180 Gallon Freshwater Setup

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Blazeitchris

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 14, 2018
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Houston, Texas
Hey folks,
I now have a 180 gallon tank sitting in my living room and I'm currently pondering stocking ideas. I'll post some pictures of it when I get around to uploading them. I'm planning to paint the back wall black and add another coat of paint to the stand. Probably not going to plant this tank since I'm looking at bigger/messier fish. I'll be using a Fluval FX6 and 406 for filtration, two 200w heaters, black sand blasting sand for substrate, and two 36" Finnex Stingray lights. Very similar setup compared to my last thread.

Any advice is welcomed!

AquStockImage (1).png
 
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If it was me, I'd focus on one of the larger cichlid types and build your tank around them.

For instance, the oscar and ornate bichir would be a good start, but you will need larger, tougher dithers than denisons to hang with those predators. Spanner-t barbs come to mind, as well as silver dollars of the metynnis and myleus genus. I would be tempted to try balas as well, but some would argue they need an even larger tank.

Whats your filter setup? You should be prepared for at least 50% weekly changes when stocking large fish like oscars and bichirs.

Good luck with the setup!
 
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Jexnell, that was a "Classic" reply. I'm still laughing.
OP, maybe stock that tank with a pair of Festae (Red Terrors), a school of a larger variety Silver Dollar and some larger Synodontis catfish.
 
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Jexnell said:
Drop the Roseline sharks, snacks for the O
View attachment 1379786
Click to expand...
I think I get the hint now lmao.

Backfromthedead said:
If it was me, I'd focus on one of the larger cichlid types and build your tank around them.

For instance, the oscar and ornate bichir would be a good start, but you will need larger, tougher dithers than denisons to hang with those predators. Spanner-t barbs come to mind, as well as silver dollars of the metynnis and myleus genus. I would be tempted to try balas as well, but some would argue they need an even larger tank.

Whats your filter setup? You should be prepared for at least 50% weekly changes when stocking large fish like oscars and bichirs.

Good luck with the setup!
Click to expand...
Wouldn't barbs be too small as well for larger predators? I considered silver dollars and balas but their color isn't very attractive in my opinion. For filtration I'll be running two FX5/FX6 canister filters.

Stephen St.Clair said:
Jexnell, that was a "Classic" reply. I'm still laughing.
OP, maybe stock that tank with a pair of Festae (Red Terrors), a school of a larger variety Silver Dollar and some larger Synodontis catfish.
Click to expand...
Would Red Terrors work in this setup? I thought they'd be too aggressive for the other stock.
 
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Blazeitchris said:
I think I get the hint now lmao.


Wouldn't barbs be too small as well for larger predators? I considered silver dollars and balas but their color isn't very attractive in my opinion. For filtration I'll be running two FX5/FX6 canister filters.


Would Red Terrors work in this setup? I thought they'd be too aggressive for the other stock.
Click to expand...

Spanner-t barbs grow 8" and chunky. Tinfoil barbs are another option as they can grow even larger, but are not as attractive imo.

Red terrors would indeed be troublemakers amongst that stock. A pair would dominate the whole tank when fully grown, probably kill any other large cichlids eventually.
 
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adamsfishes said:
Nice one. Is that your image?
Click to expand...

Yes, from my Oscar Toni. She has a tread

Toni and Nemo my albino Oscar's

In this thread I am going to be posting updates on the development of my pair of Oscars. So I started a community tank of cichlid juveniles. My 14 year old son is the one that actually picked Toni and named it. This is the first pic i got of her. She was about 1.5in long. And as all Oscars do...
www.monsterfishkeepers.com www.monsterfishkeepers.com
She is in the great care of Go_redfish Go_redfish now. Living life in luxury.
 
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I kept my Red Terrors with a male Rivulatus (Green Terror) a school of Spotted SD's, a gold Nugget and Royal Pleco and I'm embarrassed to say several African cichlids. I still have the OB Peacock. He has a far worse attitude than the Red Terrors. Lol.20190712_215627.jpg
 
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