Getting back into the tank

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Iron Buddha

Iron Buddha

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 21, 2008
143
2
18
St. Louis
Im setting my tank up. Got a new job and another nice part time gig on the way, so im getting back into the hobby I love. Questions


I am starting a 90 gallon African river odd ball tank with anubias plants. I have the gravel and using Mopani drift wood..There is no ...I repeat..there is no west, south, north or middle African aquarium décor at all..ever..no mimics for the culture as for as pottery, none of those cool African masks made into décor (only the tiki mask lol with is Asian or pacific) so will go with some Egyptian décor(that's a hint to anyone of you who are into making your on décor...because the African products are not there...but the market is there..people sometimes like to match the décor with the origin of the fish..like bamboo in a betta or gourami tank..i want a cut when you make your 1st million lol, im serious though..your gonna be rich)...and I am getting a 3d background. Now here is that im aiming to put in the tank

Polys ofcourse - 1 or 2 Albino, 2 or 3 Senegal, 1 or 2 delhezi.
Brown African Knife
Elephant Nose Fish
Baby Whale
Two African Spiny Eels (not sure what kind...I know there are some cool lake ones and I know of one river one)
Butterfly fish
School Congo Tetra (5 or 7 maybe?)
Madagascar Rainbow fish (school of 5)
6 to 8 rope rish
3 Ctenopoma acutirostre ( I had 3 in 55 and they got along well together..maybe I was lucky)

Here are some wildcards..because they might not work out or because I would have to dive in an African river myself to get them..
-Any other Ctenopoma. OMG! I can never find the Ctenopoma kingsleyae! I want one so bad....I just might have to buy a plane ticket and dodge crocodiles lol...I cant find any of these online..no Ctenopoma maculatum, Ctenopoma nigropannosum,
Ctenopoma gabonense, Ctenopoma petherici, Ctenopoma ocellatum,Ctenopoma multispine,Ctenopoma weeksii and so on...only the smalls ..the mirco are the different onces available.

-African Cichlids ...I use yellow labs in a tank once with Ctenopoma Lepord or bush fish..the Ctenopoma chased them for some reason...not sure ...also...kribs...might work
- Monodactylus argenteus - I heard they can be found in eastern Africa..but they are brackish....I use to add aquarium salt to my African river tank once a month for health purposes...only half a cup..i was wondering if that was enough..cant to much more than that because too much salt is bad for the knife and elephant nose fish...also I heard than can get use to fresh water..i don't know....I hear mixed messages.
- any other good sized barbs and tetras from Africa...I don't know of any ...hard to find anyway..but I would like some more schooling fish of good size..

Questions I have

I see a lot of huge senegals in pics and on vids..how do I get mines to grow that big? what should I feed them..is twice a day good? would mealworms work? what works best to grow them out..how long does it usullly take for them to get that nice and fat.

Why is it so hard to find anything..stores are closing around everywhere and there seems to be no where online to get anything that is different.
 
Grew out two senagals in my 29 African butterfly fish setup, after a while juvenile senagals got nippy with African butterfly fish lol even snatched freeze dried mealworms practically right out of their mouths:)
 
Most Hikari carnivore brands work well preferably the sinking ones for your bichers.
 
hikari carnivore would be good for bichir, for sure vary their diet with feeders and worms, tilapia when larger. fresh market shrimp etc. same for the ropes and ctens, make sure those tetras are a good size! theyll be rope or bichir, or even cten snacks haha if not appropriate size. In a tank that big the sens and ropes will grow quick, other then the obvious make sure no fish can fit in anothers mouth haha. Sounds like itll be a great tank, im growing out a small cten i recently got hoping it will be beefy enough to go into my 70 w/ my red wolf fish and ornate bichir, also soon to be gold dust palmas (pumped!) if not it can chill in the 30 for life.

For the stock and the massive amount of food youll be using i would recomend some sort of bottom feeding catfish to clean up scraps, and maybe some kind of african algae eater? i dont know of any but im sure there are some. African featherfin catfish sounds like they would fit nicely with your theme. If not youll be netting/sucking out scraps an awful lot
 
on the rope fish i think that you'd be better with 2-3 at the most 6-8 really starts to crowd the tank especial with all the other fish. The congo tetras can work out for a little while until the polys start to gain size and try and get them. The rainbow fish and butterfly fish may be a problem when they are small, but if you work past the size problems they should go fine. As far as mealworms they are good, but you have to make sure they are freshly molted. The exoskeleton will cause serious damage to the polys if they consume it. So just to be safe i stay away for mealworms. African cichlids won't go well. Kribs are too small and will become future snacks. Anything else is usually aggressive and will nip the fins of the ropefish, ranbows, butterfly, and congos. The sens take about 1-2 years (give or take) to mature to their fully grown size. They will start very fast growing and slow down from there. Some usually stop at 6-8"s and some grow to 9-10" so it really depends on genetics. As long as you supply food, and have good water quality and you keep them in a big enough tank (which you have) you'll be good.
 
thanks for the info..i already have to huge catfish in my old tank..both African..on is a featherfin..they other is a brownish color with big polka dots.
 
Nice, theyll be good cleaners. I wouldnt go with any african cichlids to be honest, theyll probably pester the hell out of the bichirs and ropes. I agree with dr. b though, the numbers sound a little high. the ropes will be about 20 inches at adult maybe larger if they are in that 90 for life, id go with like 2 or 3 plus all the bichirs you want. Plus keeping bichir is an addiction, you want rarer and more colorful ones after not too long haha, i would keep a bit of space open for that
 
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