130 gallon redo

[Bertie07]

So after constantly changing my mind on what I wanted in my 130 gallon tank I've decided to sell all the fish and completely change it, the dimensions are 72Lx18Wx24H.
Now for the stocking im open to any suggestions all I want is it to be interesting and focus around one fish probably maybe an Oscar but open to any suggestions thanks

 

[Covetous]

So you want a wet pet solo? Or you want one center fish, with a surrounding cast?

 

[Bertie07]

One center fish with a surrounding cast

 

[Audaxcity]

1.
-a big male green terror or jack dempsey
-a pair of some smaller cichlid(blue acara, firemouth, salvini) or some chalceus.
-a bichir or pleco.

2.
-a pair of geophagus brasiliensis, festaes, buttikoferi, etc
-bichirs or plecos.

3.
-clown knifefish or some medium sized snakehead
-bichirs, plecos, wolffish

The supermarket idea:
-Nile Tilapia (they have bright pink varieties)
-A bunch of swamp eels in sand substrate. Or maybe a marble goby.

 

[Bertie07]

I like the idea of a butterkoferi but would a pair work in that tank and most people say they can’t be with other fish

 

[Gourami Swami]

Buttikoferi I can't imagine a pair working in a 130. I have kept a large male, he was insane. Plus, it's debatable whether the 130 would even be large enough for a single male for life.

I would do something like- Oscar and a group of smaller SA cichlids of one species. Guianacara Gaeyi would be a good choice, or Geo. Redhead Tapajos. 5-6 of them plus the Oscar would fill the tank up. And you would get to have the best of both worlds; big wet-pet fish, and a group to watch the interactions and hierarchy.

 

[Bertie07]

I like the sound of the oscar and geos but what are the alternatives to geos and guianacara as I would like to have fish in this tank that I haven’t had before,could I have a large catfish as well like synodontis angelicus or is that too much

 

[Gourami Swami]

I like the sound of the oscar and geos but what are the alternatives to geos and guianacara as I would like to have fish in this tank that I haven’t had before,could I have a large catfish as well like synodontis angelicus or is that too much

Could probably squeeze an angelicus in, though your tank with this stocking plus the catfish will be heavily stocked and require plenty of maintenance. So if you don't mind 2 WC a week for example, go for it. If you can't see yourself doing more than 1, I would stick to a lighter stock, maybe just the O and catfish, or the O and 3 smaller fish.

Some alternatives to geos/bandit:
Blue acara
Biotodoma Cupido or wavrini
Rainbow cichlid (Central American but behaves more like a SA cichlid)
These fish would work in a small group like 1m/3f, or a pair if you get them bonded.

 

[Toiletcar]

1.
-a big male green terror or jack dempsey
-a pair of some smaller cichlid(blue acara, firemouth, salvini) or some chalceus.
-a bichir or pleco.

2.
-a pair of geophagus brasiliensis, festaes, buttikoferi, etc
-bichirs or plecos.

3.
-clown knifefish or some medium sized snakehead
-bichirs, plecos, wolffish

The supermarket idea:
-Nile Tilapia (they have bright pink varieties)
-A bunch of swamp eels in sand substrate. Or maybe a marble goby.

All these options sound like a bit much except # 1.

 

[Audaxcity]

OK so I kind of got off track with the Butti, and supermarket ideas. But I don't see how the others won't work out.

Sorry about the clown knife. That was a typo. I wanted to write ghost knife but I was thinking about clowns when I wrote that list so whoops.