8'x4'x2' for Coldwater Oddballs

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
We are considering yellow bass and similar fishes to go in there - it seems to me that members of moronidae do fairly poorly in aquaria for some reason.

The sterlet gets pretty big - 50" and I dont think it is as cool as the shovelnose.
 
You will love the dimensions. I wanted to do cold water but the cost of a chiller would b nuts, I wanted chain pickerel, bass, walleye, and black crappie, whatever you do, enjoy it great dimensions
 
you could try redhorses. they get pretty sizeable for local species and some of the larger ones look very nice. another option is freshwater drum or lake whitefish.
 
The carp is already in the tank. There is no way I am getting rid of him, have had him since he was a fry. (Adorable) He is staying.

Everything else will most likely be in grow out till I think its big enough to run with the big dogs. I wont be getting anything over 10" to start with. I like to raise my monsters from babies.

Okay, just remember that the carp is going to be a poop machine once it gets big; if anything, I'd replace it with a mirror carp if you're set on having a carp in there and just keep this one elsewhere.

Get the eel and Chinese hi-fin on the larger side since they grow pretty slow if my memory serves me right. The eel could be grown out in a brackish or saltwater environment in order to speed up its growth (apparently they grow twice as fast in those environments).

you could try redhorses. they get pretty sizeable for local species and some of the larger ones look very nice. another option is freshwater drum or lake whitefish.

I wouldn't trust redhorses since they're basically the North American equivalent of a pleco and might suck on their tankmates' slime coats.
 
You will love the dimensions. I wanted to do cold water but the cost of a chiller would b nuts, I wanted chain pickerel, bass, walleye, and black crappie, whatever you do, enjoy it great dimensions

Well this tank should be "cool water" we are thinking of doing a frige chiller - and we have a couple super old ones, but it wont be anything fancy. Like I said, if anything just a small cooler chiller to keep it a little cold.

I am super excited.

That being said - I dont get why 1/8" wont work for the bottom? Especially if it is on plywood with a back bracing of 2x4? The rest of the tank will probably be 1". Planning to brace the top as much as possible as well.

you could try redhorses. they get pretty sizeable for local species and some of the larger ones look very nice. another option is freshwater drum or lake whitefish.

I wont keep any members of catostomidae. They have been too much of a pain in my rear for too long. Freshwater drum is already on the list - whitefish are kinda spazzy and I dont know how I would get one.

Okay, just remember that the carp is going to be a poop machine once it gets big; if anything, I'd replace it with a mirror carp if you're set on having a carp in there and just keep this one elsewhere.

Get the eel and Chinese hi-fin on the larger side since they grow pretty slow if my memory serves me right. The eel could be grown out in a brackish or saltwater environment in order to speed up its growth (apparently they grow twice as fast in those environments).



I wouldn't trust redhorses since they're basically the North American equivalent of a pleco and might suck on their tankmates' slime coats.

You forget that I have an army of volunteers to do h2o changes. I do h2o changes already on our 120g native tank - at least once a week, and as big as I can make them. (No less than 50%) Not to mention I have a HUGE pump for this setup - filtration should be pretty hoss.

Hmm - interesting to know about the eel. I have no idea how I will get one, but I NEED it. This tank will not be complete without one. Our highfin died the other day - no idea why. I had gotten him eating (I thought?) Algae waffers were dissappearing and he was suckering around after I dropped in crumbed up pellets and flakes.

Water was a little cloudy - maybe I overfed? With how our h2o changes are though, I have a hard time imagining h2o quality could be that bad.
 
maybe if you can find big ones a school of semotilus corporalis would look nice assuming your predators are not full size when you get them.
 
Anything that schools in this tank will be getting tagged I imagine. Gars will be over a foot once this tank is constructed easily.
 
Hmm. Yea interesting. I know very little about those fish - what would you feed them? I doubt they would have troube adjusting to our custom sinking gamefish food - but you never know. I have issues with these "smaller" fish sometimes.
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com