Just picked up a new 80 gal for FREE!

My brother-in-law has some friends who have been cleaning out the house of their father, who had unfortunately passed away. He had a 30 and 80 gallon tank with all the filters, stands, lighting and whatnot. I got the 80 with a Fluval 404 and Marineland Penguin 350. I know it'll be a planted tank like my 30 and 60 and I finally settled on what stock I want.

I had considered just a single Jag or maybe a pair of Oscars but wanted more fish than that. So tell me what ya think of this.

2x Needlenose Gar (Needlefish)
2x Ctenolucius hujeta (Pike Characin)
5x Silver Dollars
2x Pictus Catfish
1x Senegal Bichir

From all the research I've done all these fish should be just fine together. I may need to increase the filtration a bit but I'm pretty happy about getting this going. I'll just have to wait for a bigger tank before I get the sa/ca cichlids that I like. I'll update with pics as I go along.

Snowflake311;4006065; said:

It only an 80 gal that is not big enough for 2 Needlenose Gar. the Ctenolucius hujeta get to be 23" in the wild. I don't think thats a good pick for a 80 gal tank.

One Needlenose gar could work with the rest of the fish. add one more Pictus they do better in groups of 3+.

Pretty sweet deal. I wish I could get a 80 Gal for free.

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The needlenose I'm talking about are Xenentodon cancila, not Lepisosteus osseus. With a max length of 12" I would think an 80 would be fine. Maybe I will stick to one.

I've had a few Ctenolucius hujeta in a 125 but they never got over 10 to 12". Interesting. I already have two Pictus that came with the tank. They're renting space in my 60 for now so I could pick up another once the 80 is cycled and ready to go.

Thanks for the advice.

zpetrichko;4007326; said:

i don't know how everyone person in the world stumbles upon free tanks except me! haha i have 2 "rocket gars" in my 55 and they seem to be doing alright. they grew fast until 6 inches and now they seem to very slowly be growing. what are the dimensions?

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Yeah, that's what mine did when I had them. Went from 2 to 6 inches real quick then slowed way down. Never got over a foot.

The dimensions on the tank are 48.5" X 18.5" X 24". Oh and one of the filters is a Marineland Emperor 400, not the penguin 350. As for getting free tanks its all about who ya know! Other than that, you just gotta be fast when you see those good deals on CL.

So I got the tank filled just to make sure all the filters work and check the level. I need to order a new impeller cover for the Fluval to quite it down. Also need to level the tank out a bit as you can see.



I managed to find a 1/2" board for one end and it leveled out perfectly! I'll get a few more cut to size so the entire bottom will be supported.



After that, I'll be getting sand, rocks, driftwood, plants and more filter media. Can't wait to get it going!

IsdaFish;4015399; said:

LUCKY!

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Thanks!

Oh, BTW. Besides the two Pictus Cats I got with it there was another little guy that I didn't know what it was. He went into my community 30 gal. He's a Marble Goby! Good grief, I'm gonna need a bigger tank down the line or trade him in. It really sucks when people get fish without taking the time to do their research first and get the kind of fish that they can properly house and care for! (Dude I just got an awesome 10gal with a oscar, bala shark and pleco!)

Anyway he's only 2" right and snacking on platies. Fun stuff.