180 Gallon Amazonian Rebuild

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fishfreak2009

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 25, 2009
694
14
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Michigan
So I'm tearing down my 180 gallon goldfish tank this weekend and turning it into an Amazonian themed tank. The angelfish and stingray currently in my 90 are going to go in it, and so are the angelfish from the 75 gallon. The goldfish will be rehomed in the 90 gallon (there's only 2 of them). I am replacing everything in the tank including decor, substrate (changing the river rock to pool filter sand) and since it's got a sump I can get the heaters in there instead of the main tank. Here's the stocking list. Tell me any other suggestions, ideas, or if anything is wrong with the list. I'm really looking forward to this build! :nilly:
1 Reticulated Stingray*
8 Angelfish********
5 Geophagus
5 Silver Dollar
1 Striped Raphael Catfish
1 Lima Shovelnosed Catfish
 
Should I use pool filter sand or the Quickrete fine white silica sand? Does the quickrete make the water very cloudy? I'm adding the sand to the tank dry, then adding the water over a plate to stir it up as little as possible. I really like the look of the quickrete, but is it harder to keep clean?
 
whatever sand you choose, make sure you clean it out real well before putting it in the tank. That should reduce the clouding. Not sure about quikrete, but the pool filter sand i have doesnt get sucked up by the gravel cleaner, so its easy to clean.
 
I use pool filter sand in my 90 gallon right now and it works very well, but my mom likes the look of the quickrete. Also I forgot to add that I'm putting a Black Ghost Knifefish in the tank as well. Mom won't let me buy an arowana. She says that a 180 gallon is too small for them. I've tried convincing her for years now. I tell her that they are better off in my 180 gallon then in someones 55 gallon (Petsmart says they need a 55 gallon ank on their little chart thing LOL).
 
fishfreak2009;3812599; said:
I use pool filter sand in my 90 gallon right now and it works very well, but my mom likes the look of the quickrete. Also I forgot to add that I'm putting a Black Ghost Knifefish in the tank as well. Mom won't let me buy an arowana. She says that a 180 gallon is too small for them. I've tried convincing her for years now. I tell her that they are better off in my 180 gallon then in someones 55 gallon (Petsmart says they need a 55 gallon ank on their little chart thing LOL).
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That's a lot of tanks. I thought I had a good amount with a 10, 20, 40, 55, 29, and 125. Kudos. I would say an arowana is good to go in a 180 gallon if it is at least 2ft in all directions for a print. I've already made the mistake of keeping a pacu in a 125 gallon for too long. It's pond time.
 
The tank is 6 foot by 2 foot by whatever the height is... I'll have to go talk to her. I can't wait. Draining out all the old water tonight. I bleached it and there's no sign of all the hair algae the goldfish brought in. I'm gonna drain it, refill it and add the chemical used to remove chlorine from aquariums, drain it, then refill it again (I have no chlorine normally in my water because we have a well. Then I'll cycle it with all the biological material from the 90 gallon and my 75 gallon. I decided not to put all the java fern growing in my 90 in there, because it's not biome appropriate. Instead I'll just be adding 10 Amazon Swordplants. Also do you think I could put an oscar and a flagtail prochilodus in with the angels? I don't want shredded angels or an irritated stingray, but I love oscars and think flagtails look interesting. If not I am hopefully putting an oscar in my 125 gallon with 3 blood parrots and 2 green severums (also trying to convince parents into a bichir and some bala sharks for this tank). I could always live without the flagtail if it doesn't get along.
 
She says absolutely no arowana and that they don't belong in a home. :(
However, she also said this about my stingray. :naughty: Oh well, I guess I should be happy enough that she's actually letting me take her prized oranda and ryukin out and putting them in the 90.
 
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