Reticulated python and monster fish?

[HOY dan]

Hi everyone,
I am new here but am looking for some information and/or experience,
i am looking to build a Retic' enclosure next year, to house a full grown female retic,
now the snake keeping i am 100% ok with, i have my enclosure design in my head,
have kept Boas, retics, burms, carpets, dwaft boas, royal pythons, etc etc
also have a very indepth knowledge of inverts, i.e arachnids and insects etc.
i have kept sturgeon, koi, and have a community fish tank going very well indeed,
so my experience is high across all the subject areas, (just so you know a little about my background)

now, my question is...
in my retic enclosure (will be bloody huge) i am going to install a bathing area for said snake,
with a glass viewing side, it will be well filtered and warmed, but i was wondering if i can keep any fish in there?
i have only seen one photo (a zoo shot) of a retic enclosure with fish in the water, and no information on it.

in my ideal world i would have a catfish aquarium, with say shovel nose for example in, as i beleive they wouldnt "attack" the bathing snake, but this will be bringing my 2 seperate worlds crashing together if i manage to do it, so i am very unsure, and will doing very extensive research before i decide to do it or not.

i know the obvious, like snake poop in the water will need a good filter, but then the question is what kind?
i understand there will be localitiy differences that may hinder the whole thing,
suitable fish, thinking predatory but not aggressive, as it will be fine line betweem the fish being food, the snake being food or a huge fight! of which i want none.

the image i seen looks to have catfish in the water, and although i absolutely love catfish, my ID skills are somewhat lacking so i am unable to ascertain which catfish is present.

so has anyone done this or seen it done?

wanting some direction, but if the fish are a total no go then i will stick with the snake and maybe build the aquarium along side, but this wont be cost or space effective and i wouldnt want to compromise either living space,

hoping to have about 10 foot X 14 foot area and around 8 foot high.

this can possibly be increased for the right setup.

so monsterfishkeeper community, please help me

many thanks Dan

 

[HOY dan]

this is the setup i have seen that has got my cogs turning

 

[AquaAlex1993]

this is the setup i have seen that has got my cogs turning

View attachment 1272960

Those are iridescent sharks or Paroon sharks. They come from the same area as the Ret. Python I believe, they are from Asia anyway. They are catfish not sharks btw.
I have always loved tanks with fish and a reptile, the New England Aquarium has a nice discus geophagus tank with a anaconda.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Wow, that is a beautiful enclosure for sure. I can see why you would want it.
Pythons prey on mammals by picking up on the scent and heat they give off. Fish are cold blooded and smell nothing like rodents. I would venture that the python will probably not eat fish. Maybe the movement would attract it, but even then I feel like fish would be hard to catch, the snake would be underwater and out of it's element.
My vote is for: give it a shot, and post lots of pictures here!

 

[Oompa Loompa]

I say go for it. Like Alex said, they're either iridescent sharks or paroon sharks.

Is 10x14 for the water section or the whole cage?
For iridescent sharks, bare minimum would be a 4-5' wide tank - and I would personally not keep one in a tank/pond less than 6.5' wide and 25' long.
For paroon sharks, bare minimum would be a 12' wide tank - I may never keep one, I don't think they should be kept in anything less than a 75x20 or larger pond. These fish can potentially get 10' long, iridescent sharks can get 4-5'. More realistic sizes though are 3-3.5' and 7-8'

I would agree though, the retic and fish would probably be fine. Just don't keep any aggressive fish.

Drew

 

[monkeybike]

My giant rock python used to drop some huge turds in the water pool of his tank. Like large breed dog equivalent poo. How's that gonna pan out for the fish?

 

[Dzballzzz]

I was wondering if you got this accomplished. We're new to raising reptiles and we're thinking about doing this on a smaller scale.

 

[sierraone5276]

When a truly large snake evacuates waste, it resembles a horse. My 16 foot plus animals will drop pounds of solid waste matter and gallons of liquid waste matter. I would never want that entering my fish habitat.

 

[twentyleagues]

This is a 4 year old thread.

With that said the snake waste is the main problem here. Snakes love to poop in water. That size snake would destroy all but the best of filters. Even then you'd need to be on the ball to clean the mechanical filtration.