What can I do with 470 gallons?

[Quetzel11]

Quick bit of background: about three months back, I got it into my head that I wanted to try building an above-ground pond. The project kind of spiraled out of control from the original idea over the course of the build, but I'm (more or less) done now, and what I've now ended up with is effectively a tropical pond. 7' L, 3' W, 3' D, 2 inches of housing-grade styrofoam insulation all the way around, a further 2 inch air gap, then 1/2 inch pressboard siding over that. Filtration is a 30 gallon plastic drum plumbed up as a sump, running off a 1000 gph inline pump. I'm currently working on a tight-fitting glass lid to cover it up in cold weather, and the goal is to keep it at a minimum of 72F year-round, with some additional insulation and - if necessary - heating, to keep it there even through the winter.

The problem is that I kind of rushed into this without giving much thought into what fish I would actually keep in it. The pond itself works great - water quality is good, temperature is stable, all that - but I don't actually know what to do with it. I'm definitely looking to delve into proper monster fish territory with this setup, but it will be my first time dealing with a project of this scale. The biggest aquarium I've kept prior to this was 150 gallons, with the largest fish in there being a 6 inch african brown knife - so this is a definite jump for me. The current stock in the pond just consists of three ~6 in. moonlight gouramis, and two 3 in. albino senegal bichirs. They were put in two months ago, with the only loss to my knowledge being a third, wild type bichir getting stuck in the filter after the intake guard detached - I haven't added anything since then. The only other fish I have immediate plans to add might be a few snakeskin gouramis, but beyond that I've got no idea what else to with the stocking scheme.

So yet again, I'm here, fishing for suggestions. I'm not generally not a huge fan of cichlids, and whatever I put in there needs to be generally community safe, at least with similarly-sized fish. This being a pond, fish with wider bodies or light coloration would make the most sense, so I'm hesitant to go with things like knifefish of spiny eels - as much as I love them. All that said, nothing is off the table right now.

Anyways, any and all suggestions would be very much appreciated! Apologies if the post ran long; I'm historically bad at keeping things short.

Also, if anyone's interested, I can get out tomorrow to try and get some actual pictures of the setup - I didn't put any in the post because I forgot to take some when it was still light out here.

 

[tlindsey]

Quick bit of background: about three months back, I got it into my head that I wanted to try building an above-ground pond. The project kind of spiraled out of control from the original idea over the course of the build, but I'm (more or less) done now, and what I've now ended up with is effectively a tropical pond. 7' L, 3' W, 3' D, 2 inches of housing-grade styrofoam insulation all the way around, a further 2 inch air gap, then 1/2 inch pressboard siding over that. Filtration is a 30 gallon plastic drum plumbed up as a sump, running off a 1000 gph inline pump. I'm currently working on a tight-fitting glass lid to cover it up in cold weather, and the goal is to keep it at a minimum of 72F year-round, with some additional insulation and - if necessary - heating, to keep it there even through the winter.

The problem is that I kind of rushed into this without giving much thought into what fish I would actually keep in it. The pond itself works great - water quality is good, temperature is stable, all that - but I don't actually know what to do with it. I'm definitely looking to delve into proper monster fish territory with this setup, but it will be my first time dealing with a project of this scale. The biggest aquarium I've kept prior to this was 150 gallons, with the largest fish in there being a 6 inch african brown knife - so this is a definite jump for me. The current stock in the pond just consists of three ~6 in. moonlight gouramis, and two 3 in. albino senegal bichirs. They were put in two months ago, with the only loss to my knowledge being a third, wild type bichir getting stuck in the filter after the intake guard detached - I haven't added anything since then. The only other fish I have immediate plans to add might be a few snakeskin gouramis, but beyond that I've got no idea what else to with the stocking scheme.

So yet again, I'm here, fishing for suggestions. I'm not generally not a huge fan of cichlids, and whatever I put in there needs to be generally community safe, at least with similarly-sized fish. This being a pond, fish with wider bodies or light coloration would make the most sense, so I'm hesitant to go with things like knifefish of spiny eels - as much as I love them. All that said, nothing is off the table right now.

Anyways, any and all suggestions would be very much appreciated! Apologies if the post ran long; I'm historically bad at keeping things short.

Also, if anyone's interested, I can get out tomorrow to try and get some actual pictures of the setup - I didn't put any in the post because I forgot to take some when it was still light out here.

Welcome aboard

I personally suggest adding more Upper Jaw Polypterus aka Bichir. The exception would be the Ornate Bichir they are one of the largest growing and personally had a couple pushy one's. Brown knifefish will be ok with what you have.

 

[Quetzel11]

Welcome aboard

I personally suggest adding more Upper Jaw Polypterus aka Bichir. The exception would be the Ornate Bichir they are one of the largest growing and personally had a couple pushy one's. Brown knifefish will be ok with what you have.

Thanks for the response! I really do love bichirs, so it's good to know other species might work well. I've heard good things about delhezis, but I don't often see them for sale. Are there any other species of upper-jaws I should be keeping an eye out for?

I'm a bit hesitant to add any knifefish though, mainly because they are very thing bodied, and I'm only ever going to see them top down (plus ABKs are quite dark colored, compounding the issue). I also have worries about the temperature with them. I don't think they'd mind the temp to much on it's own, but considering knives are prone to ick even in fairly warm water, and that I won't really be able to effectively heat the pond up past a certain point to treat it, I'd fear for their prospects a bit. Maybe I'm just being paranoid about that though.

 

[Akeno071]

The current stock in the pond just consists of three ~6 in. moonlight gouramis,

Whenever I've read about moonlights ( when I had mine and when I was looking up pick them up again ) the internets always described them as being very skittish and timid. That may be something to consider with your stocking.

 

[sikoko]

Thought about rays? Could always try arowana. But idk if they would fit at their adult size.

 

[Quetzel11]

Thought about rays? Could always try arowana. But idk if they would fit at their adult size.

I've idly wondered about rays, but I know next to nothing about the particulars of the subject. A quick search indicates I could comfortably go for reticulated stingrays, which sound fantastic, but I'd definitely want to wait until next year before I start seriously considering them. If I'm going to shell out the cash for a sensitive fish like that, I want to be 100% certain that the tank is an established, stable environment for them. But rays absolutely seem like a fantastic option for a top-down setup like this, so I'll keep them in mind for sure! I've been looking into arowana a bit, but haven't found a species that is both legal to aquire in my state, and small enough for the tank. I could get my hands on a silver easily enough, but it seems like they'd outgrow the tank pretty fast, and there's no way I'll be able to secure a larger enclosure for them anytime in the near future. It's possible I'm just overlooking something with regards to them, though.

Whenever I've read about moonlights ( when I had mine and when I was looking up pick them up again ) the internets always described them as being very skittish and timid. That may be something to consider with your stocking.

They're definitely skittish, like you say. Worst case scenario, I'll move them to another tank, or rehome them, if it really becomes an issue. The main reason I have them right now is that they were the largest gouramis my LFS had in stock at the time, and I needed some fish in there that would both be unlikely to bother future tankmates, and would be large enough to have the bioload to start the filter without much growout time. They're very nice looking fish, but there's nothing to say they need to be permanent residents, if they do indeed end up not being able to comfortably share space with larger or more vigorous fish.