120 Gallon stocking ideas...

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silver_leaf

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Jan 15, 2002
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Ok, down the road im hoping to set up a 120 or so gallon aquarium. Im in the process of saving up right now and being who i am, i like to have EVERYTHING figured out...SO Ive been trying to figure what my set up will be, so far im thinking...

-1 Black Ghost Knife( I know i want this guy, everything elses ive tried to figure out around him)
-3 bala sharks
-a pair of angels
-a pair of blue acara's
-a pair of texas cichlids
-and some form of pleco


Anyone see any potential problems? or have any ideas?

Peace
Anna
 

vfrex

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Feb 26, 2002
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A pair of texas would get highly territorial, especially if they started breeding. That would cause some big problems.
 

pinballqueen

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Aug 4, 2002
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Originally posted by vfrex
A pair of texas would get highly territorial, especially if they started breeding. That would cause some big problems.

Mmmmm, I didn't think about that.... You might want to get a same-gender pair (If you're not interested in breeding, but still want the fish). I think both being male would be better than 2 females, since the females will still lay eggs and demonstrate aggressive behavior...
 

Sting

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Dec 23, 2002
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Angelfish can hold their own, but against sich fish as the Texas Cichlid and the Acaras, it wouldn't be a fair match, Also, I personally don't think Angels with Balas and African Cichlids are very attarctive anyway. Angelfish are prone to be caught in peaceful community tanks, Texas Cichlids and Acaras are found more in cichlid only tanks.

First, consider if you would like to go planted. If you want a peaceful community with tetras, ect...Or if you would want a cichlid tank. Cichlid tanks hold less fish, but can be very interesting, because they have interesting behaviors. Community tanks, with plants, driftwood, ect. are very pleasing to the eye, and beautiful and serene, a perfect centerpiece for a living room or something along those lines.

Cichlids generally grow very large, depending on species, Tetras only grow 1-3 inches, some species possibly reaching 5-6 inches. Angelfish ca grow up to 6 to possibly 8 inches if given enough room, which a 125 will deinfitely have.

Cichlids can tear apart tank designs, including plants and rearranging decorations to their desire. So if you want plants, I'm not sure how bad Bala's, Acaras, or Texans are with them, but I am just assuming they won't work too well.

So here is where your road splits, community or cichlid. I know I have a 40 G community now, with Angelfish and Tetras, Cories, ect...Plants the works, but when we extend our living room I am going to get a full 125 G tank for African cichlids. (Or possibly move the 40 G inhabitants to the 125 G and make the 40 G a cichlid tank, but it still wouldn't have many cichlids in it.)

Good Luck!
 

chaynes

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Jan 17, 2003
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I wouldn't go with anything but Cichlids in a 120g. Save the tetras and such for smaller tanks and put that 120g to the use that it's best suited for, large fish.
 

pinballqueen

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Originally posted by chaynes
I wouldn't go with anything but Cichlids in a 120g. Save the tetras and such for smaller tanks and put that 120g to the use that it's best suited for, large fish.

OMG, have you ever SEEN a fully-grown bala shark? They're 8 inches long and require at least a tank of this size to be comfortable....

BTW, they hold their own fine with some of the more laid-back cichlids. I've never had one with texas cichlids, so I'm not sure how they would get along, but I've had them with mixed africans, blood parrots, and severums at varying points with no problems whatsoever...
 

silver_leaf

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Jan 15, 2002
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Good, point. I know i want to have the ghost knife, and i know that after a while he can become aggresive, so i think ill go cichlid. If two male texas cichlids will get along i will definetly go with them, ill drop the angels-which gives me some more options. The balas should be ok shouldn't they?

I've been doing some reading, and the cichlids im trying to chose arent quite as known for causing as much dissruption in decor as say, the geophagus species.

Anyone have any ideas for some more additions?
 

Sting

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Dec 23, 2002
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Ok, So this is what you have so far:

3 Balas
1 Ghost Knife
Pair of Texans

Now, there are some options. With a tank your size, a Pleco can be nice. You can get a common pleco or a special one (nugget, zebra, royal) but without a pleco, you'd have to go with another algea eater, and it wouldn't be logical to get like, 20 Ottos.

So add a pleco in there.

Then, with the path you are heading down, you can grab some TinFoil Barbs, or even a school or Silver Dollars (don't do SIlver Dollars with live plants they will eat them!!) or you could just add more Balas since they like schools of 5 or more. Say, you added 2 more Balas, and the Pleco, you'd still have room for a couple mroe fish, and since most of the fish you ahve picked out aren't terribly bright, you could get another pair of brightly colored, smaller cichlids, such as the yellow kinds, or bright blues ones, like Convicts (which BTW breed very easily). Convicts don't grow to be enormous, like Balas, which can be up to a foot long, but are still good sized (8 inches I think) and would add some more interesting fish to your tank. And last, you can add a type of Eel for a super cool fish! I had a tire track eel when I first started the hobby, and have regreted his death ever since- he was simply the coolest fish I even owned. The only problem with this eel, or any eel, is they will find a way out of the tank. Trust me on this one. I read and read and didn't believe the eel would actually get out of the tank. Even so I covered up all the holes just in case. The eel (with no where else to go) swam into the filter, and under the filter cartridge. Then, as a daily ritual, I'd lift up the cartridge at the end of the night, and he'd crawl out, not going through the water, but actually slithering like a snake into the water over the ledge! It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen! They grow to be over 20 inches long, but your tank will support one (not necessarily just a Tire Track, any eel would be good, Peacock, or Bichur, or even Rope Fish). They aren't hard to keep, I just had a cycling fluke and all the fish in that tank died. Good luck! Hope I've helped!

Oh, and you can always trade out the Convicts with the Blue Acaras you wanted, I had forgotten about those, they would do fine.
 
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