I got my new 130 gallon... and a whole lot more!

Ok, so I bought a 130 gallon today and for now had it loaded into my girl friend's basement while I sort out moving and finding a place where I can set it up long term... as we're moving this monster into the basement I notice a HUGE tank in storage behind a bunch of stuff. It clearly looked like no one cared about it (its her landlord's storage area). For the heck of it, I told her to ask the landlord if he was looking to get rid of it and how much he'd want for it. I had a hunch it was just a space waster to him... she calls me back and tells me the guy wants to get rid of it and I can have the tank and the stand its on for.............. a whopping $50 bucks! I was thinking, you've got to be kidding me!

Anyhow, she forgot to find out how many gallons the thing is and I didn't measure it because I didn't think to ask about it until after I had left her house... But it made my 130 look small. It was longer and taller... I'm guessing it has to be well over 200 gallons.

I'm still in disbelief. She had this thing sitting down there all this time and never knew it. So of course now I have a 130 and a... 200+ gallon tank... I've got 2 huge new homes for my fish but none for me lol. Working on finding a new place now though. I'll post back once I get the measurements!

Anyhow, that being said, I've currently got a bunch of fish in different aquariums that I knew would outgrow the current tanks, so I was urgently looking for a bigger tank. I've never kept a tank this big so I'm wondering about proper stocking levels.

Once I set the 130 up soon I want to move my fish in there... here's what I have (sorted out between three smaller tanks right now) will these guys fit in the 130 and what percentage will it be stocked at?

3 Threadfin Acara
1 Blue Acara
1 Chocolate Cichlid (I know he can get 10 inches or larger)
1 S. Daeman
2 Rainbow Cichlid
1 Firemouth
3 Redhead Tapajos
1 Electric Blue Acara
1 Clown Loach (I know he should be in a school. I bought this fish about ten years ago when I was new to the hobby and didn't know better, he's had a 55 gallon mostly to himself for the bulk of that time, I'm excited to finally give him the tank he deserves, also, he has been a loner for so long, would it be beneficial to add more Clowns, if I have room for them, or would this freak him out now?)

So I'm wondering, if I could stock all of those in the 130 together or if its to much? Or do I have plenty of room? What's your estimates? I want to do the right thing here, and I also want to set up my dream tank. Other than my Loach, I was primarily interested in going for a New World Cichlid theme of mostly South Americans (I realize the Firemouth and Rainbows are Central though).

I'm not quite sure if where I end up will have room for that 200 plus gallon monster tank, but if it does I will certainly set it up. So that being said, could I do those fish in the 130 or would I have to go with the 200? Just need to know how much I can fit in the 130 because its nice looking and has a nice wooden stand. More attractive set up.

Finally, if you had a 200 something gallon what would you do with it? I was thinking of trying a Salt Water Reef tank with it if I'm able to make it work...

Thanks for your help!

tanker said:

That is a strange mix of Cichlids, and I too think it is a little too much for a 130. I agree with Kyle, move those fishes into the 200 and use the 130 for a reef.

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Just curious why its a strange mix? I was thinking they're all relatively mild mannered, some from the Eartheater family but for the most part, easier going cichlids.

Pinkey said:

Incredible find! Congrats on that. Good luck with finding a home for you. You could always put a sleeping bag in the big tank and a cardboard box lid and live in that while you look for a home. Make sure you have a good airstone so it doesn't get too stuffy.

Ahh, the question. What would I do if I lucked into a new 200 gallon tank. . .From your fish list it looks like you enjoy the SA cichlids. You could always upgrade their home first. Since you will have time in your new place you could leave your fish in the 130. Build the perfect home for them out of the 200, and then transfer everyone to the big one. Then you have an empty 130 to experiment with.

If you are going to try salt for the first time, you could try it on a smaller tank. If cost is an issue a smaller tank would require smaller doses, equipment, and whatever else. You may be inspired to do a huge community tank full of everything the fish store carries. It could be filled with plants and fish and clams and crustaceans and whatever else.

Upon pondering for a bit, I'd turn the big tank into a dream home for the cichlids and by the time that is done I'd have a better idea what I wanted to do with the other tank.

Good luck! Please post pictures as you do whatever it is you do.

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I like your thinking Pinkey! Yes, over the past few years I've really honed in on SA Cichlids and realized how much I enjoy these types of fish, especially the earth eaters.

For now, they're all mostly still juvenile/young adult sized so I def would have time to do what you suggested, design the dream 200 gallon and then decide on what to do with the 130.

I know NOTHING about SW so starting smaller is prob a good idea. I could even use my 55 gallon for that. Was thinking of a community salt so I could keep some of those wildly colored shrimp and whatnot, but some of the Trigger fish are beautiful too so maybe I'd go that route instead.

Back to my long term SA vision... I'd want to do a sand substrate and plant it. Luckily, my girlfriend loves fish and is giving me free reign to do it right, as long as I make these into beautiful display tanks, which I will.

We're actually checking out a remodeled place tonight with a spare bedroom and a big living room... so there's a good chance I'll be setting up both big tanks and a third tank somewhere else in the house... just not sure if it'll be the 55, 20L or 36 Bow. The 36 is an awesome looking tank. Need/want a full time Q tank up and running somewhere... maybe the 20L can serve that purpose if I find a spot out of the way for it.

I also want to do an Angelfish tank, I currently have a few of them in my 36, maybe I move them to my 55 with my Rams as well. That would look great.

Lots to decide! In the meantime, maybe I'll sleep in the 200 as you suggested!

I've also been noticing that I'm a little bit drawn to some of the more aggressive NEw World Cichlids such as Green Terrors, JDs, Texas... I've never kept the aggressives before, opting for the semi-aggressives instead which honestly are fairly peaceful as I'm sure you all know... I'm wondering what kind of aggressive tank I could set up in the 130? hmmm