Building My 50,000 Gallon Monster Mega Tank

[Weylin]

Can we have more pics of the cubans... They look awsome..

 

[arapaimag]

Hey,

I was able to load some this time. I tried earlier and was shut out.

These are all I have. The Boulengerochromis microlepis in the pic was replaced with a peacock bass Cichla temensis
that neorodigy gave me in 2006. He has beaten them up recently so I am moving one of the in the future to a different tank.

Will decide when the weather warms up and I might put the bass in a 360 that some of my koi are in now.

 

[arapaimag]

dude when all of your Boulengerochromis microlepis are big enough i would put them in the 15k and see if they would breed

I had a 18" Boulengerochromis microlepis in the 15k once before but he could not handle the stress of the other big fish.

It is a good thought and might try it when I get my babies (approx 14") guys over 20" and remove some of the Dorados and Brycons.

Here is a couple more of the 22" Boulengerochromis microlepis.

 

[Nabbig2]

I would like to but in this tank cichlids are not the Monsters. So they the big ones are harder to photograph. Check out the videos article especially the ones Neoprodigy put up in February. When he puts some of the 15K videos up I believe you will see more cichlids.

Since you like cichlids here is a picture of my Boulengerochromis microlepis in my 800. He is 22"tl (measured) in the pictures Bob Wright took. I have 3 other Boulengerochromis microlepis (wild caught) in the 12-14" tl range in seperate 180's & 225's.

Cool, thanks for the pics. Feel free to post more cichlid pics any time (dovii, etc.)

 

[arapaimag]

The old big Dovi is very much alive and presently protecting a shoal of baby red devils with their parents in the 15k.

Here is a pic of the young male in the 52k. This guy is TOUGH.

 

[Onion01]

hey arapaimag quick question. They say that a fish will never get as big in the tank as it will in the wild due to space, feeding, etc. Do you think with tanks as big as yours, your fish have a chance at achieving their maximum possible size? Like 15' arapaimas and 4' pacus, etc?

 

[arapaimag]

hey arapaimag quick question. They say that a fish will never get as big in the tank as it will in the wild due to space, feeding, etc. Do you think with tanks as big as yours, your fish have a chance at achieving their maximum possible size? Like 15' arapaimas and 4' pacus, etc?

Good question.

I think that some fish already do get bigger in peoples tanks today than they have gotten in the wild in the past century. I think size of tank, filtration and diet are all key to getting max size.

Look at some of the giants that super MFK members like John PTC, Todd 2500g, Ted 2400-8000, Frank 26,000 achieve with all three parameters that I mentioned at the best levels. I don't consider myself in the same league as many of these top MFK members. While my tanks are big I don't think I feed or filter to their levels.

On another note I feel that many MFK are incredible with what they achieve in tanks a lot smaller than mine. I recognize and salute their high level of proficiency.

15' arapaima might be possible with someone as good as John PTC if he had a 100k+ tank (maybe his next conversion) and a further 100 year more life span.

4' pacus I think can be achieved in the Colossoma brachypomum species in mega home tanks. I don't know if Colossoma macropomum or Colossoma oculus can.

Ideally if someone lived in the tropics and could provide a protected habitat like some in Brazil where the lakes/ponds are stocked for fishing is the best chance for achieving the max size of most fishes. Here is the sport fishing world record Colossoma macropomum caught by rod & reel. This is probably not the biggest one ever caught, just the biggest sport fishing and it occurred in 2006.


Date: 2006

English name: Black Pacu

Scientific name: Colossoma macropomum

Method: Sportfishing with rod & reel

Weight: 40 kg (88 lb 3 oz)

Length: over 100 cm (39 inches)

Water: fishing lake Tio Oscar

Country: Brazil

Angler: Mr. Gilberto Chudi Jr.

“Tio Oscar” is a popular, large fishing lake with touristic infrastructure 75 km outside Castelo Branco. Of course not comparable with the wild waters of the Amazon. The lake is well stocked with numerous species and Pacus from 30-40 kg are regularly caught there. Maybe the best water for Black Pacus (Tambaquis) worldwide.

 

[Onion01]

Thanks for the great response! On a side note, have you (or do you) ever considered stocking nile perch, barramundi, or bumblebee groupers? Those are some awesome giants!

 

[arapaimag]

Thanks for the great response! On a side note, have you (or do you) ever considered stocking nile perch, barramundi, or bumblebee groupers? Those are some awesome giants!

I had a nile perch and at about 24" put him in the 15k. For some reason he did not adapt and died after a few months. Sometimes when you have a bully he is shocked when he sees so many other fish just as big as he is and does not take it well.


Barramundi considered but never bought.

Bumblebee groupers ? If it is the saltwater type. Yes I did have one and he got to be about 4 feet and 100lb. I loaned him to a large pet store that had shark feeding nights once a week and he was a highlight in their tank but died when they had filtration problems over night and no one was there to notice it. That was a few years ago.

I only keep 4 small marine tanks now (120's). My pride is my clown trigger and my honeycombe moray eel. Here are pictures my friend Jeff Mountjoy took a week ago.

 

[Onion01]

this guy? li has one