I need ideas for a 275 gallon aquarium!

[FishRfine]

Ok, this aquarium is going to be in a middle school. There are some very specific requirements. The tank is an octagon with a rectangle on the end, it is very wide and long, but low. All of this must be true about the stocklist:

1) The fish need to be very low maintenance, because they may need to be tossed around a bit and have less than average water conditions. They can't be too sensitive.

2) they cant be dangerous unfortunately. This is a school after all.

3) They can't be too expensive. There is a budget here, and its not huge.

4) The fish need to look extremely cool. This actually is a requirement because idiots keep throwing things in the tank and if they are intrigued by the fish they may not throw in materials that may be dangerous.

 

[PolypterusBoy2000]

Senegal bichir

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

yea polypterous or just a crap load of mixed african cichlids

the cichlids would be cheap if you bought the right ones and still very colorful. They are pretty hardy and dont usually require too much extra care.

 

[BushFishRox]

Ok, this aquarium is going to be in a middle school. There are some very specific requirements. The tank is an octagon with a rectangle on the end, it is very wide and long, but low. All of this must be true about the stocklist:

1) The fish need to be very low maintenance, because they may need to be tossed around a bit and have less than average water conditions. They can't be too sensitive.

2) they cant be dangerous unfortunately. This is a school after all.

3) They can't be too expensive. There is a budget here, and its not huge.

4) The fish need to look extremely cool. This actually is a requirement because idiots keep throwing things in the tank and if they are intrigued by the fish they may not throw in materials that may be dangerous.

why not convert it into a reptile tank, a lot of reptiles need very low maintenance and IMO would work a lot better then an aquarium in a situation like that...

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

A few platinum koi or really fancy huge goldfish? Bubbleyes usually are amazing to children....

 

[haynchinook334]

tiger barbs, commets, tetras, mollys?

 

[IKeepPacu]

if its a middle school, chances are smaller fish wont entertain them.

why not go with oscars? they can withstand the tapping and knocking of younger kids without being bothered much, and will even interact with them. can also keep them in a bare bottom tank to make WC's much easier, and just add a bunch of cheap clay pots.

seem like the best bet to me. can get them fairly cheap as juvi's, arent extremely dangerous, look extremely cool, pretty damn tough fish that are relatively easy to care for.

 

[BushFishRox]

A few platinum koi or really fancy huge goldfish? Bubbleyes usually are amazing to children....

If I remember kids in middle school (Grade 7 & 8) are between 12-13 years old so I dont know if they would be amazed by gold fish...

 

[Connor0729]

i just got out of middle school, and to be truthful, you'll need a lot more than cichlids. things with teeth will keep kids from throwing stuff in the tank, but piranhas will have kids daring each other to stick their fingers in the tank. now that i get thinking about it, any parachromis and amphilophus should do fine, as long as they have smaller fish to beat on, because kids like violence.

try to add in an arowana, depending on the demensions of the tank. they are cool looking and should be impressive enough to keep kids from toying with it

 

[FishRfine]

bichirs would be cool, I was thinking a dovii, except chances are that it would kill anything I put it with. We have cichlids all over the place, so that wont keep them from throwing crap in. Bichirs are an idea, but the cover wouldnt suit an arowana, as it is open enough that stuff gets thrown in the tank!