Dr.s Office Need Ideas for Aquarium

[jestr]

I have a practice where I see about 30 - 50 patients a day. i have had a 150 gal aquarium set up in the waiting area for the last 8 years. I had purchased the 150 when I took over the practice to replace a 50 gallon the prior doctor had with a very large pacu in it. It grew too large for the 150 and would "freak" out and scare patients sometimes, so I had to get rid of it.

since then, I have tried a lot of different fish including large goldfish, cichlids, and most recently, for the past 2 years, have had red bellied piranha in there. Long story short, they ate each other and the last one died after it scraped its side on a rock and i couldnt save it. They had all grown very large, about 8 - 10" each, it was sad to see them pick each other off.

The piranha were very skidish around the patients when they would come in and were always hiding behind rocks. The 150 tank now has only 3 plecos that are about 8" long in it. I need to put something in it.

I like the novelty of having something "obscure" in the tank. i went with piranha b/c I had spent about 3 weeks in Brazil, a week in the amazon about 10 years ago.

I want a hardy fish, that is not skidish, ideal would be fish that could tolerate multiples in tank so there is plenty to see in tank.

some ideas I had... something along lines of maybe Sterlets or Barracuda.

Would I be able to put a wolf fish or a Bircher in tank with the above two fish?

I also toyed with the idea of putting a Black Pirahna in tank, but i assume I could put nothing else in there. So, not sure about that. Kinda boring.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. The tank is the center of attention in office, many kids come in and love it. I would like to keep it liek that.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[fishtex]

sounds like you got your heart set on some monsters- i would of suggested mollies or platys - just a tropical community tank should be easy enough for you. maybe a school of needlenose gar. fun to watch ,always active.

 

[Citrinellus]

^I understand that you said that because of a doctor's office, but what a waste of a 150.
You could do a black arowana, some ornate or endli bichirs, silver dollars, maybe some of the smaller species of stingray (I love it when they're on the front glass), maybe some oscars or severums.

 

[Lupin]

to MFK, jestr!

For a doctor's office, the tank should be relaxing IMO. A lot of monster fish are not that relaxing to the patients. They are in your office and some often are stressed. If the tank is in the waiting shed, chances are good your patients hope to relax and soothe their nerves by looking at your tank. A tropical community tank or goldfish tank will readily work. I keep goldfish myself and they are very relaxing to look at. Look for the showy goldfish. Although they do not come cheap, they can delight a lot of kids. A 150 should fit at least 10 adult fancy goldfish. It would be fun to educate the kids as well how goldfish should be properly kept. Expect some to hear they want one for their fishbowls but IMO, education is also fun to share with. This does not only help continue your patients' patronage for your clinic but also give you a feeling of betterment having shared your experiences to them.

 

[Knowdafish]

African Cichlids! Easy to feed, always active and are very hardy!

 

[gomezladdams]

A group of haps like cyrtocara moori with some large yellow labs would be an attractive and active display.3m 8f of each would be be beautiful.

 

[mad ness]

black rhom, ur right, no other tank mates.

birchir you can keep with other fish that wont fit in his mouth.

wolf fish you can not.

barracuda are not easy to keep. if the red belly died from a scratch, the water quality is suspect because these fish are virtually indestructable. They heal from chunks missing.

red bellies are skiddish, piranhas in general are.

I suggest a single giant snakehead. They have great color, curious yellow eyes. Dont look very scary to those who dont know what it is. 150 would be ok for it but need a tight lid. Can keep fish of similar size, taller bodies, and some exotic large sized plecos and a ray.

just as precaution, (if you dont or havent already) have a review on the filter system. Are you checking PH, Amonia levels in the least, water changes? usually these predator fishes need special care in this area

 

[jestr]

hey, thanks for the welcome. i appreciate it. This seems like such a nice community.

The aquarium is actually right when patients come in the doorway, then the waiting area is off to the side, so when patients sit, they are not near the tank. The goldfish is a great idea, but I guess I do have my heart set on something "unique". The piranha were talked about so much, it would be nice to have that effect again in some way. I was very sad when the last piranha died.


Are Sterlets kind of boring? I heard they are very active, but I dont want a boring looking fish either.

An arowana would be awesome, but could I put anything else in with it?

 

[krichardson]

The doctors offices that I have been to around here have had African cichlids in their tanks,mostly mbuna.There is a nice one at my sons dentist that is built into a wall that separates the waiting room so it can be viewed from both sides.

 

[jestr]

black rhom, ur right, no other tank mates.

birchir you can keep with other fish that wont fit in his mouth.

wolf fish you can not.

barracuda are not easy to keep. if the red belly died from a scratch, the water quality is suspect because these fish are virtually indestructable. They heal from chunks missing.

red bellies are skiddish, piranhas in general are.

I suggest a single giant snakehead. They have great color, curious yellow eyes. Dont look very scary to those who dont know what it is. 150 would be ok for it but need a tight lid. Can keep fish of similar size, taller bodies, and some exotic large sized plecos and a ray.

just as precaution, (if you dont or havent already) have a review on the filter system. Are you checking PH, Amonia levels in the least, water changes? usually these predator fishes need special care in this area

You are SO right. I am unsure why the last one died because the others would live like a week with bite chunks out of them. I would feel so bad. I had problems in past with water quality. A local fish store told me that the city water was known for being a problem with aquariums, but they were unable to tell me what the problem was, so I had been replenishing it with the 5gallon jug bottled water... yeah, been expensive, but was worth it for the piranha and they seemed to have been doing great, but then they all turned on each other unexpectedly, it was disappointing. I had worked pretty hard on them and had no way to separate them, so they slowly picked on each other and one by one over time, took each other out.