PLEASE HELP ME PICK A FISH FOR MY 130g

[cubano]

Hi yall, im new here, i registered to ask a question..

ive been keeping fish for years, mostly cichlids and guppies.. i recently bought a 130g and i want a big show piece fish that will impress my friends.. lol..

im thinkin Arowana (silver), but i heard they almost always jump out of tank.. and id hate for that to happen..

i also like Red Snakeheads, but i think my lfs liquidated their stock and if im not mistakin they're illegal to sell now :(

anyone have any idea of a good fish that gets fairly big and is a fairly active fish (also eats live food)

i also like the red tail catfish, but my tank is probably way too small right?

[VoodooChild]

Actually all three fish you mentioned really get to big for that take, especially the cat. A big show fish huh? Hmmm...I'd say if you want big look in the South American direction. Maybe a big aggressive red devil or a pair of pike cichlids. You could have an active community tank with 6 or so big tinfoil barbs and maybe some mystus cats or pictus on the bottom. Or just a great big osphernemus with a large school of giant danios.

[rjl420]

A large puffer like a fahaka or fugu, I think your tank is too small for an Mbu.




I think I8b4u2 knows a fahaka that needs a home ;)

[cubano]

already had a red devil, traded it back to the lfs, im not really into ciclids any more...

i dont like puffer fish :(

im not familiar with alot of the fish you guys are talkin about, like "osphernemus", "Mbu", "Fahaka", "fugu"...

i want a cool looking predator fish i know that.

on the site i seen columbian sharks they look cool (but stay on the bottom), or shovelnose catfish, gar as well, would any of these work?

any other ideas are welcome too, thanks alot guys!

[ChEeRs_BiG_EaRs]

whoa, by not making it cichlids that narrows it down a heck of a lot eh dude.
um, well if i were you, id love a large school of frontosas. or maybe some electric blues or yellow with some m.exasperatus's if your looking fora breeding colony.
if your looking more for aggression in a show fish baramundi are very easy to keep, and will eat anything, bt arnt the most attractive fish. you could get a saratoga is you like the look of the arrowana, they look rather the same, except a saratoga is more of a middle fish. on the bottom, a few plecos or gibbiceps might look good and help to control the algae at an early stage, or if your looking for more of a mobile fish, maybe a salmontail cat, although they r a bit dopy, but a wonderful fish, and they have some bulk to them if thats what you want.
anyways
hpe this helps
BiG EaRs

[I8b4u2]

I've had friends with the Columbian shark and Gars, the shark will get upwards of 12 inches or more and will require more salt content as it gets older, right up to full marine. As a juvenile it will live in fresh comfortably and is pretty much a non stop eating machine...if it fits into the mouth it's food!
With the Gar, if I remember correctly, it will stay at the top of the tank and attack anything that comes into it's range of vision, the one my friend had was so bad that they couldn't even keep a floating thermometer in the tank without the Gar attacking it. the Gar finally ended up breaking it's nose on the side of the tank from attacking it's own reflection.
I don't have any experience with them, but Pictus cats get up around 6 inches and are also supposed to be eating machines. A school of 4 or 5 would look good IMO cruising the tank.

[Iced Galaxy]

maybe some large clown knifefish or some rays

[cubano]

yeah i dont really want a school of fish just one big fish and some thin for the bottom (i couldnt find a profile for a salmontailed cat).. here's the senarios im thinkin of right now, you guys tell me which is best:

A:
1 Shortnose Gar
1 Shovelnose Catfish
5 Pictus Cats (thnx for the sugesstion, these fish are cool!)

B:
1 Shortnose Gar
1 Columbian Shark

C:
1 Red Snakehead
1 Columbian Shark

D:
1 Silver Arowna
5 Pictus Cats

once again thanx alot for your help guys, i want to make sure i do this right..

[fish_freak]

well if I had that tank I would definately get a dorminator latrifrons. Youll see it called a sea cow or pacific fat sleeper goby in the stores. There big fish that are definately nasty. When they suck in a feeder they acctualy leave a cloud of scales that fall of the fish cause they suck them in so fast. They will eat you out of house and home. Mine ate about 100 fedders a week till I got him to eat beef heart which is alot cheaper. I kept him with a shortnose gar and had no problems with them. They will eat anything they can fit in thier mouth. Mine acctualy ate a snail once. They do prefer slightly brakish water.
This is a link about them http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0406&view_records=1

[Heady]

The arowana and redtail catfish will get far too big to be happy in that tank, if they don't die before they finish growing.

How about oscars? Those are really cool (and big)... Those pictus cats are also really cool...

