Years ago I was a member here and was fairly active.
At that time I was a slate stone and freshwater Driftwood supplier for the "local" (ONLY one within 100 mile drive) "monster fish" aquarium store.
That is what financed my aquarium & fish budget.
I have/had a 150g tall tank with black sand, and it was stocked with:
(Please forgive the spelling, it's been probably 8 to 12 years and I really am forgetful...)
8" distochodas sexfasciitis
24" clown knife
18" silver arro
18" polypterus endlicherie
26" "ripsaw catfish"
5"-6" African leaf fish
6" silver datnoid
16" florida gar
And a few others I can't remember, including 3-4 chichlids (SA if I remember correctly)
Before the polypterus (his name was "Hoover") & clown knife got so big, I had a shovelnose sturgeon and a freshwater stingray in there also.
The silver arro, clown knife, polyterus, Af leaf, & ripsaw cat, were all < 1"-3" when they went into the tank, and the clown, Af leaf, & a few chiclids were among the first "real fish" added after the cycle was complete...so they were all doing well.
After having the tank for several years I was diagnosed with degenerative joint disease and that slowly ended my HVAC-R career, and my ability to get the Driftwood, so I no longer had the money to replace pumps when they went bad or continue getting the expensive fish.
Then one evening during a storm, the power went out, fried my backup/battery power supply, and stayed out for... Well I can't remember how long now, but it stayed out long enough to kill most of the fish. When we got home, the ripsaw cat & polypterus we're gulping Air at the top of the tank, the gar was "alive" but dying, and by the time the power came back on, the polypterus & ripsaw or the only ones we had saved
By that time, all of my flow pumps had eventually worn out except one, and I had a submersible pond pump sending water to a sump tank on top of the main aquarium, but couldn't afford to replace any of the others.
So needless to say, this was pretty devastating and after bringing the polypterus back to good health, I rehomed him back in the aquarium store he came from (where I used to supply slate and driftwood) and we kept the ripsaw cat for a couple more years, with hopes that someday we could get the tank back to its former glory.
Well that never happened.
A couple years later the ripsaw cat which had reached an easy 26 inches by then, was found floating in the tank one morning.
(My best guess was due to air freshener / cleaning spray that our special needs son had used to clean some shelves beside the tank, the night before,
)
So I drained the tank and it has sat unused ever since.
I didn't have the money and for a while didn't have the heart to do anything else with it.
But now, probably 8 years or more have passed, and I'm certainly not rich but I can get another pump to run through the sump again, and I'm trying to find out what my options are.
I used to have most all the statistics and numbers and data memorized but after that ordeal I think my mind kind of intentionally deleted it.
So I need help confirming some things. (if anybody is still reading by now...)
I already planned to remove everything from the tank, only keeping some of the fake plants and slate stone. I plan to replace the sand with more black sand, and soak the fake plants and slate stone as well as the interior of the tank after I scrub it clean, with "prime" unless there's a better product available these days?
Several years ago I got lucky and purchased from Pet Smart, their largest 2 piece "pirate ship" that normally sells for $175.00 but I got it for $25 because it had been dropped and a mast was broken on each half.
As much as I love the monster fish, I'm thinking that with my limited disability budget and this new "pirate ship" as a great centerpiece, it might be more financially feasible for me to stock the tank with "billions & trillions" of tiny fish, instead of my beloved, but far more expensive... monster fish.
I need to know any suggestions or concerns about making such a switch. I think I'm looking at a pump between 750 to 1500 GPH, to keep a good steady water flow through the sump as that will be it's only source of water movement and filtration.
But I've never kept "tiny fish" (feeder fish?
) in anything bigger than a 20 G, and even then it was back when I was a kid.
So I have no idea what I need to do different for the tiny fish transition. (other than of course, make sure they don't get sucked up in the pump inlet)
When I was a kid, (1980s) "neon tetras" were literally sold as "feeder fish" @ .5¢ - .10¢ each at the only real aquarium shop around. So it was nothing to buy them 20-40 at a time.
If I have to go small, I'd like to do something like that so I can have some large schools of colorful fish going in and out of the pirate ship and plants. (I'll probably also go back to live plants gradually, since there won't be large fish to uproot them every time they move)
But if my last trip into the infamous fish killer known as "PetSmart"is any indicator, the days of ten cent neon tetras are long over.
I will not entertain the thought of 150 gallon tank full of feeder goldfish.
But I would be thrilled if there were fish that existed that would kind of bridge the gap between my love for the monster fish and my need for the cheaper "tiny fish".
The idea of having 150+ neon tetras along with a bunch of other tinies, is acceptable to me. But not at PetSmart prices...
So along with advice for pump / filtration issues and the transition from monster to tiny fish, or any other issues when they find with the setup I'm describing, I would love to have suggestions for the smalls, that aren't quite as dull and common as "a bunch of guppies."
Ever since I was a kid I wanted a massive tank that looks like a miniaturized ocean floor or lake bed, with hundreds of fish swimming through plants, shipwrecks, etc.
But it absolutely has to look as realistic as possible.
I'd rather not even have an aquarium if I have to be stuck with Goofy colors and glittery mermaids beside bubbling treasure chests sunken "no fishing" signs & the other typical cartoonish "hobby aquarium" stereotypes.
But if I could discover some really interesting and unique tiny fish , that I can stock in Mass numbers in this 150 tall, it would be a really good compromise to the monsters i REALLY want.
