... *Drools* 200 gallon stocking?

[DaisyTattoo]

I say stock it with about 500 neons and a betta

 

[jm1212]

you could either stock it with discus as mentioned above, or you could do angels, which are hardier, and come in loads of colors

 

[DeRo316]

For a classroom I would do a south american tank. Gravel bottom with plenty of driftwood and fake plants(or real but they like to dig). I would do 2 tiger oscars or dempseys, 2 green severums, a green terror and a firemouth.

A community tank with a lot of schooling fish would be cool too. 200 gallons would be a good size for a bulk of a few types. Then you could get bottom feeders, top and middle dwellers. With my first suggestion you are very limited in tankmates due to their aggressiveness. Pretty much anything that will fit in their mouth they will eat.

 

[jm1212]

my science teacher in 7th grade had some piranahs and everybody loved to watch them eat lol

 

[fish_freak]

Put a dovii in the tank nothing else as it will kill it. Theres nothing like seeing a 22-28" fish that is made of pure muscle hit the glass cause hes pissed at you for getting to close. Plus there fun to watch eat. Just be careful when you clean the tank.

 

[gunther]

The water temp is a big deal! Fish collected from lakes,ponds,streams will be used to a higher concentration of O2 in the water. Also If temp wasn't a big deal why do fish go deeper (cooler) water during the day?

Fish from lakes ponds and streams will be used to a higher concentration of O2 than what.......fish collected from mud puddles? They go deeper not just because of the temperature......but because of the temperature's effects on the water quality and the direct sunlight. Obviously hot shallow pond water cannot sustain the same level of oxygen as cooler deeper water. The tank is going in the guys house. You are assuming extremes like the guy is going to put his tank on the stove or something . Not to mention that all of the factors that are temperature related can be more directly controlled in an artificial environment like an aquarium where direct sunlight and daily heating/cooling is much more of a constant. Some species may prefer cool moving water like trout...which would require a pretty specific isolated environment anyway. Common natives like bass, pike, and sunfish will have basic needs that are similar and quite adequately met in a room temperature tank. In fact they may benefit from the lack of normal seasonal changes. As far as my gung-ho growth comment.......you need to spend some time shouting at God. I don't think he is constantly maintaining the seasons for optimal growth of native fish at all times either. Don't be so dramatic.