[rjl420]

just keep in mind that columbian sharks are brackish fish (unlike the snakehead).

[Hebdizzle]

you can never go wrong with a couple pirhanas (sp?) in there :p

[VoodooChild]

Actually your A list works out pretty good. I'd be worried though about the shovelnose getting large enough to down the pictus some day. You may just want to do the gar and the shovelnose. Make sure that the gar you get is the needle-nose, Xenentodon cancilla though I think that's changed. True short noses get to be too big in a tank that size.

[damion]

Ever consider the Australian Aro?

[OrionGirl]

Turn it into a marine tank and have a lion fish, a trigger, and an eel.

;)

[cubano]

i wish i could have a shark like all the evil villians in movies :(

lol, but im pretty sure my mind is settled on 3 columbian shark and a needle nose gar..


lol @ pirahanas, but i actually seriously considered this.

[chewey]

Hey! glad to hear you are open to suggs. I have had a lot of different fish in my days and one fish i always go back to are the african bichirs, esp. the ornate bichir. Wonderful color (black and gold are the prefered colors. This fish is a stealth hunter both day and night, but most active in a low light situation. They love moving food,eat almost anything they can fit in thier mouths,so smaller fish have to be fast,they tolerate a myriad of water chemistry as they are air breathers and they are great escape artists. Moderately slow growing to about 16 inches, they all have a personalty of thier own As for tank mates a large black shark(12-14 inches) a very active fish and possibly a picticus mormaratus? not sure of the spelling

[cubano]

i dont know what those looks for and ive never seen somthin like that before? any links?

[mt_marcy]

...I can see where maybe a arawana may jump out of the tank or something cuz they get very big and strong!!! Does anyone know if it is true that a arawana could eat a mouse and/or rat? I heard someone a while back(not on this board or off the net...in real life) say that arawana's could easily and safely eat then...true or false? Also what is the best size aquarium for a arawana? thier specific requirements and such? Thanks,
mt_marcy!

[BigFishDude]

Originally posted by cubano
i wish i could have a shark like all the evil villians in movies :(

lol, but im pretty sure my mind is settled on 3 columbian shark and a needle nose gar..


lol @ pirahanas, but i actually seriously considered this.

when the columbians get full grown they need full blown marine.
The gars are fresh water.
That combo won't work.

[cubano]

Originally posted by BigFishDude


when the columbians get full grown they need full blown marine.
The gars are fresh water.
That combo won't work.

Gar can live in brakish conditions near full marine

[damion]

when the columbians get full grown they need full blown marine.
What size is full grown?

[demon_surfer]

what i would really like when i get a big tank is a breeding pair of jag's scientific name parachromis managuanese or maybe parachromis motaguanese.

they are cichlids and i know that you said that you dont particularly want them but they are gorgeuous fish and predatory like you said you wanted.

You can see really nice pictures of them on www.tangledupincichilds.com along with hundreds of other rare cichlids.

No really big fresh water fish that are not cichlids come to mind that no one has mentioned....maybe a clown knifefish? hmmm how about a lungfish?? those are awesome! but i think they may need a larger tank than you have...not 100% on that though

[VoodooChild]

Depends on the gar species on brackish or not. The Asian ones don't care for salt. The North Americans, which get to big for a 135, are fine with salt. I believe it's still managuense. And maybe you could look into a lungfish. They get big, but are really lethargic so I'm sure a 135 is fine. Just make sure the tank lid is secured well.

[cdawson]

Originally posted by mt_marcy
...I can see where maybe a arawana may jump out of the tank or something cuz they get very big and strong!!! Does anyone know if it is true that a arawana could eat a mouse and/or rat? I heard someone a while back(not on this board or off the net...in real life) say that arawana's could easily and safely eat then...true or false? Also what is the best size aquarium for a arawana? thier specific requirements and such? Thanks,
mt_marcy!

uhh... I can vouch for this, my friends arowana ate a whole mouse (loooong story). He thought the mouse would be fine for two seconds floating in the tank...the arowana glided right for it.

[GEV83]

In the wild a arawana eat mice that crawl on branches that are above water. But if you try this you should not make a habit of it.

[cubano]

ive decided on 5 pictus cats and a short nose gar

[Rare Cichlids]

Uh, shortnose gar? Why don't you give the actual Latin name? All of the true gars (American) grow far to large for a 130g. The only Shortnose Gar that I've heard of is a true gar, and will reach 24-30". Make sure this is not the fish you are talking about. Most of the fish that have been discussed here will grow far to large for that tank. A thick 14-16" TL fish or a slim 16-18" fish is probably the max size that your tank can hold, if it is 72" long and 18" wide.

Good luck