Upgrading from 26g bow front to 92g corner

Hello everyone, I am going to upgrade our living room tank I think from a 26g bow front to a 92 gallon corner style tank. I can't think of what I should add to the tank to fill the new space.

The setup I'm looking at will be the 92 gallon with a sump filter that has a RIO Plus 3100HP Water Pump (I looked up and it says the pump can handle 900gph which should be plenty, but could also be upgraded in the future.

Current Stock:
3 x Denisonii Barb (Roseline sharks) @ 3-4"
5 x tiger barb @ about silver dollar Size
2 x Petricola Catfish @ 3"
1 x Angel pleco (L004) @ 2.5"
1 x penguin tetra (he got kicked out of my wife's tank in the kitchen after killing another Penguin, and 2 Rummy-nose tetras) @ 1"
1 x hillstream loach @ 1.5"

This tank has been together with all of it's inhabitants for a few months shy of 2 years now (except for the Penguin who just got added and then put into his place very quickly by the 5 Tiger Barbs and 2 Catfish).

So .. what to add when I upgrade to a 92g Corner Tank.
I was thinking 5 dwarf gourami and a family of corydoras (panda or Orange Laser maybe) of some kind to start and then maybe another pleco of some kind. We've got some Royals in town right now and I spotted a Gold Nugget and Blue Phantom at a store a few weeks ago.

Anyone else have any ideas, I'm kind of in a mental block right now and could use some inspiration.

Also right now the tank is VERY Peaceful. The Tiger Barbs and Roselines playfully chase each other around and everyone gets a long. Never had any fin nipping or other violence from the group, except for when the Penguin tried to "stake a claim" to a spot in the tank that the tiger's wanted. He now gets the top 5" or so until the Tiger's want to play.

cicrush13 said:

First off welcome to AC!

I would think about the fish you currently have that need larger groups.
Barbs and tetras are schoolers and should be kept in groups of 6+.
I keep 9 Denison Barbs in a school and they are awesome to watch now that they are 5" each.

Synodontis petricola can reach a little over 4 inches each.
They are usually pretty peaceful, but make sure you have some hiding spots (caves, driftwood, etc.) that other catfish and plecos can hide in.

I would think a pearl gourami pair would look nice and won't be too out of place in there.
Also a small shoal of rainbows would look cool.
Just make sure to get rainbows that reach 4 inches plus.

Are you thinking of any live plants in the tank?

I hope this helps!

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Thanks for the welcome and the thoughts, I've been a member of the monster network for a while over at monster fish keepers with my 150g Turtle Tank.

Live plants yes, I've tried to do them in the 26g version, but the barbs disagreed. So I figure with the extra space, they will be a little less likely to destroy everything I've put in there. I'm thinking a Baby Tear carpet with misc. anubias and maybe java fern growing from drift wood. I'm also thinking a 3D background from designsbynature for it, just need to figure out how much and how to cut it to fit the overflow that is in the tank I'm thinking.

I've also been thinking of just bulking up the schools I currently have. maybe grab another 3 Tiger Barbs to give them a family of 8 or so. There's enough big box Pet Stores and LFS in the area that I should be able to find some of similar size to join the group.

Also Petsmart in my area now carries Roseline Sharks for $9.99! may have to clean out my 2 local stores and get a school of a dozen or so. Just worried about size difference from my mature to the new smaller ones I would be introducing.

Then I may steal the 2 Petricola out of my wife's tank in the kitchen bringing that population up to 4, and get her something else more visible in her Fluval Edge that sits behind the kitchen sink.

So a upgraded population would be:
8 Tiger Barbs
9-12 Roseline Sharks
4 Petricola Catfish
Angel Pleco
Hillstream Loach (would love 2 or 3 more of these as well)
Penguin Tetra (may get him some friends as well bringing them to about 6 or so. He just doesn't fit the color scheme I was going for ... may also move him to the turtle tank and wish him luck).

New Additions:
Then to add to the tank, I am leaning towards a Red Tail Shark. I originally wanted Bala sharks when I got my first tank, and this upgrade have been an opportunity, but I now feel that they would get too big for the others and have decided against it. So I think a Red Tail Shark would be a nice match for the Roselines and Tiger's in terms of colors.

And then maybe a .... something else. not sure, with the above stock levels I'd be getting close to what I would be comfortable with until I found out how well the sump and pump kept things going.

And here are some tank shots of the current 26g

Full Tank shot because we all want to see it first!


Angel Pleco (L004) sleeping under drift wood


Talk about awesome photography, all three roselines as they were darting around during feeding time.

rufioman said:

Awesome tank! I would definitely add 3 more roselines to that stock, and also a school of 8~ corys

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Especially at $9.99 or even better when they are 50% off!!!

rufioman said:

Are they 50% off at the chain again??????

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They were two weeks ago, I don't think they are right now, but they do that fish sale almost once every other month or so. It's only a matter of time. There's usually a lot of fish sales in January as well including the Co. that has Pets who has the $1 per gallon tank sale.

esoepr1976 said:

The roselines are gorgeous. I so wanted to get some last night, but decided my tank was too small long term, and couldn't guarantee them an upgrade in the near future. Plus, the $10 price tag was too much for me. (even though it is a good deal). They weren't on sale at the chain when I went last night, but I would definitely recommend expanding your school. I would fill out all your schools. As far as schools go, the more the merrier, and IMHO, I think it is better to have lots of one or two kinds of schooling fish, than a few each of many different kinds of schoolers.

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They are WELL worth the price! Mine are at just short of 4" now, they eat really well, they play together ALL the time chasing each other around taking turns who is chased and who is chasing. It really does look like they are playing tag. Every once in a while a few of the Tiger Barbs will get involved as well until one of the roselines smacks them in the side at full speed. I can't wait to see them in the 48" front length of the bow front. So much more room for them to play.