What kind of cichlid would you choose for a 180 gallon tank?

[Jeremy S]

I am going to start up a 180 gallon cichlid tank and I’m either going to keep a pair of oscars with some other large cichlids or a bunch of smaller cichlids like The Electric Yellow Cichlid and the Red Zebra cichlid. If you could choose between the two types of cichlids what would you keep?

[ChilDawg]

I'd keep a larger one of the Central Americans on its own.

[optix]

if you are looking to keep multiples go with the african's, if you want power and grace in your tank, get a jag

[Jeremy S]

optix, what is the full name of the jag fish?

[optix]

its a jaguar "Cichlasoma managuense"

[Tightdog1]

i would go with a pair of jags if you can get them, or golden jaguars they are cool too

[nboylie]

could you have a pair of dovii in that size tank? Great fish. So are jags!

[optix]

No way on the wolve's. I definatly can not see that happening

[ChilDawg]

Those Wolves would probably not stand for each other being in that same tank...

[dbcb314]

I would probably get an arowana with a couple of oscars. But that is just me.

[ChilDawg]

Wouldn't work in that tank...

[dbcb314]

If you get one of the smaller arowanas, I think you could. Off the top of my head (I am not a big arowana guy), I think asian arowanas stays smaller than the silver and black. At least the one of the petstore has stopped growing much sooner than the silver.

[ChilDawg]

While it is true that Mr. McEwan has recommended that all but the Arapaima be kept in a 125 or 135 minimum, that is for a solitary fish...and they don't take too kindly to tankmates that don't spend almost all of their time on the bottom...the Oscars would likely be dispatched.

[Tightdog1]

you could take one of my pacus

[dbcb314]

Who is McEwan? What is an Aprapaima?

[ChilDawg]

Sorry, Michael McEwan is the man in charge of this site (Screen Name: Michael) and an Arapaima is the largest of the Arowanas. It can grow to be 150" long.

[optix]

the longest anything under 180 gallon's can get is 6 ft. im pretty sure. That isn't long enough for an arowana that can reach 6 or 7 feet at least!!! speaking of which one of my lfs has an arowana juvie............. in a 10 gallon:confused:

[Tightdog1]

an arowana in a 10g???
you should slap them, does the arowana still have the yolk sack still attached?

[optix]

yep sure does lol, is it normal for it to look like a fish hanging out of its mouth:confused: just not out of the mouth haha more like out of its chin

[ChilDawg]

That's normal...for a yolk sac. They have a high rate of infection when they have the yolk sac post-collection, especially directly pre-sale...

[optix]

Ahh man it was a beaut too, I swear I wish I had like a 1200 gallon aquarium or something, I would scoop it up, im not into arowana's but seeing it at that LFS killed me. Definatly looked healthy......for now

[jimbo]

Hi Jeremy,

I guess with that size of tank, you can go with anything you like.
Just read up on compatibility between species, and try to create a peaceful as possible environment. I don’t support a tank filled with fish from different parts of the world, or even sometimes from different places from the same part.(e.g. Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika or lake Victoria). You could try to recreate a part of a certain habitat in your tank.
Considering the partial water changes you have to perform, which would be approx. 60 gall, I would check up on your tab waters pH, and choose fish based on that, it’s much easier to raise it from 7 to 8 than to lower it from 8 to 7.5 not to mention 6.8.
These are just a few points worth considering. I can’t give you any recommendations as I’m thinking of changing my 120gall mbuna tank into a Central or South American tank.
The only thing that keeps me from doing it, is my tab waters pH which is 8.4.
I’m trying to find a way to lower it close to neutral with as less effort as possible.
So, all I can do is wishing you good luck with the setup of whichever tank.

P.S. Keep us informed about your choice and progress.

Jimmy

[Cloud-9]

I would probably get a Jaguar cichlid if I had a 180 gallon tank. Or a pair of Paratilapia Polleni. Or a fully grown Orange Pike Cichlid. Or a Red Bay Snook.

[demon_surfer]

you could try a colony of frontosas they are really nice looking. and have a kewl social structure..

also i think that the most up toodate scientific name for the jaguars is the parachromis managuenese, or is it nandopis managuenese? =/

[ChilDawg]

I think that it's Nandopsis managuense.

You are thinking of Parachromis motaguense, which is separate.

[demon_surfer]

they are part of the same family so shouldn the first part of the name be the same? :confused:

[ChilDawg]

I don't think that they're necessarily the same part of the family (the full family is Cichlidae, which has many generic names), but I can check on it...I haven't found Jags as Parachromis in any of my searches.

[demon_surfer]

i know they are both guatopes (spelling) or maybe im totally lost here...hehe im gonna hit up google try and get some links

[ChilDawg]

Guapotes--and I just found them on cichlidresearch.com. You'd be right, they are Parachromis.

