8x3x2.5 stocking

[monsterK]

Tank is almsot done setting up! I have 4 xingu bass growing out in my 135, they are really about 5 inches now. And one NTT dat about the same size.. I plan on getting 2 smaller rays for the rank also. What else do you suggest I keep or can keep? I love gars but finding a florida gar right now is insanely hard.. I'm not a huge fan of aros because of them jumping..
My sump is a 135 gallon sump..
Stocking right now would be
2 rays
4 xingu bass
NTT datnoid

What else would/could work?

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Following. I have an 8 x 4 x 2.5 tank. I am planning all male africans. Basically for low maintenance.

You using a drip system?

 

[Hybridfish7]

Following. I have an 8 x 4 x 2.5 tank. I am planning all male africans. Basically for low maintenance.

You using a drip system?

What about more interesting stuff, like a native biotope or a central american biotope seeing as you're already going for something hard water and high ph
Some potential biotopes + sources:

Lake nicaragua:
Amphilophus citrinellum (fishfarmusa@comcast.net or most lfs)
Amatitlania siquia (fishfarmusa@comcast.net, ask for lake nicaragua variant but any black convict works)
Cribroheros longimanus (tangled up in cichlids or wetspot, sometimes lfs get them in)
Cribroheros rostratus (wetspot)
Archocentrus centrarchus (Dave's rare fish)
Herotilapia multispinosa (most lfs have them)
Hypsophrys nicaraguensis (anywhere)

Ozark:
Shadow bass
Smallmouth bass
Longear sunfish

Potomac river:
Pumpkinseed
Longear sunfish
Redbreast sunfish
Any chubs or suckers you can get your hands on
(Optional non native) Smallmouth bass

And so on

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

^

yeah it would be cool to do this elaborate tank with tons of plants, and drift wood and blah blah blah. But honestly, not interested.

 

[Hybridfish7]

^

yeah it would be cool to do this elaborate tank with tons of plants, and drift wood and blah blah blah. But honestly, not interested.

The "scape" of all of these environments is just rocks.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

The "scape" of all of these environments is just rocks.

OK, maybe I should elaborate. I don't like any of the fish in your links. I work as a environmental scientist and part of my work is isolating in water structures and removing the fish from them. Many of the fish on your list either look like invasive fish I see every summer or actually are the actual fish. I must have shocked, netted and released 1,000 pumpkin seeds in 2022. Same goes for small mouth bass, suckers, and the like. I am not a fan of any invasive species, and many on that list are invasive in north america.

Sooo... "interesting" is a relative term. You may find those fish interesting, me, not so much.

 

[Flaring Afro]

OK, maybe I should elaborate. I don't like any of the fish in your links. I work as a environmental scientist and part of my work is isolating in water structures and removing the fish from them. Many of the fish on your list either look like invasive fish I see every summer or actually are the actual fish. I must have shocked, netted and released 1,000 pumpkin seeds in 2022. Same goes for small mouth bass, suckers, and the like. I am not a fan of any invasive species, and many on that list are invasive in north america.

Sooo... "interesting" is a relative term. You may find those fish interesting, me, not so much.

Not saying your opinion is invalid, but that makes them more interesting to me. With that job, I'd totally get a permit to take some for myself and show my friends and family the types of animals I work with. It makes more of a conversation piece than just some fish you think look cool and, in some cases, I assume you would be giving the animal a second chance of life without being a detriment to an ecosystem.

 

[Hybridfish7]

OK, maybe I should elaborate. I don't like any of the fish in your links. I work as a environmental scientist and part of my work is isolating in water structures and removing the fish from them. Many of the fish on your list either look like invasive fish I see every summer or actually are the actual fish. I must have shocked, netted and released 1,000 pumpkin seeds in 2022. Same goes for small mouth bass, suckers, and the like. I am not a fan of any invasive species, and many on that list are invasive in north america.

Sooo... "interesting" is a relative term. You may find those fish interesting, me, not so much.

Seems you should pick a different profession if you can't tell that all of those fish from all of those rivers I named are native to those ecosystems, save for the smallmouth. They are more interesting to me because they actually do things and have interesting behaviors. I have kept or worked with a good percentage of them myself and can speak from experience when I say they certainly earn their keep as a conversation starter. If your cup of tea is spending thousands on a tank just to fill it with blue and orange fish that pace back and forth, be my guest.

 

[Joshuakahan]

What about more interesting stuff, like a native biotope or a central american biotope seeing as you're already going for something hard water and high ph
Some potential biotopes + sources:

Lake nicaragua:
Amphilophus citrinellum (fishfarmusa@comcast.net or most lfs)
Amatitlania siquia (fishfarmusa@comcast.net, ask for lake nicaragua variant but any black convict works)
Cribroheros longimanus (tangled up in cichlids or wetspot, sometimes lfs get them in)
Cribroheros rostratus (wetspot)
Archocentrus centrarchus (Dave's rare fish)
Herotilapia multispinosa (most lfs have them)
Hypsophrys nicaraguensis (anywhere)

Ozark:
Shadow bass
Smallmouth bass
Longear sunfish

Potomac river:
Pumpkinseed
Longear sunfish
Redbreast sunfish
Any chubs or suckers you can get your hands on
(Optional non native) Smallmouth bass

And so on

I think Africans are more interesting than those lol although biotopes do sound pretty cool

 

[Joshuakahan]

Seems you should pick a different profession if you can't tell that all of those fish from all of those rivers I named are native to those ecosystems, save for the smallmouth. They are more interesting to me because they actually do things and have interesting behaviors. I have kept or worked with a good percentage of them myself and can speak from experience when I say they certainly earn their keep as a conversation starter. If your cup of tea is spending thousands on a tank just to fill it with blue and orange fish that pace back and forth, be my guest.

Guess you haven’t kept tangs,mbuna, Vic’s or some of the predator haps. You’re confusing all Africans with peacocks.