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RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

pufferrocks — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:05:22 GMT

Here is an idea that is differant. You could get 6 Amazon/South American Puffer fish and put them with something :P. They get along with most nonagressive fast moving fish and are freshwater. Puffer fish have really fun personalitys and you get atached to them fast. It could be I am a little biast towards them but I think they make some of the best fish and would be differant for your tank. Just a thought.

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

LadyBarbara001 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:26:40 GMT

Math-only, I wish I had all your knowledge...I read as much online as I can, but seems like all sites give conflicting info. I think that's why forums are so helpful, because it gives the real life experiences.

The Peacocks have always intrigued me, I tend to like the Mormyrids and the eels the best, have a baby whale or elephant nose in almost every tank of any size in my house. We only have one eel, and we call him the invisible eel, he's a Yellow-tailed zig zag eel, but no one besides me has ever seen him in the tank (I snuck up on him).

I don't see the Congos as an issue, I can make changes as needed to my tank. The sensitivity isn't a problem, I stick to a maintainence schedule of weekly water changes, and am willing to heavily plant the tank before I buy the Congos.

We are still tossing all this around, but this seems like a good stocking scheme for us. I may move this to a larger tank, as we tend to change things up on a regular basis, but I truly appreciate all the input, and love suggestions.

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

math-only aquarium — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:04:25 GMT

Hello Again,

Congos are definitely interesting, but can be a little troublesome too: they are generally more sensitive to N-compounds than most common characins (therefore, frequent water changes will be mandatory); they, being bigger than most tetras, can also be a little aggressive when they get older and thus shouldn't be kept with passive fish or fish that have long fins or body modifications (like paradise fish or most catfish); and lastly, congos are big and thus take up quite a bit of room per fish--getting ten of them would deplete 40 gallons worth of stocking capacity. Other than these three considerations, congos could be great! (Also note that they prefer to have sections of the tank that have dimmed lighting and the substrate should be dark ingeneral).

As to the peacocks, I used to keep those little guys. They max out at around 16", occassionally 18+", but grow very slowly after they reach the 8-10" mark. They are very nocturnal but can be coaxed out using the following tricks:

Use dark substrate, lots of hiding places, and subdued lighting.
Use coarser substrate to discourage burrowing behavior or place a thin strip of fine gravel near the side of the tank so that the animal can be seen when in the substrate.
Try a reverse photoperiod (i.e., light the tank at night instead of during the day so that the eels think that day is night).
Reward the eel for daytime appearances by giving it treats like bloodworms.
Use translucent hiding spots (some companies make specially tinted tubes for elephantfish that also work for eels too; hamster tubes also work).

Hope this helps,

MOA

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

LadyBarbara001 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:48:23 GMT

I like the idea of Peacock eels as well, I love the little eel-like fish, and I think the Peacocks will be better, as they don't get as large. What is the opinion on Congo Tetras instead of the butterfly? I love the look of the Congos, and could keep a nice school in a 90, say 6-10.

If any of you have any experience with eels, if I give a lot of hiding spots (in plain sight) will they use those instead of burying in the substrate? I'd like to try to do some planting (or should I say my husband with the green thumb will).

I really love the ideas you all are coming up with, my husband loves hearing all the interesting possibilities.

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

math-only aquarium — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:09:45 GMT

Actually, rope fish can become territorial with age, especially if forced to cohabitate with too many of their own kind. As such, one is safest. However, if you want more, you need to have at least 4 to keep the aggression as evenly distributed as possible (only 3 usually means that the smallest fish gets harassed to death).

Another replacement would be peacock eels as they are a little more sociable. No less, they are primarily noctural, which would limit their display value.

MOA

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

plecodiscus — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:11:06 GMT

Yeah, MOA's combination of african fish that he gave could make an awesome african biotope. The only suggestion i would make is that ropefish like to be in groups so you should put like 3 or 4 in there.

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

math-only aquarium — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:44:47 GMT

Hello Again,

Dennisons and elephants wouldn't be such a great mix as the dennies prefer cooler temperatures than the elephants.

No less, some elephantfish, rope fish, freshwater butterfly fish, and syno catfish could be a very real possibility.

MOA

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

LadyBarbara001 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:41:17 GMT

Wow, so many thing I didn't think about...I love the ideas, and will present them all to hubby for final approval...but keep the ideas coming, this is awesome.

Would love to do an elephant nose, a few rope fish and a school of dennison barbs...would that work? Or am I trying to mix too much there?

Again, thanks for the suggestions, I'm sort of bored with the typical angels, tetras and all schemes my other tanks have.

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

math-only aquarium — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:35:00 GMT

Hello,

Some domesticated archers will actually take flake food from the surface, but it's not as much fun to watch.

As to ideas, you may want to try a semi-aquatic environment. A few newts, a couple of frogs, 2-3 Butterfly fish, a couple peacock eels or a rope fish, and a decently sized shoaling species (rainbows might be good) would make a very interesting display (especially if you can get a screen top and use suspended lighting) along with semi-aquatic plants like Madagascar Swords.

MOA

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

jsmith11618 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:03:56 GMT

In my experience they are fine in smaller schools then smaller schooling fish are.

Like everything in this hobby alot is opinion and what works for some wont work for others.

All the tanks I have seen dont have the water level to the top, and a space left to have plants or driftwood sticking from the top to ease feeding.

I just read a recent article in one of the magazines, however I dont recall off the top of my head which one.

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

FattFishy — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:41:45 GMT

Heh, the Denisons at my place are $8.99, a steal.

Archerfish are brackish, school (6 or more), grow to 8 inches and ARE SO COOL TO WATCH!! But the hardest part is to feed it... many people grow either bog plants or use a make-shift "branch", put food on it (bloodworms, insects...) and watch them spit and dinner is served! I like them too, it's just too many preferences and they need a species tank if to be kept properly.

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

jsmith11618 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:55:12 GMT

[quote]FattFishy (8/19/2008)

Preference.

Here's an idea... I love Denison Barbs. These guys grow to 6 inches, like fast flowing water, cost $25 or so each, school (yup, the perfect recipe for money expenses), and are beautiful.[/quote]

My local store needs to raise their prices, they are selling in the 12 range.

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

jsmith11618 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:53:28 GMT

Archer fish maybe.

RE: Stock list for 90 gallon

FattFishy — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:27:40 GMT

Preference.

If you're going to make it brackish, buy a pond hygrometer to measure the salinity. Marine hygrometers are just too high-ranged.

Here's an idea... I love Denison Barbs. These guys grow to 6 inches, like fast flowing water, cost $25 or so each, school (yup, the perfect recipe for money expenses), and are beautiful.

Stock list for 90 gallon

LadyBarbara001 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:59:26 GMT

I have a 90 gallon tank, that currently houses angels. I've decided to downsize them to a 56 gallon, and keep only a few. So I will have an empty, healthy fully cycled 90 gallon tank that I have no clue what to stock. I'd like something interesting, a little unique, and compatible of course. I've thought African Cichlids, some type of eel, or ropefish...but I want this one to be unique.

I currently have other tanks that I could switch around...but I have also considered trying my hand at brackish...I really have no clue, and guess I'd like to see what you all would do with it.

I don't have a price range really...so dream away...thought this might be fun.

Thanks for the input