250g stocking

[duanes]

I have been watching this thread a long time, and resisted jumping in, because to me, the notion that a 250 gallon tank is a "large tank", large enough for many of the fish suggested seems delusional.
To me 250 gallons is maybe large enough for a pair of P-Bass or, a trio of oscars, and nothing else.
Maybe, as mentioned by some, it could be a temporary grow out tank for some species mentioned, but hardly more than that.
And a tank triple that size for some of these cats, would seem minimal a year or 2 down the road.
Many species mentioned will hardly be able to comfortably turn around in a standard 250 gal in a year, and that doesn't even consider work it will take to maintain their water quality needs of such large fish, in such a small system.
Everything is relative when keeping fish healthy is concerned.
Although a 50 gal tank may be a large tank for 25 cardinal tetras to some, a 250 gal tank for more than a couple P-bass, or aforementioned catfish, is barely a puddle.

View attachment Fish.jpeg

 

[FINWIN]

As someone that’s done it, a sen and an Oscar is definitely a bad idea. It worked for me only because I saw the impending doom and rehomed the Oscar before it happened.

Oscars + worm shaped fish = spaghetti

 

[FINWIN]

I have been watching this thread a long time, and resisted jumping in, because to me, the notion that a 250 gallon tank is a "large tank", large enough for many of the fish suggested seems delusional.
To me 250 gallons is maybe large enough for a pair of P-Bass or, a trio of oscars, and nothing else.
Maybe, as mentioned by some, it could be a temporary grow out tank for some species mentioned, but hardly more than that.
And a tank triple that size for some of these cats, would seem minimal a year or 2 down the road.
Many species mentioned will hardly be able to comfortably turn around in a standard 250 gal in a year, and that doesn't even consider work it will take to maintain their water quality needs of such large fish, in such a small system.
Everything is relative when keeping fish healthy is concerned.
Although a 50 gal tank may be a large tank for 25 cardinal tetras to some, a 250 gal tank for more than a couple P-bass, or aforementioned catfish, is barely a puddle.

View attachment 1529283

Perspective changes for sure once your fish grow. When first I got the 225 I thought it was gigantic...biggest tank I had prior was a 55. But once I started getting larger cichlids and my Oscar grew it now just seems like 'a tank.' Crazy as it sounds there are some days the tank doesn't seem that big anymore but my O has a lot to do with that.

 

[shern]

i see, thank you for your input, i’ll likely make the tank an eel tank or keep only few bass in.

 

[celebrist]

Pim. Blochi and kelberi?

 

[Joshuakahan]

Oscars + worm shaped fish = spaghetti

Haha, exactly

 

[MDM21]

I have been watching this thread a long time, and resisted jumping in, because to me, the notion that a 250 gallon tank is a "large tank", large enough for many of the fish suggested seems delusional.
To me 250 gallons is maybe large enough for a pair of P-Bass or, a trio of oscars, and nothing else.
Maybe, as mentioned by some, it could be a temporary grow out tank for some species mentioned, but hardly more than that.
And a tank triple that size for some of these cats, would seem minimal a year or 2 down the road.
Many species mentioned will hardly be able to comfortably turn around in a standard 250 gal in a year, and that doesn't even consider work it will take to maintain their water quality needs of such large fish, in such a small system.
Everything is relative when keeping fish healthy is concerned.
Although a 50 gal tank may be a large tank for 25 cardinal tetras to some, a 250 gal tank for more than a couple P-bass, or aforementioned catfish, is barely a puddle.

View attachment 1529283

At the risk of sounding stupid here - wouldn’t this also slightly depend on the tanks dimensions/stocking rather than strictly the gallon size? I personally own a 250 wide housing a single Sliver Aro (between 1-2 yrs old) and he still has a ton of room and seems very happy and healthy with plenty of swimming space.
Water quality upkept with 2 FX6 canisters/many live plants and also has around 35” of width.
I also have two large power heads to simulate current in the system in order to keep the sand bed clean and to keep the fish active.

Side note - am not suggesting that this will be an adequate long term solution, but am genuinely curious as the recommended min tank size for Aro’s seems to have a pretty large range depending on who you ask/where you look.