help me stock my 90

[Wulfonce]

Ok here's the deal. Im a very poor man atm. I have a 90 sitting at home with a Marineland Emperor 400 HOB filter, (2) 150w heaters and a 4' light with (3) 40W forecent tubes (2 blue, 1 white). I still need some kind of substraight and I suppose some rocks and whatnot which I could probably find in a forest somewhere.

Im thinking about using a sand substraight. I have (2) 50lbs sand bags that I use to weigh down the back end of my truck during the winter. Would that work or would it kill the fish?

The tank is fully cycled but has no stock in it. I have so many ideas that I cant even narrow it down. I dont want to spend more then $100 CAD on the fish. So what could I put in there for that price?

A few ideas I've considered:

-2 tiger oscars

-1 tiger oscar
and 5-7 clown loaches (if I get CL's a powerhead would have to be included in the cost of the fish)

-1 arowana

-all clown loaches (dont know how many I could put in befor it would be overstocked)


I'm opened to all other ideas. So fire away

 

[kilroy]

I like the oscar and clown loaches idea. Obviously if you start with young fish you'd have to be careful that the clown loaches are too big to be eaten. Oscars grow fast and loaches slow.

 

[Lupin]

Sand is fine. Do you know what kind of sand you have there?

For a 90g, IMO, stick to one oscar only if you are really deadset on keeping oscars. Bear in mind, oscars grow bulkier as they mature so I do not believe two oscars would really fit in there.

As for the arowana, what species is it? When do you plan to upgrade your tank and what size is the next tank?

 

[Luke109]

I would get i Fire eel.

 

[MonsterMinis]

personally I'de go with a handful of the smaller SA cichlids or depending what your prices in your area are. a handful of Bichir. I can find them from 8$ a peice upwards of 100$ each. And honesty I'de lean towards the Bichir's more. an emperor 400 is a decent filter imo for a 55gallon tank. But the bio-load of oscars and the sensitivity of loaches would make me hesitate in a 90 gallon. Unless I planned to upgrade my filters as my fish matured. Either way any kind of med-high bio-load will require stringent water changes. But this is all just my oppinion.

 

[Wulfonce]

Sand is fine. Do you know what kind of sand you have there?

For a 90g, IMO, stick to one oscar only if you are really deadset on keeping oscars. Bear in mind, oscars grow bulkier as they mature so I do not believe two oscars would really fit in there.

As for the arowana, what species is it? When do you plan to upgrade your tank and what size is the next tank?

Well, I don't ever plan to upgrade to a bigger tank (unless I move). I dont really know much about arowanas. Are there any arowana species that wont outgrow a 90?

Also I dont know what kind of sand I have. I figured sand is sand?

 

[Wulfonce]

personally I'de go with a handful of the smaller SA cichlids or depending what your prices in your area are. a handful of Bichir. I can find them from 8$ a peice upwards of 100$ each. And honesty I'de lean towards the Bichir's more. an emperor 400 is a decent filter imo for a 55gallon tank. But the bio-load of oscars and the sensitivity of loaches would make me hesitate in a 90 gallon. Unless I planned to upgrade my filters as my fish matured. Either way any kind of med-high bio-load will require stringent water changes. But this is all just my oppinion.

South african [FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]cichlids[/SIZE][/FONT] eh? I'll look into that.
I do plan on upgrading to a canister filter as soon as I can find a used one for a half decent price.

 

[Lupin]

Well, I don't ever plan to upgrade to a bigger tank (unless I move). I dont really know much about arowanas. Are there any arowana species that wont outgrow a 90?

Also I dont know what kind of sand I have. I figured sand is sand?

Unfortunately, there is no arowana that would fit the 90g so ditch the arowana off the list. As far as the sand is concerned, there is play sand, silica sand, Tahitian moon sand, etc.

 

[Ali1]

im in the same position as you are. I got a 90g that was recently cycled. Now i intend on putting fishes in there, but dont know where to go. I always liked having a bottom feeder; pictus cat, large pleco, rtc. Those are always the more curious looking fishes. At first, i wanted to go with african cichlids, mbuna, and put plenty in as juveniles to keep aggression at a minimum level. I'm not a big fan of having a large display tank with a single or two fish, although i understand large fishes do require their space. I might go with a pair of JDs or red devils, and a single pleco. The only difference between me and you is that i have a 30g wet/dry along with two emperor 400s that do the mechanical filtration.... Let me know what you end up going with, shoot some pics as well

 

[abarilot]

I agree with the SA (South American) cichlids. I love my earth eaters and if you want a peaceful cichlids they're the way to go! There are lots of kinds in the Geophagus, Gymnogeophagus, Satanoperca, and more. I'm in the process of getting a 60g set up for Northern Uruguay gymnogeophagus species.

But my ultimate advice is go to your lfs and see what they have/plan to have and then do your research before you decide to what you want!