I'm new, been keeping fish all my life, finally keeping monsters

[matthewr262]

My three boys and I were on our way home from the Cleveland zoo when we stopped at the steelyard commons petco, we noticed a large redtail catfish in they're turtle tank so I asked what the deal was. I was told he was left in a five gallon pale in front of the store, mind you it was -4º outside. So I decided to adopt him. My first plan was to build a cinder block pond but intex pools are so inexpensive. So here it is with rescued pacu. No fish purchased!

 

[UnstoppableJayD]

that's awesome!

 

[matthewr262]

Current pic.

 

[duanes]

That's a nice Intex, must over 1000 gallons.
I have a just under 500 gal for cichlids, and a just under 1000 gal for overwintering koi and Uruguayan cichlids in the basement.
The 1000 is now holding Tilapia outside for the summer.
Easy to set up, and inexpensive
By the way, I have found Pacu love bananas



The zillii just spawned in the 1000 yesterday

 

[festaedan]

Nice pond!

 

[xraycer]

At first glance of the first picture, I was thinking, 'I hope that those 2 Emperor HOBs are not your only filters' lol

That's awesome!

Can I send you my giant gourami, in the future, should I become too lazy to build it a pond once its grown?

 

[matthewr262]

At first glance of the first picture, I was thinking, 'I hope that those 2 Emperor HOBs are not your only filters' lol

That's awesome!

Can I send you my giant gourami, in the future, should I become too lazy to build it a pond once its grown?

I only used them for a week until I built the custom filter, the pool still has the fluval 105 and 404 on it. the custom filter has a lot of lava rock and 5lbs of carbon until the system catches up in it. Now I need to get the 14,000k hqi bulb out and a 6700l bulb in.

 

[duanes]

Only filter on mine is a biofractionator, takes stuff out of the water before it has a chance to metabolize, dripping waste foam into a bucket, or on the ground.

 

[matthewr262]

Thats really cool, I have a Berlin skimmer I was thinking of putting in my custom filter. I've been doing daily vacuuming with a ro/di drip to refill it.

 

[the lion who ate the sun]

I've been thinking about doing one of these sorts of setups. You might consider wrapping the pool with some sort of wood or bamboo fencing for aesthetics. It's a good look!