help picking large tank inhabitants

calivivarium1

calivivarium1

Finished the fight
May 5, 2008
1,432
25
51
Fresno, California
So..... I am buying a new house and have the wife's okay to buy a new aquarium for the place. I have yet to decide upon a tank as I am not for sure how much room/where exactly the tank will be quite yet. Right now I am trying to figure out the livestock I want and will plan the tank around them. The tank will be in the 150-250gal range. My current thoughts:

- The habitat could be a Estuary, large river, or flooded forest.

-Minimal/no plants:Not because I can't grow them, but because they won't really fit my idea right now. If I have plants, they would probably be along the lines of Anubias, Java Fern, Eel grass, and maybe a floater like Water Lettuce.

- Sand bottom, probably either off-white or tan

- One or two schools of large fish. I want something shiny and active, with maybe a bit of personality. I think a schooling/active cat like Columbian sharks would be neat(I know they are brackish as adults), but I think they get way too big(1-2ft per fish right?). Maybe silver dollars?

- Maybe a few big pieces of driftwood that look like sunken logs/tree roots.

Any ideas are appreciated. I guess maybe I should head over to MFK as well?
 
Silver dollars would provide a lot of activity for the tank. Your planned aquascaping sounds perfect for an Amazon community. You could do a group of Geos with a few other fairly peaceful cichlids like sevs and uaru with a school of silver dollars. You could also probably throw in some cories or other small-medium cats. A flagtail would be a cool addition, although mine did not like silver dollars (I gave them away because he harrassed them so much). Flagtails not only look good, but are fantastic algae eaters.
 
AFter looking up some Geo's, I do like the surinamensis and Brasiliensis. I think I would skip the cories because they aren't quite big enough.. I am thinking the smallest fish size(at least once they are semi-adults) for the tank would be around 5-6"

I am currently taking a look at four line Pictus cats... Not sure if they will work but they look interesting. I'll have to do some research
 
silver dollars FTW
 
250 gallon..

1) a school of 6x barracuda: http://www.aquascapeonline.com/aquatic-live-stock-fresh-water-fish-oddballs-barracudas/

or

2) a school of 12x caribe piranha: http://www.aquascapeonline.com/aqua...sh-piranhas-genus-pygocentrus-caribe-piranha/


personally i hate the idea of a large bare tank with all the crap (wires/heater etc..) stick all over the place in the background, with a few large fish inside...you could goto a chinese seafood supermarket and get the same effect...

a fully planted 250 gallon, with 1 single school of 250x rasboras or tetra will look utterly amazing and blows those mfk tanks away...

i guess it's true, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
 
Woohoo, amazon biotope with 200+ emporer tetras, I'm with you all the way gagalyia. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder, err beholder.

That being said, OP, A few Raphael Catfish for the bottom along with the silver dollars? Never kept any large fish but I do like the way the cats look. Don't know if the dollars would harass them too much.
 
calivivarium1 said:
AFter looking up some Geo's, I do like the surinamensis and Brasiliensis. I think I would skip the cories because they aren't quite big enough.. I am thinking the smallest fish size(at least once they are semi-adults) for the tank would be around 5-6"

I am currently taking a look at four line Pictus cats... Not sure if they will work but they look interesting. I'll have to do some research
Click to expand...
It's rare that you will find actual surinamensis, but there are several similar species that are often misidentified and sold as surinamensis. They look just as nice and the care is the same.

Brasiliensis are one of the more aggressive Geos and would could beat up on most other Geo species.

The 4-line or the normal spotted pims should both be fine for this setup
 
Well, hopefully this tank won't have really any visible wires/plumbing. I think I am going to plumb it, use in-line heaters, etc to maximize my viewing pleasure. I would love to use starfire glass, but I'm not sure I can afford it.

Though I love a huge, good looking planted tank I am honestly bored with them. There are some real gorgeous, real unique planted tanks out there but so many people have the same thing: lots of plants, lots of tetras, and a centerpiece fish or two. Just peruse the million other stocking threads on this same forum and you will see the same fish used over and over. So, hopefully this tank will be eye-catching, entertaining, and just a bit different.

Thanks for the all the comments guys, this is giving me lots of food for thought.
 
Pink tailed chalceus look sick..... I am currently leaning towards the idea of having two schools of fish, something on the bottom(like pictus cats or something active) and something for mid-top. I love silverdollars, but if I could find something equally attractive that won't devour my(limited) plants that would be awesome.
 
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