Hey there MFK members, long-time no talk. I'll get straight to the point, I'm here today to double check/get opinions on a few stocking ideas for a monster tank I'll be purchasing soon. I have the money set aside, I'm just still undecided on whether I want to go with a 8x3x30 425, a 10x3x30 500, or look for something a little wider. I know for a fact of 2 fish that will be going into this tank, my silver arowana I'm growing out atm, and my ornate bichir I'm currently growing out. I'm also planning on at least a pair of Jaguar cichlids, and 3 Vieja synspilum. Other than that, I was wondering if I could get some other member's opinions on also adding some other vieja (1 or 2 if I could get a pair), mainly argentea, maculicauda, and zonatus. I'd also like to add more 2 more ornate bichirs, 1 congo bichir, and a couple endilicheri. If possible, I'd also love to add either a black arowana or an Australian arowana as well, but I know mixing arowana can be sketchy. Thoughts? Also, the tank, regardless of stocking, is going to be decorated to look natural (so driftwood and river stones but not super densely decorated), and filtration is not a concern as i will be setting up a large sump system with canister filters as well.
Stocking Ideas for my monster tank
- Thread starter Aidan.Kilgore02
- Start date
Stick to carnivores if planning around the arowana, adding in vieja species with aro and bichir may cause problems. Aros and bichirs are carnivores that have problem if fed low protein content whereas vieja species have problems if fed very high protein food. Plus viejas are gluttonous they'll starve out the bichir and the aggressive ones like the argentea, zonatus, maculicuda etc get way aggressive and may harm the aro or the bichir.
I'd suggest getting some good quality severums /geo to go with your aro and bichir.
Or stock it with aro, bichir, oscars and maybe 1 /2 pbass( may be tight in the future) .
Or simply get a nice viejas only community going in the 500 .
?
I'd suggest getting some good quality severums /geo to go with your aro and bichir.
Or stock it with aro, bichir, oscars and maybe 1 /2 pbass( may be tight in the future) .
Or simply get a nice viejas only community going in the 500 .
?
As far as the dietary differences I'm well aware and was already planning on different foods for them and just intentionally feeding the Viejas first, but I certainly appreciate the input and will definitely take all of that into consideration. What are your thoughts on getting either a black or an Australian arowana for that tank as well? Or do you think it'd be too tight with the silver in there?
For algae control you could consider a flagtail Prochilodus. They’re a good odd ball fish that’s gets decently large (14”) and are very beautiful IMO. Edit: could also possibly think of getting a high fin banded shark
Yes that's the bichir I was referring to
I've seen them, think they look really stunning, definitely might look at getting one
I had one for a while, still living (rehomed). They’re extraordinary fish, one of them will clean your tank in a matter of hours and you won’t even notice it eating all the algae. They are so much better than plecos in every way possible. Also for bottom of the tank you could look into a flash zebra catfish or a vulture cat. As for the flagtail, I highly recommend it, you won’t regret it.
I'm sold on the flagtail, not a fan of mixing bichirs and larger catfish personally