Complex (mixed region) stocking for one large tank? (2800 gallons)

[celebrist]

If you are going to Center on discus I would go with some sort of a really well planted biotope

 

[Zanson]

I apologise if I derailed the point of the thread. I just had concerns about the tank itself. But I see what you are getting at and understand where you are coming from now.

I think a huge School of discuss would be amazing. Add in some Geo's, severums, ect and you would see interactions most would never see with that many fish.

I'm all for larger tanks with lots of smaller fish. At this scale smaller fish would be 8-10" like discuss, Geo's, severum, uaru, ect... Add some rummies nose tetra, some plecos. Would just be an amazing sight to see.

Plant wise you also have a ton of choices to play with, just need the right lighting for whatever you choose.

 

[Bertie]

A discus tank of that size would look amazing, I think discus tank look much better when they are less stocked in the mid water section. I would do 30-35 discus. 3-4 rays like Motoro and a large group of geos 15-20, as well as a trio of silver arowanas, be careful with them though. Can be a bit of a risk. That is what I would do if I wanted a discus tank.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

My take on the ideas, if you need the discus in there -

The idea with the discus, geos, severums, aros, rays, and panaque is relatively foolproof. It would require minimal work to set up, and minimal maintenance on the decor to keep it looking good (really only replacing wood every so often, if you keep panaque).

However - if you went with the planted route, it has the potential to look much nicer, IMO. You will be doing a LOT more maintenance on this tank, but it could look much nicer than a simpler tank.

If it were me - I would either do the full planted tank with the discus, or I would do the monster tank with rays, aros, pbass, and cichlids.
Drew

 

[Zanson]

Yea definitely not planted, or plants that can be attached to wood if you do rays.

 

[vincentwugwg]

You will be able to mix most large fish together... granted tankmates can't swallow one another. I have multiple mixed species tanks that have been running 2yrs ++ and most of the setups are doing okay.

 

[vincentwugwg]

So I kind of like the idea of doing a discus with geophagus tank, with a few other things so long as they all will get along.

Will the following mix well?
discus
geophagus (assorted species)
Parrots (Hoplarchus psittacus)
Uaru amphiacanthoides
Datnoid Microlepis (Indo Tigerfish)
1x Fire Eel (Mastacembelus erthrotaenia)
Clown Loaches
Maybe a few rays (I need to do more research on species)


Also, need to do more research on materials. I see a lot of people doing big tanks in the basement, and that makes a lot of sense from a practical standpoint, but I feel that if I spend most of my time in my home office, the tank should be viewable from there. Which means building the office (and possible the living room into the basement, or putting the tank on the first floor.

In either case, the tank will be in a finished space, so I'm very uncomfortable with the idea of using just water pressure to hole the glass/acrylic in place, which seems to be the case with lots of DIY plywood and concrete tanks. I'm considering doing all acrylic, but also concerned about how (or even if sheets can be joined together), since they seem to come in 4x8 sheets. They are also really expensive to use in places where you don't need to see through it like the bottom. So I don't know if there's a good choice a materials that is "professional grade" for building larger tanks.

What do zoos use? I'm sure they bolt the window in somehow to keep the window in place when kids go an d lean on it, and I don't think they use acrylic or glass where there doesn't need to be a window. Are there any resources on building commercial quality tanks with prop materials and techniques, but done by the owner to save on the labor costs?

Thanks everyone for your advise!

You might not be able to view the discus in a tank that is 11 x 7 ft... and a group of big clown loaches (10 inch +) would look amazing zipping around. Also... Dats can be total jerks and they might kill off the discus.

 

[Galantspeedz]

Just a heads up, my motoro ray pick off my angels 1 by 1 when they go to the bottom tank to feed.... it is likely the same thing may happen with discus,

 

[Oompa Loompa]

If you don't do discus, how would you feel about a large African setup?

You could do a large planted Congo River Tank, and stock heavily with small-medium sized fish. Upper jaw polys like ornates, sens, dels, and some groups of ropefish would be cool to see grow to full size. Various pairs/small groups of cichlids (Steatocranus, Congochromis, Haplochromis, Orthochromis, Pelvicachromis, Nanochromis, kribs, etc). Large tetra schools (congo tetra, long-finned tetra, african moon tetra, yellow-tailed tetra, etc). Small shoals of Distochodus (sixbar, silver, etc). Various groups of Synodontis (angelicus, decorus, nigriventris, eupterus, etc). Freshwater butterflyfish, ctenopomas, and elephant nose fish could round off the collection. You could tie in a tank for a fahaka, cross river, or a congo pufferfish, or some african snakeheads if you're outside of the USA.

Or you could do a Nile-themed tank. You could keep a group of Foskhalii tigerfish as the main swimming fish, perhaps along with a big African arowana or two, and a small group of odoe pikes. A few giraffe catfish could swim along the bottom, and you could have some bichirs in there as well - Laps, or even PBBs if your wallet is feeling it.

Just some thoughts
Drew

 

[pacu mom]

Energy has an incredible 1700 gallon tank....a biotope that used to house rays, discus and poisonous dart frogs. Unfortunately, the pictures are no longer viewable on Photobucket. On his last thread on the tank, he had gold and platinum gars and rays.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...over-before-and-after-with-golden-gar.654631/

It is very unfortunately that his pictures are not longer viewable on his build thread:
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/1700-gallon-stingray-river.329022/