Ideas for Stocking New Tank

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Chelzzer

Chelzzer

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2017
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Northern Ontario, Canada
Hey all!
I will be picking up a tank this weekend and I'm leaning towards larger fish as opposed to doing a community tank or anything like those lines.

It will either be a 125, 133, or 180gal - waiting to find out which is still available. With an Fx5 or Fx6 canister. Eventually would upgrade to a sump.

What should I stock it with? I'm pretty open to any suggestions but not looking for saltwater at this time.
Preferably nothing that heavily depends on pristine water and constant water changes. My work schedule is hectic and I often get called in for 48hr or 72hr shifts with only a couple hours notice and I don't want to come home to my fish keeled over because their water change was delayed a couple days.
 
Go with a 180 gal you will only regret it later on if you don't, as for stocking what type of tank are you after, solo wetpet, breeding pair, community, biotope?
 
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dan518 said:
Go with a 180 gal you will only regret it later on if you don't, as for stocking what type of tank are you after, solo wetpet, breeding pair, community, biotope?
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I'm buying used so I'm hoping the 180 is still available this weekend when I'm able to make the trip to pick it up.

As for stocking I'm really not picky. I'm not specifically looking to breed and I don't want a fully planted tank, but otherwise I'm pretty well open to suggestions. I'm new to the big tank / big fish scene so I just don't really know where to start looking.
 
Best thing for you to do is look through some of the sub forums and see what you like the look of and then come back to this thread with a few different options.
Personally I am a big ca cichlid fan, outside of that I would like to try a African themed tank stocked around odoe pike.
 
Give us something that you like - you don't have one fish that you really want that we can base recs on? :)

I hope you get the 180!
 
Two Oscars! They could live in a ditch if that was what they had. but, they are prone to HITH when their water degrades too much. May not be what you are looking for, but they have a ton of personality and are quite good looking when fed well. Personally, O's are my favorite fish so i'm a little biased.
 
Unfortunately the 180 sold before I was able to go down and pick it up :( So I will be getting a 135.

As for what I like, I'm not totally sure yet. I know there are loads of fish I like the looks of, but know they get too large or are not within my experience level, etc. Please keep in mind I have not really done research on fish yet as I have been more focused on making plans for building a stand and planning filtration and plumbing.

But, this is the short list of fish that have caught my eye (some I found in the subforums, others on various other groups):
Polypterus, Datnoids, Black Ghost Knifefish (I like the idea ofthem, but not interested in owning them), Fire Eels, Clown Loaches...
I like Gar, but I don't believe my tank is of adequate size (dimensions are 72x18x24) but I haven't really looked into the subspecies to see specific sizes.

I do really like Oscars. I think I'll keep those as my reserve for if I can't find anything a little more uncommonly kept in my area.
 
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A 135gl is still a good sized tank! You can keep a decent amount of fish, or just a few and give a really good home to them. Another of my favorite fish is a Texas Cichlid, the regular is a good looking fish, but a Red Texas or even a Super Red Texas..... now that's a showy fish, and they're pretty hardy as well.
 
jhook said:
A 135gl is still a good sized tank! You can keep a decent amount of fish, or just a few and give a really good home to them. Another of my favorite fish is a Texas Cichlid, the regular is a good looking fish, but a Red Texas or even a Super Red Texas..... now that's a showy fish, and they're pretty hardy as well.
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Just did a quick google image search before I head to bed. Those look awesome! Can you keep a few in a tank or are they more of a solitary fish?
 
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