[demon_surfer]

ok now im definatly confused...cichlid-forum.com has the jaguar cichlids as parapetenia anaguense :confused:

[demon_surfer]

bah so much conflicting info..im going to see if i can get a consensus lol...ive heard them called nandopis, parachromis and now parepentia

[demon_surfer]

ok so i found this article on guapotes...it seems to say that they are indeed parachromis and that parapentia is a sub-species of parachromis

guapotes article (http://www.cichlidae.com/articles/a092.html)


oh and sorry for the total hijack hehe :D

[ChilDawg]

Some breeders will use Parapetenia, some will use Parachromis, and Nandopsis. Some will even use Cichlasoma. We just need to define the guapotes in order for people to know which FOUR generic names they would have to search through...to be continued in another thread.

[dbcb314]

Maybe I should do a little arowana research...

[Jeremy S]

I was just looking at the all-glass website and they said a full 180-gallon tank weighs 2,100 lbs and if you add the stand, gravel and rocks it could weigh up to 3,000 lbs. :eek: I would like to keep it on the upper floor it but I was wondering if the house would be able to support that much weight. It would be right against a supporting wall and right over the I beam that supports the rest of the house. Do you think it would be safe to put it there? Thanks.

[ChilDawg]

hahaha, I don't think any of us should answer that...you really, really need to consult a structural engineer for that one...I don't want to get sued...!

[Harry Tolen]

If you have 3,000 lbs. distributed over 12 square feet, that gives you 250 lbs. per square foot. That's a lot. You will need to check with local building codes to see what the requirement is (because it's likely that's what your house was designed to handle). Age of the house and specific blueprints would also be good things to have handy, just in case anything in your house is "non-standard". Any local architect would be able to give you a referral to a structural engineer; they have to work together to get just about all housing designs approved.

Personally, I keep all my tanks on the ground level, on a concrete slab. Better safe than looking at a 12 square foot hole in the floor.

Remember the immortal words of Ogden Nash:

"Some primal termite knocked on wood,
and tasted it, and found it good.
And that is why your cousin May
fell through the parlor floor today."

or the even more immortal words of Ogden Gnash:

"The sschnurg beast is a clever chap,
he's got some brains, he ain't no sap.
Then why is it he ain't so great?
Surely we don't underrate
his latent talent to create.
That is proved beyond debate.
The reason for his deep-sunk rut,
is that he won't get off his b-tt."

Sorry, it's been a long day.

[JeffP]

You might find the information at the following link helpful.

Residential Wood Framed Floors and Aquarium Weights (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php)

[dbcb314]

I do not think it is worth the risk. If that tank fell, I would destroy a lot of your house.

[Jeremy S]

Do you think the house could hold a 125 gallon tank? It would weigh 1400 lbs full with out the stand, gravel and rocks.

[paradigmcubed]

I just got a 120 gallon and was debating whether to put it on the second or first floor. I talked with a contractor and he said it depends on the house, though the risks far outweigh the benefits, he told me to play it safe rather than be out thousands.

[Jeremy S]

The room that I would like to put it in has 2 x 12 floor joists placed at 17.5 in. apart. It would also be up against a Bearing Wall.

[Tightdog1]

my brother got a 55g tank on the upstairs in my house i dunno what beams it on or whatever i just know i like to keep it simple and i keep my tansk on the ground floor.

[pclausen]

Jeremy, I have a 180 in my living room which is on the 2nd level of a 3 level house. I too have 2x12 joists and a partition wall (non-load bearing) below the tank. However, I do have a massive I-beam off-set about 3 feet in front of where the tank is. If it had not been for this, I would never have put the tank where I did.

One of the important things to make sure is that the joist run perpendicular to the lenght of the tank. Otherwise, all the weight would be handled by only a couple of joists, and that would spell trouble.

Here is a pic:

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/180g/rufus.jpg

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

im preety sure jags are now nandopis(not sure if thats the right spelling or not)

id have it on the lowest floor possiable and if not on the ground floor extra support maybe be needed and ive seen marbles roll really fast towards tanks when in a room which is preety scary lol

[daveedka]

I would worry about that much confined weight on anything that hasn'r been reinforced extremely well. If you can position over a load bearing wall, or reinforce the entire are well you should be o.k. but the risk is huge if there is any doubt.

As far as the original question, Oscars and Jd's (1 or two of each ) would be great. But as has been said repeatedly. If I had 180 gallons of fish tank it would have a pair of jags no question in my mind. I am an oscar nut, but still think a full grown jag is the most awesome cichlid around. I had a friend who owned a 15 incher, and it was a bad dude !!!!!!!!

[delmore]

I would stock the tank with any species of Uaru and Severums. I'd also add a huge school of Cardinals and rummy nose tetras.

I am a just little biased toward the Uarus :)

----------------------
Delmore
http://www.uaru-forum.com Site Administrator