Building My 50,000 Gallon Monster Mega Tank

[DrownedFishonFire]

keeping tally on how many times people offered to give away their fish to be put in the tank?

Just so curious on what was the oddest fish that was offered to you for free?

 

[arapaimag]

keeping tally on how many times people offered to give away their fish to be put in the tank?

Just so curious on what was the oddest fish that was offered to you for free?

Although I have maybe 10 fish that were given to me it only works out to less than one per year in all my 100 plus tanks over the past 17 years.

I never keep track of being asked. The fish I am happiest getting was my planiceps.

 

[arapaimag]

only if i?............ had a basement

You don't need a big basement...........My house doesn't have much of one.

 

[Ocean Railroader]

I a fish tank gallon water program that tells how big fish tanks are and I added up the demensions of this large indoor 1960's hotel swimming pool at the Host Hotel and Resort in Lancaster Pennsyvinia that is 18 feet wide and 30 feet long and is as a avarage depth of five feet if you where to add the three foot shallow end and the nine foot deep end of it togetter.

Your super fish tank would be able to shallow enough water to fill two Lancaster Host Indoor Pools

 

[Zeppelin3k]

Thanks for the update of pics and video. The commentary is very helpful as well!
Your aba aba and electric eel are awesome oddballs!! thanks for the pics!

Have you ever thought of putting the aba aba in one of the bigger tanks? Also do all of those CA cichlids in the 50K reproduce? Seems like there are 1000 of them lol

 

[Zeppelin3k]

Nice looking AUL too! Its cool how you can remember when where and how much you had bought something for over 20 years ago!! Amazing. Do you by chance own any clown loaches? IF so how long have you had them and how big? Im just wondering because i know there slow growers.

Thanks
Zach

 

[arapaimag]

Thanks for the update of pics and video. The commentary is very helpful as well!
Your aba aba and electric eel are awesome oddballs!! thanks for the pics!

Have you ever thought of putting the aba aba in one of the bigger tanks? Also do all of those CA cichlids in the 50K reproduce? Seems like there are 1000 of them lol

Thanks and glad you enjoyed them.

I know some people have had luck with aba aba in community tanks but I only had one experience of an aba aba and a tiger shovelnose together many years ago and it was not nice.

I have fish that could get hurt by the aba and I have fish that could kill and eat it. So for me it is best to keep my little aba aba safe where it is.

The CA cichlids do breed a bit in the big tank and about a dozen of the Paraneetroplus are born in the tank and only about 6" long.

 

[arapaimag]

Nice looking AUL too! Its cool how you can remember when where and how much you had bought something for over 20 years ago!! Amazing. Do you by chance own any clown loaches? IF so how long have you had them and how big? Im just wondering because i know there slow growers.

Thanks
Zach

Yes the Australian Lungfish is very interesting. He was pissed off with me today and very active. He saw me feed some triggers in tanks outside the room he is in and when I passed him by he got very nasty. Later I collected some snails for him along with a load of large trout/catfish pellets and he was happy again.

Yes I do own 15 clown loaches (Chromobotia macracanthus).

I slow grow so mine are not big or very old. Three were bought in 2007 and they are in an 810 gallon community tank (Discus, barbs etc). They are only 4". The rest were purchased in 2008 and 2009 and are 2 to 4" and kept in 180's.

A friend Bill Gibbons has raised CL to 10 to 12" over a four year period. By wc every 3 days and stuffing them with earthworms and trout pellets.

I used to have a good memory but I got hit by a car in my wheelchair and it screwed up the memory. However when you own a pet for a long time it is fairly easy to remember those details. Just like we remember things we learned in grade school like periodic tables, or all the prime ministers or presidents (All 60 presidencies and 57 presidents starting with Peyton Randolph Sept 5 1774) or lines from the great plays Sir Francis Bacon wrote but stupidly gave to William Shakespeare to get credit for.

I record all purchases so it is easy if I do forget a price or store.

Other hobbyists also record all purchases.
Bill Gibbons has a large book with every fish recorded he has ever owned and all the details.

It is the only way to be able to establish the correct age of a fish a person has owned.

 

[bencansdale]

This is literally inspirational.

 

[arapaimag]

A Picture taken by James Martin followed by a picture by Rusty Wessel. This shows the difference in cameras as these were taken seconds apart.

The fish is a Propterus annectens. It's about 20 years old. I got in 2001 from Marian Mc Kiver from the old Arlington pet shop which used to be on Jane Street Toronto and prior to that, in the old Crang Plaza Jane/ Wilson first started in the 1950's by her father on the north side where Sheridan Mall is now and later on the south side off Beverly Hills Drive. She had it in her store for about 10 years prior as a pet. It was housed in 50 to 75 gallon tanks in her store.

It is in a 250 gallon tank now. The first picture has many bubbles caused by a return line from a Fluval FX5 filter. The tank is 2 feet deep and the back glass 48" from the from the front, so you can get an idea of his size. I take this one outside into a 8x8x3 pond most summers. This fish is very prone to developing eye cataracts so the longer you own one the better chance the fish will develop them.

I often breed Pimephales promelas, Poecilia reticulata and/or Carassius auratus in the outside ponds with it. Inside I keep Poecilia reticulata and Xiphophorus variatus in with it.

These fish have an incredible bite so handle them carefully.

They are capable of living out droughts and hibernating in a protective sheath they are able to excrete around their body for periods up to 2 years. One of the oldest family of fishes in the world.

Considered by most hobbyists that own them to be very inactive and they are when kept in small tanks under 500 gallons. I have found them to swim a lot and be very active when kept in larger tanks or ponds.