you laid out for me there.

Crayfish will eat all your plants and may get eaten.

There are a lot of cool plecos out there: clown plecos,zebra plecos,chocolate plecos, there is also something called a royal farlowella.
I would also get a large snail or two.
All the catfish I mentioned are small enough you can keep them, but big enough to not get eaten