Need inspiration for stocking my tank, thx

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HarleyK

HarleyK

Canister Man
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Aug 17, 2005
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Howdy,

I'm stuck thinking about stocking options for my 6ft 220 gal, and was wondering if you could help me out with inspiration. There are a few limits, within which I'd like to operate. Besides those, let's shoot for the stars.

  1. Current stock: 12'' Dat, 9'' Odoe (i.e. small fish are out, and the pike hunts down even tiny fish like whiteclouds)
  2. want to house for life (i.e. max 18-20'')
  3. Planted (i.e. no herbivores)
  4. Plants carpeting on sand (i.e. no big catfish, rays, polypterus)
  5. No eels (happy wife, happy life)
  6. Needs to be pellet-trainable (don't want to mess w/ feeders or the freezer)
  7. Water is soft and acidic
So far, I've tried
  • a wolffish, but it ate a pike
  • yellow-finned Chalceus, but they nibbled on plants
I'm thinking maybe a knifefish or a flagtail, but there's room for more!

Any ideas?
Thanks, HarleyK
 
If you like wolves how about a Red or even a gold? I'm not sure what type you had previously but I would think either of these would work.
 
Cool
All these ideas are really interesting, and I hadn't thought of any of them!.

I knew I could count on you guys.
Keep em comin'
 
channa/parachanna, amia calva, dipnoi/lung fish & lepisosteus to name
a few off the top of my head... not sure how soft the water is going to be
but just throwing them out there.
 
If your going for a Knife, Jeff/TUIC has Gymnotus chaviro 5", tigre 14" and an Ornata albino 18" and I've seen some Afer being sold by other vendors.
Other suggestions from me would be Zebra Pike. Impressive looking and I think the colors would really pop in a planted.
IMG_2826.JPG
Sometimes available Snook could be nice
IMG_0758.JPG
Or a Scherzeri would make a nice contrast for your Dat
CIMG1025#5.JPG
 
koltsixx said:
If your going for a Knife, Jeff/TUIC has Gymnotus chaviro 5", tigre 14" and an Ornata albino 18"
Or a Scherzeri would make a nice contrast for your Dat
View attachment 1135431
Click to expand...
Got a royal knife at Ely's, locally. I saw Jeff's stock list, but wanted to leave the dat as the only striped fish. Crazy reason. I know . LOL

Scherzeri. Awesome, and will reach perfect size.
Now I need to find one!
 
HarleyK said:
Got a royal knife at Ely's, locally. I saw Jeff's stock list, but wanted to leave the dat as the only striped fish. Crazy reason. I know . LOL

Scherzeri. Awesome, and will reach perfect size.
Now I need to find one!
Click to expand...
Nah, not crazy at all. I like having a diversity of fish going on as well with different colors and patterns. So i totally can feel where you're coming from.

As for the Scherzeri, pm Wes. I was planning on pm'ing him about Scherzeri as well. I've never had much luck with them though. First one and second one died from choking. Third and forth where systematically eliminated by my Tocantins pikes.

They're great fish they seem to be open water hunters so they stay out where they can be seen. Yet are slow and deliberate in their movements till prey is involved again making them a pleasure to watch. The only thing I warn is to keep up with feedings. I've seen it said about many a fish turning on tankmates but it's more accurate when applied to Scherzeri then any other fish I've had. If they get hungry they will turn on surprisingly sizable tankmates.
IMG_9802#3.JPG
 
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