Ok I've bought a Rio300 *66us gal* and I'm open to all open *excluding marine*

I don't mind cichlid tank, oddball tank, brackish or freshwater.

So far I'm swaying to a cichlid tank, or community and angels or denisonii barb and community. But like I said I'm open for options.

Dimensions of tank:

Long: 121cm/47.6inches
Tall: 62cm/24.5inches
Wide: 51cm/21inches

I don't mind use live plants as long as they're real hardy lol.
Substrate will either be the special plant stuff or sand.
Filter,Light,Heater will be the originals.
I will be buying some air pumps possibly two Hydor Ario 4's.

So let your minds wonder

I have read about having shoal of South American Puffers.
Would that be possible in my tank?

African oddballs!

bichirs, reedfish, elephant nose, african butterfly fish, congo tetras, spotted climbing perch...

Any links to these fish as I have no idea of what to look for lol.

http://www.fishforums.net/content/Oddballs...Butterfly-Fish/

http://www.fishforums.net/content/Oddballs...rmoured-Bichir/

http://www.fishforums.net/content/Oddballs.../Elephant-Nose/

http://www.fishforums.net/content/Oddballs...Senegal-Bichir/

http://www.fishforums.net/content/forum/41714/Congo-Tetra/

http://www.fishforums.net/content/forum/41...otted-Climbing/

Ok thanks, I would love to own some Elephants and my mum loves them too, but I doubt I'd be able to get the water pristine my current rio125 readings from when I read them last week are ammonia: 0 nitrate: 40
I also like the spotted climbing perch aswell

I read on a site that motoro stingrays need minimum of 200litres... i have 300? But I need more wide then high right?

A group of SAPs in a tank that size would be lovely. I have a trio in a mixed species 180 litre system, and they are easily the most active and amusing fish in the tank. They work wonderfully in groups, particularly when they're stealing food from one another!

I suspect that they're also less likely to "go rogue" and start nipping things when they're in groups. While they occasionally nip at the Corydoras, no harm seems to be done and the Corydoras don't seem all that fussed (they're constantly spawning).

I'm keeping mine with a variety of things, but one standout species is the bleeding heart tetra. These are so fast that the SAPs can't even keep up with them, let alone bother them. Bleeding hearts are very feisty fish in big groups, and there is a lot of displaying. They're big enough to be impressive and colourful enough to be worth keeping.

Synodontis nigriventris is another reliable choice for an SAP tank. Again, sociable animals. But they are increasingly outgoing the more you get, and half a dozen would be wonderful. Synodontis are good at hiding and make a strange clicking sound that seems to put off potentially aggressive or nippy tankmates; Synodontis will also become very defensive if they're pushed. That's why they work so well with cichlids.

You could also try Carinotetraodon species like C. irrubesco. These should work nicely with SAPs; my specimens live together happily and apart from the occasional fight over food they ignore each other.

Cheers, Neale

i think that rays need more like 200gallons... but im not sure...

i think the tank has to be at least 30" wide.

Well I've got the tank

Only thing is I may buy a external filter as the Juwel one is hard to get to at the minute, unless we move a cabinet off the wall, but even then I have to stretch to get the fine blue sponges.

Any suggestions on the external filter, are they easier to keep then internal?

Pictures:

The internal filters on Juwel tanks have good points and bad points. On the positive side of things, they are efficient in terms of providing a good water turnover for relatively low wattage. They contain a mass of media ideal for biological filtration. The open top ensures there's plenty of oxygen getting into the biological media. They're quite easy to clean and maintain. The arrangement of putting a built-in heater alongside the water pump ensures excellent heat distribution.

But the negatives can be significant. They have little mechanical filtration capacity, so are easily overwhelmed by very messy fish (such as plecs). Compared with an external filter, internal filters of any type are unsightly. Because the suction and the outflow parts of the filter are at the same end of the tank, there's less water movement at the other end of the tank than is ideal. There's an annoying "dead space" under the filter that is difficult to reach/clean.

Whilst I respect the Juwel filters as being well designed for standard small fish community systems, I feel they are not ideal for large fish systems. At the very least, you're likely going to want to add an external canister filter to take care of mechanical filtration.

I recently ripped the filter out of my Rio 180 tank, and now rely on a Fluval 105 canister and an Eheim 2217 canister, both with the inlets at one end and the outflows at the other. That's almost 1500 litres/hour turnover for an 180 litre tank. While that might sound a lot, for a tank with a Panaque catfish it's what you need! The SAPs absolutely love the strong water current. I suspect they'd enjoy even more water flow if I could find a way to add some.

Cheers, Neale

Ok thanks.

I've been looking at the Fluval External Filter 405 or the Tetratec External Power Filter EX1200.

Which would be best for my 300?

Also could someone possibly post a picture of how they look etc? All set up for the tank and working?

you're not going to be able to keep at ray in there thats for sure. what theme are you looking for?

I'm not really sure... lol I have so much space, that I have a good choice of theme and fish!

I really do love cichlids, would love some Discus but too afraid to get them as they require pristine water conditions.

I did see a nice Gold Severum really like them also.

Also saw a shoal of 4 densonii barbs in a set-up rio400 at my lfs where i got my 300 from.

I don't so much as want a community type tank as that's what my rio125 basically is.

I also like the Tetraodon barbatus.

*just a little news, I paid £286 for the tank and cabinet, brand new!*

Same with the discus here, they look great but I couldn't commit myself to the maintinance I've read they need.

If you don't like a community look of a tank, does that mean you only want 1 or 2 show fish and nothing else?

Mmm pretty much, the only type of community would possibly be a Mbuna Tank.

I like the looks of the golden severum, Tetraodon barbatus, denisoni barbs and spotted climbing perch.

I love puffer fish, maybe you could go brackish and get figure 8's and bumblebee gobies both such lovley fish

Mmm maybe, I still like the idea of a mbuna tank or getting a gold severum.

I also like the spotted climbing perch.

This post has been edited by slakey: May 24 2008, 07:35 PM

Ctenopoma Acutirostre, or Ctenopoma Weeksi are both stunning fish, and when they get larger (mine are about 5") are really really spectacular, cant wait to see them at 8"

considering you like the oddball fish (elephants) etc i would highly recommend the reasonably hardy "Polypterus ornatipinnis" or ornate birchir. Very colourful if you get a decent supplier and not too expensive. Great character too.

I'd also consider keeping the angel display tank you were thinking of. Although a little boring to start with they require roughly the same water conditions as Discus and so upgrading to Discus later would be reasonable. Once you have the angel display at its optimum (perhaps dabbling in breeding) you could go for Discus at minimal expense and upheaval. Might consider and RO unit in the future with Discus them too. A second advantage to the Angel display is that once you are more confident in your water quality you could add your elephant nose. Some debate on how many to add but I'd go for one and add another 3-4 a fortnight later. Remember that your experience is constantly growing and your tastes will change - angels.... with elephants... then discus later on when you're more confident???

Have you considered black ghost knife fish - beautiful (but not to be mixed with elephants).

I own the Tetra EX700 on a Rio 180 and have loved it. Maintenance is a breeze and it has run for almost 2 years without a problem. Mechanical filtration is superb, which is what you want for the larger show fish. Would definitely recommend the EX1200 for your Rio 300.

Good luck!

If it was me, id get an Mbuna Tank