This is going to sound weird, but...
If you've got 90 gallons, consider a Macrobrahim Lahs (giant freshwater shrimp). I had mine for over a year, let me tell you why they're great predatory pets:
-They are wonderful aggressors. Petula (my baby) was almost 9" long when I had to let her go, and she routinely destroyed any fish under 6" long.
-They are incredible to watch during feeding. Shrimp, as you no doubt know from being a SW guy, are like woodchippers on 12 legs. Imagine watching a 12" shrimp catch, defin, and then devour a goldfish head-first in less than 20 seconds. Literally, it's like watching a peice of wood getting fed to a chipper.
-They're scavengers. Even if the fish had been half-devoured (it happened, and they all tended to live for awhile, even tho they were missing the back half, or a jaw, etc.) and then died a couple of days before, Petula would come back and scour the tank clean of "debris" when she got hungry.
-They eat.. a LOT. Petula could eat 3 dozen full-sized comets from Petsmart a WEEK once she was nearly full grown.
-This is a biggie, unlike predatory fish, shrimp don't catch fish diseases or parasites. I've seen her devour fish with Ich without care.
-Very resistant to temperature change, water-wise. They also can handle infrequent water changes and relatively nasty water conditions.
-The only supplement you'd need is a couple of capfuls of Kent Reef Iodine every water change, to ensure that the shrimp is molting correctly.
M. lahs will take a couple of years to get to full size (approx. 12" from nose to tail, not including antenna, add another 8-10") and can tackle just about any fish close to or smaller than themselves.
If you've got 90 gallons, consider a Macrobrahim Lahs (giant freshwater shrimp). I had mine for over a year, let me tell you why they're great predatory pets:
-They are wonderful aggressors. Petula (my baby) was almost 9" long when I had to let her go, and she routinely destroyed any fish under 6" long.
-They are incredible to watch during feeding. Shrimp, as you no doubt know from being a SW guy, are like woodchippers on 12 legs. Imagine watching a 12" shrimp catch, defin, and then devour a goldfish head-first in less than 20 seconds. Literally, it's like watching a peice of wood getting fed to a chipper.
-They're scavengers. Even if the fish had been half-devoured (it happened, and they all tended to live for awhile, even tho they were missing the back half, or a jaw, etc.) and then died a couple of days before, Petula would come back and scour the tank clean of "debris" when she got hungry.
-They eat.. a LOT. Petula could eat 3 dozen full-sized comets from Petsmart a WEEK once she was nearly full grown.
-This is a biggie, unlike predatory fish, shrimp don't catch fish diseases or parasites. I've seen her devour fish with Ich without care.
-Very resistant to temperature change, water-wise. They also can handle infrequent water changes and relatively nasty water conditions.
-The only supplement you'd need is a couple of capfuls of Kent Reef Iodine every water change, to ensure that the shrimp is molting correctly.
M. lahs will take a couple of years to get to full size (approx. 12" from nose to tail, not including antenna, add another 8-10") and can tackle just about any fish close to or smaller than themselves.
