180 gallon stocking help and tank maintence

[AnthonyFish20]

2 oscars
1 lima shovel nose
1 red pike cichlid
5-8 tiger Silver dollars more if allowed
will have fluval canister filter the guy said fluval 500 tht it comes with
also will add a hob and a cascade1000
for 100 gallons
so should be plenty of filtration
I have some of the fish already 3 tiger striped silver dollars
the oscars and the shovelnose
The red pike are 4inch at the pet store
the oscars are 6inch will the red pike be fine
also will take any tips for water changes as I do siphon and bucket so any better easier and faster ways would help this works well with my 60 and 65 but 180 is 3x the gallons
Also any better filters tht are around 100 lmk

 

[Matteus]

That list seems like it may have lots of fish per gallon. The oscars are exceptionally dirty fish, especially once they are bigger. The biggest issue with the list you gave would be sizing. You want any of those fish to be much bigger than the oscars mouth. Whenever I put any new fish in my tanks my Oscar always has to do a taste test no matter if the new fish is edible or not. So as long as the cat and pike are big enough to with stand those taste tests, you may be able to get away with it. Others may have more experience with these combos than I am. I just know how much oscars can be jerks. Rip clown loaches. Lol.

In regards to the filtration, I would say you can almost never over filter and almost always under filter with these guys. I'm not sure about the cascade filter personally but the fluval is great. It sounds like with those 3 options (assuming you already have them or they will be coming with the tank) that would be a good start while these fish are still smaller. Might want to keep an eye out for a bigger output filter on kijiji or Craigslist... the fluval has an option that you can do water changes right from the intake of the filter so you can use the syphon a bit less than usual but still need to vacuum out debris.

One thing I did when I started my 180, also an upgrade from a 70, is buy a hose you can connect directly from your tap and run it into your tank. I had to buy an adapter kit from a hardware store. All said and done it was about $20 including the hose. I was informed by locals that it was fine to do top ups of my local water direct into the tank, so check on that with some of your trusted locals. I have measured out how much water I add with the hose versus how much comes out, so I know every 5 mins or so I add a capful of seachem prime to condition the water as it is being added. Each cap is rated for 50 gal. So good luck hope all goes well

 

[Gourami Swami]

Seems ok to me for a 180. I would just be a bit cautious of the lima getting outgrown by the pike, limas are slow growers and pikes are a bit quicker. Since the cat is so slender it could potentially become a meal. I don't know what a fluval 500 is (FX5 maybe?) but I would add another filter and use both, I don't think you will get enough filtration for this stock (on the heavy side) with a single canister. Plus the second one will add water movement and you could probably go without a powerhead. If you want a decent filter for cheap, the SunSun 404b can be had for about 100$ and is pretty large, I had no problems with it. I prefer eheims but they are pricey.

 

[Jexnell]

For cleaning a lot of people use a pythons. It hooks up to your faucet and can both drain you tank then fill it after. The thing tho it uses the facet water pressure to run the siphon, so a bit of water just goes down the drain this way.

If the Fluval filter is a newer FX series, you can get a kit that does the tank cleaning and siphoning part of tank cleaning using the pump in the FX4 to do the work.

Some people get a small submersible pump and hose and drain the water out to their gardens, sink what have you.

As mentioned what ever you put in with Oscar's has to be bigger than it's mouth. Also must be able to keep up with the Oscar's growth, or will be food sooner or later. My Toni seems to be like Matteus Oscar's as in will take at least one "Test taste bite" of new fish put in her tank. So if all possible stay away from torpedo shaped fish and stick to taller bodied fish.

 

[Gourami Swami]

I forgot to mention the python, you are going to need that 100%. With this stock level when they are all large, I would expect to be doing 50% WC once a week at least. if you're doing it 4 gallons at a time with the bucket, that's like 20 plus buckets to empty, and then 20 more to fill!
I just run the end of the hose into the drain in my shower, instead of wasting water to have it siphon that way. Then I just hook it up to the sink to fill, and put dechlor in the tank as I begin to fill.

 

[Jexnell]

I just run the end of the hose into the drain in my shower

Don't know why I didn't think of this. For tomorrows water change I am going to hook up the python to the FX4 and dump into the tub. It should be able to take the 10 gallons a minute the FX4 will pump at. Going off of they move 700gal an hour. So about 10gal more or less a minute. Should drain down to fin level in seven to eight minutes.

 

[AnthonyFish20]

my

Seems ok to me for a 180. I would just be a bit cautious of the lima getting outgrown by the pike, limas are slow growers and pikes are a bit quicker. Since the cat is so slender it could potentially become a meal. I don't know what a fluval 500 is (FX5 maybe?) but I would add another filter and use both, I don't think you will get enough filtration for this stock (on the heavy side) with a single canister. Plus the second one will add water movement and you could probably go without a powerhead. If you want a decent filter for cheap, the SunSun 404b can be had for about 100$ and is pretty large, I had no problems with it. I prefer eheims but they are pricey.

lima would be bigger than the pike im getting they are 3-4 inches at the store

 

[AnthonyFish20]

That list seems like it may have lots of fish per gallon. The oscars are exceptionally dirty fish, especially once they are bigger. The biggest issue with the list you gave would be sizing. You want any of those fish to be much bigger than the oscars mouth. Whenever I put any new fish in my tanks my Oscar always has to do a taste test no matter if the new fish is edible or not. So as long as the cat and pike are big enough to with stand those taste tests, you may be able to get away with it. Others may have more experience with these combos than I am. I just know how much oscars can be jerks. Rip clown loaches. Lol.

In regards to the filtration, I would say you can almost never over filter and almost always under filter with these guys. I'm not sure about the cascade filter personally but the fluval is great. It sounds like with those 3 options (assuming you already have them or they will be coming with the tank) that would be a good start while these fish are still smaller. Might want to keep an eye out for a bigger output filter on kijiji or Craigslist... the fluval has an option that you can do water changes right from the intake of the filter so you can use the syphon a bit less than usual but still need to vacuum out debris.

One thing I did when I started my 180, also an upgrade from a 70, is buy a hose you can connect directly from your tap and run it into your tank. I had to buy an adapter kit from a hardware store. All said and done it was about $20 including the hose. I was informed by locals that it was fine to do top ups of my local water direct into the tank, so check on that with some of your trusted locals. I have measured out how much water I add with the hose versus how much comes out, so I know every 5 mins or so I add a capful of seachem prime to condition the water as it is being added. Each cap is rated for 50 gal. So good luck hope all goes well

could u send a link for it would appreciate it

 

[Backfromthedead]

Glad you found a big tank by the sounds of it! That sounds like a reasonable but full stocking of a 180. I like the species choices too.

 

[AnthonyFish20]

Glad you found a big tank by the sounds of it! That sounds like a reasonable but full stocking of a 180. I like the species choices too.

thx the only thing tht sucks its 18inch and really tall but its a good deal hes giving me 3 caribe piranhas 7inch Im gonna of course get rid of them as soon as I can are they hard to sell