new-to-me 150 stock Ideas?

[kallmond]

Yesterday I picked up a craigslist 150g. I have an african cichlid tank and I love it, but I'm thinking I want to get away from cichlids for this one.

Its a 72 x 18 x 27? 150g, so I have pretty good depth and lots of swimming room, so part of me says get a couple of monster predators. The other part of me is enamored with the idea of a heavily planted community tank.

I've always kept cichlids, so thats what I know the best, so I'm looking for advice about other types that will mix well.

I only have the tank, so I don't need to fit a specific decor, filtration, lighting system, etc, I can tailor all of that to the needs of whatever style tank I ultimately decide to go with.

What would you do thats not Cichlids in a 150g?

 

[qtrhorse89]

errrrm you could do a fahaka puffer. They're unique.

 

[Maccoy]

errrrm you could do a fahaka puffer. They're unique.

^This

 

[kallmond]

I think I want more than 1 fish. At the moment I'm leaning towards discus, but then I also think a huge school of neons or cardinals would be fun too. 100 cardinal tetras and a herd of shrimp in a gigantic planted tank seems pretty fun.

 

[its_an_obsession]

i like the idea. you would be able to get away with several shoals of different tetras as well. maybe 20-30 cardinals, 20-30 rummynose, etc.

i know you said no cichlids and im assuming u've been keeping the larger ones. some dwarf cichlids would be a nice addition to the a tank of smaller tetras. lots of the apistogramma species are nice.

 

[groovylime]

I'd go with a planted community:
5 Denisoni Barbs
3 Bala Sharks
A large school of small tetras like rummy nose
4 Clown Loaches
Some Bristlenose Plecos

other possibles:
Flagtail Prochilodus
Rainbows

 

[Allan01230]

How about a shoal of 5 black barred silver dollars. And do a giraffe cat on the bottum.

 

[kallmond]

I have 4 clown loaches in my 55 that are going to need a new home soon, they're about 3.5 inches now, but they seem to be growing pretty slowly. I could grab 2 or 3 more clown loaches to add to their school too.

More and more I'm digging the idea of a planted community. That of course means way more expensive lights, but it should be fun.

Black barred silver dollars seem pretty cool. I may def. add a few into the mix, it would be nice to have some larger fish in the mid-water to balance the clown loaches in the bottom.