Need advice on how to set up a new tank

[Jroehyn]

I'm a complete noob when it comes to fishes and setting up a new tank and need some advice on what I need in order to set up a new tank. i currently have a long 20 gallon that used to house a pair of convicts and around 50 of their offspring. In preperation for setting up a new tank, i donated all the offspring and the male convict and bought two 2" red tiger oscars, two 2" jack dempseys, and two 2" jaguar cichlids.

Right now all of them are crammed in the 20 gallon with the female convict. I'm planning on getting a much bigger tank to house all the fish and encourage growth and looking into getting a 100-150 gallon tank that's about at least 5' long.

What do i need in order to have a complete basic set up for a tank that size? I know i need filters, heaters, something to circulate water, a stand, and lights. What else to i need to complete the tank setup?

 

[m1ste2tea]

big fish, are you going to buy secondhand? if so it may already come with all of the necessary equipment. I suppose the only thing I can think of mentioning at this point is to double the filter/pumps and the heaters in case one fails.

you may want to look at where you put the tank, the flooring, to make sure that it can hold that massive weight. make sure you have enough electrical sockets nearby, you dont want to overload one wall socket, think about the cleanup and water changes, you'll want a placement that is accessable with a hose or a python from a faucet. you'll need a receptacle for the old water, or a means of expelling the water outside.

With an aggressive stock list you may want to consider a quarantine/isolation tank, and im sure a 20 gallon would not hold such big fish. you may want to upgrade soon to something like a 55 or a 75 gallon tank that you can use later as a spare if you need it. craigslist is good for such. Perhaps you may even want a seperate tank for feeder fish.

I shy away from purchasing such potentially big fish as Jags, they're really cheap and popular around here and its a shame that most buyers dont realize what they are getting into. You seem like you're a man on a mission and that you really want such a stock list for a specific reason.

 

[FLESHY]

I wish jags were cheap around here. I have only ever seen one large one ever in a fish store here in Wisconsin.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

with all the fish purchased already, the proposed tank 100-150 is still way too small, considering not just adult size, but problems if they pair up

 

[NCStateFisher]

honestly with that stock ur gonna need a 220+ if not like a 265

if the jags are male they can reach 20", oscars will get 14+, dempseys can easily get 10+ as well

if any of those fish pair up you'll be in for a rough ride, and even if they don't that's a lot of large aggressive fish for one tank, it's gonna depend on the fishes aggression levels


as far as filtration ur gonna need a ton with that stock list, IF it works, something along the lines of turning over all the water in your tank a bare minimum of about 10x an hour

 

[blksubykid]

Id say just keep one of each type if youre looking to upgrade to 150, but 175 might be better for them. Like everyone else is saying, if any of them pair off your other fish will be in a world of hurt. Also make sure you have suficient filtration since you will be housing large cichlids, who can be ultra messy (looking at your Oscar). Also like m1ste2tea said, a 55g quarantine tank would be advisable just in case you get an aggressive Jag or JD. You might also look into adding some type of ditcher fish to the tank, Silver Dollars etc., to help spread the aggression......

 

[Jroehyn]

Id say just keep one of each type if youre looking to upgrade to 150, but 175 might be better for them. Like everyone else is saying, if any of them pair off your other fish will be in a world of hurt. Also make sure you have suficient filtration since you will be housing large cichlids, who can be ultra messy (looking at your Oscar). Also like m1ste2tea said, a 55g quarantine tank would be advisable just in case you get an aggressive Jag or JD. You might also look into adding some type of ditcher fish to the tank, Silver Dollars etc., to help spread the aggression......

im planning on selling one of the jags if im able get it to grow. i bought two at this time since they're cheap and in case one dies. asides from the regular filter that i have, is there any specials filters for tanks that size?

 

[Jc1119]

im planning on selling one of the jags if im able get it to grow. i bought two at this time since they're cheap and in case one dies. asides from the regular filter that i have, is there any specials filters for tanks that size?

There are plenty of good filters for a 20 gallon tank, but as everyone else has already said, it should be the least of your concern right now. I'm setting up a 300 and am concerned about cohabitation issues by adding 1 manganese( jag) after I let 1 Jd, 1 salvini and 1 firemouth grow out first( with a handful of loricariids)

1-2 oscars will fill a 55 alone. One of each of the fish you currently have will be a challenge in a 150 if they grow to adult size which they won't. If the convict is of any size, it will start killing your stock off one by one. Honestly, I think you going to gave an absolute warzone in a 55 with your current stock, much less a 20. Just my 2 cents......

 

[postshawn]

Hiding spots might be important or at least things to swim behind and hide for a while. Such large fish hiding in a "small" tank might be difficult, if you indeed should be looking for 250+ then the 100-150 would be small.

 

[masterhacker1989]

i put gourimies, a red tailed shark, fire-mouth, pacu, oscars and dempseys together the dempseys are less than 2", so are the firemouth/Gouramies and everything gets along fine, every once in a while my red tailed shark will nip at my pacu, but they never have any bite marks or anything like that, so the description of a war zone may not be accurate, also ive never lost a fish due to it getting killed or ate