Whi ch fish should I get?

[Bderick67]

WRONG!

Step 1 - aquire suitable home
Step 2 - cycle tank
Step 3 - buy fish

Wrong

step 1 - research
step 2 - acquire suitable home
step 3 - research
step 4 - cycle the tank
step 5 - more research, as you will have nothing else to do while the tank is cycling
step 6 - buy fish
step 7 - post pics on MFK(if proper research has been done, flamming may be avoided )

BTW you don't have to have a "giant final tank" to own any of these fish. You do however need to have the knowledge to keep these fish in proper sized tanks and upgrade accordingly.

 

[Joe M]

A gar, bass or arowana CAN NOT go in a 40 gallon or a 75gallon for life......

Did he say it could?


To the OP, get whatever you want, but make sure you can plan for the future. I bought a peacock bass with no knowledge on them and upgrading for them is how I really got into the hobby. If I didn't make that one impulse buy a year and a half ago, I don't think I would have a tank over 30 gallons today. Now i use my old 30-55 gallon tanks as sumps. Now I am not recommending that you go and purchase a fish for no reason, but if you do some research and know for a fact that you can upgrade in the NEAR future, I say knock yourself out.

Oh, and get a Pbass. A 75 is a good grow out for them, but I wouldn't expect it to last any longer than 6-8 months. You really do need to invest in a heater though.

 

[jpcampbell123]

I don't plan on housing them in tanks but in this http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/3116/Fiberglass-Tanks-Circular-Flat-Bottom or http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/945/Fiberglass-Tanks-With-Window I don't plan on keeping them in a 40 gallon tank or 75 their whole life either. Do these fish have the same growth rate the gars and arrowannas? I am also considering an indoor pond too if I get arrowannas since they are tropical and cant be kept outdoors unless you live in Florida or somewhere warmer.


John

 

[Carefree_Dude]

IMO, its never good to buy the fish until you have the tank. Things always seem to come up in life, and you may not have the money to buy the new tank when it is needed.

 

[Fat Homer]

IMO, its never good to buy the fish until you have the tank. Things always seem to come up in life, and you may not have the money to buy the new tank when it is needed.

X2...

in all seriousness though, depending on where you plan on keeping these fish as adults, you may really need to choose another stocking option... since i don't think any of those fish would last in an outdoor pond that drops down to 50'F

And to be honest, i can't imagine it would be cheap to try and heat a large outdoor pond neither...

But then again, if you have the money to blow, who are we to tell you what you can or cannot do

Just remember to post pics when you set everything up...

 

[knifegill]

I bought a peacock bass

over 30 gallons

Uh-oh.

 

[MonsterMinis]

I say gar because they're the least fragile of the three options and some of them can be kept in a smaller aquarium for life than the other two options.

Some of the smaller species of gar (Florida, spotted, shortnose, and tropical) will be fine in a 180 gallon for life although a larger aquarium is always better for an adult gar; with the juvenile gars, you will want to gradually increase the size of the aquarium that you keep them in to ensure optimal growth and feeding.

EDIT: OP, I just noticed that you voted for getting a gar. Good choice!

Gotta agree w/ wiggles here. Florida gar make interesting wet pets and while they will hit 12" pretty quick.. they grow pretty slow after they hit that mark. atm i have 2 in my 75.. and they will be good in it until they are approx 2yrs old. I started my first one in a 20long, then moved him up to a 40breeder. They are both content in the 75. But they will need the depth of a 120wide or 180 pretty soon. Gar do best with a wide footprint like most bottom dwellers require. they aren't as bendy as arrowanas are 'nore as active a PBass are.

As for their temp tolerances you should chekc out the gar forum as it's been discussed many a times. there is also alot of info to help you decide if they are a good fit for you. personally I doubt PBass or Arrowana will fill the niche your looking for.

Another fish you may look into are bowfin. a NA Native thats fairly aggressive and unique as the fish you've described here.

 

[Joe M]

Uh-oh.

Little out of context? I hate it when people cut up quotes to make them the way they want them. The thing was 2 inches long and I had no idea what it was. It was in my 30 gallon for a week until I figured out what it was. I joined this site, had him in a 55 a week later, and now I have two 125s and a 300, among other tanks 75 gallons or less. All I was saying was that me buying a fish without researching it could've been a disaster, but it wasn't. It is what got me started keeping big fish.

The messed up think was that I knew what a peacock bass was before I bought it. I bought a Mono labeled as a lukanini or something for like $10. I knew nothing about it, and the only thing the LFS knew was that it was a cichlid. I figured it couldn't get that big if it was only a cichlid because I didn't know any better. When I realized the fish I had in my tank was the same one as the one I wanted to go fishing for, I knew I needed to either upgrade or sell it.

I upgraded.

 

[Itsadeepbluesea]

Of those choices I say peacock bass

 

[platothetoad]

gar