So please help this old man out folks!
At that time I was a slate stone and freshwater Driftwood supplier for the "local" (ONLY one within 100 mile drive) "monster fish" aquarium store.
That is what financed my aquarium & fish budget.
I have/had a 150g tall tank with black sand, and it was stocked with:
(Please forgive the spelling, it's been probably 8 to 12 years and I really am forgetful...)
8" distochodas sexfasciitis
24" clown knife
18" silver arro
18" polypterus endlicherie
26" "ripsaw catfish"
5"-6" African leaf fish
6" silver datnoid
16" florida gar
And a few others I can't remember, including 3-4 chichlids (SA if I remember correctly)
Before the polypterus (his name was "Hoover") & clown knife got so big, I had a shovelnose sturgeon and a freshwater stingray in there also.
The silver arro, clown knife, polyterus, Af leaf, & ripsaw cat, were all < 1"-3" when they went into the tank, and the clown, Af leaf, & a few chiclids were among the first "real fish" added after the cycle was complete...so they were all doing well.
After having the tank for several years I was diagnosed with degenerative joint disease and that slowly ended my HVAC-R career, and my ability to get the Driftwood, so I no longer had the money to replace pumps when they went bad or continue getting the expensive fish.
Then one evening during a storm, the power went out, fried my backup/battery power supply, and stayed out for... Well I can't remember how long now, but it stayed out long enough to kill most of the fish. When we got home, the ripsaw cat & polypterus we're gulping Air at the top of the tank, the gar was "alive" but dying, and by the time the power came back on, the polypterus & ripsaw or the only ones we had saved
By that time, all of my flow pumps had eventually worn out except one, and I had a submersible pond pump sending water to a sump tank on top of the main aquarium, but couldn't afford to replace any of the others.
So needless to say, this was pretty devastating and after bringing the polypterus back to good health, I rehomed him back in the aquarium store he came from (where I used to supply slate and driftwood) and we kept the ripsaw cat for a couple more years, with hopes that someday we could get the tank back to its former glory.
Well that never happened.
A couple years later the ripsaw cat which had reached an easy 26 inches by then, was found floating in the tank one morning.
(My best guess was due to air freshener / cleaning spray that our special needs son had used to clean some shelves beside the tank, the night before,
)So I drained the tank and it has sat unused ever since.
I didn't have the money and for a while didn't have the heart to do anything else with it.
But now, probably 8 years or more have passed, and I'm certainly not rich but I can get another pump to run through the sump again, and I'm trying to find out what my options are.
I used to have most all the statistics and numbers and data memorized but after that ordeal I think my mind kind of intentionally deleted it.
So I need help confirming some things. (if anybody is still reading by now...)
I already planned to remove everything from the tank, only keeping some of the fake plants and slate stone. I plan to replace the sand with more black sand, and soak the fake plants and slate stone as well as the interior of the tank after I scrub it clean, with "prime" unless there's a better product available these days?
Several years ago I got lucky and purchased from Pet Smart, their largest 2 piece "pirate ship" that normally sells for $175.00 but I got it for $25 because it had been dropped and a mast was broken on each half.
As much as I love the monster fish, I'm thinking that with my limited disability budget and this new "pirate ship" as a great centerpiece, it might be more financially feasible for me to stock the tank with "billions & trillions" of tiny fish, instead of my beloved, but far more expensive... monster fish.
I need to know any suggestions or concerns about making such a switch. I think I'm looking at a pump between 750 to 1500 GPH, to keep a good steady water flow through the sump as that will be it's only source of water movement and filtration.
But I've never kept "tiny fish" (feeder fish?
) in anything bigger than a 20 G, and even then it was back when I was a kid.So I have no idea what I need to do different for the tiny fish transition. (other than of course, make sure they don't get sucked up in the pump inlet)
When I was a kid, (1980s) "neon tetras" were literally sold as "feeder fish" @ .5¢ - .10¢ each at the only real aquarium shop around. So it was nothing to buy them 20-40 at a time.
If I have to go small, I'd like to do something like that so I can have some large schools of colorful fish going in and out of the pirate ship and plants. (I'll probably also go back to live plants gradually, since there won't be large fish to uproot them every time they move)
But if my last trip into the infamous fish killer known as "PetSmart"is any indicator, the days of ten cent neon tetras are long over.
I will not entertain the thought of 150 gallon tank full of feeder goldfish.
But I would be thrilled if there were fish that existed that would kind of bridge the gap between my love for the monster fish and my need for the cheaper "tiny fish".
The idea of having 150+ neon tetras along with a bunch of other tinies, is acceptable to me. But not at PetSmart prices...
So along with advice for pump / filtration issues and the transition from monster to tiny fish, or any other issues when they find with the setup I'm describing, I would love to have suggestions for the smalls, that aren't quite as dull and common as "a bunch of guppies."
Ever since I was a kid I wanted a massive tank that looks like a miniaturized ocean floor or lake bed, with hundreds of fish swimming through plants, shipwrecks, etc.
But it absolutely has to look as realistic as possible.
I'd rather not even have an aquarium if I have to be stuck with Goofy colors and glittery mermaids beside bubbling treasure chests sunken "no fishing" signs & the other typical cartoonish "hobby aquarium" stereotypes.
But if I could discover some really interesting and unique tiny fish , that I can stock in Mass numbers in this 150 tall, it would be a really good compromise to the monsters i REALLY want.
So please help this old man out folks!
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