120 Gal Stocking Advice

[loraxchick]

Hello forum memebers
as the title says im looking for ideas for my aunt's 120 gallon community tank. The tank is very well established (has been up and ruunung for 3+ years). A few months back there was a complete "redo" on the tank..got rid of the old stock and currently has in it 4 angels (about 1.5 inches atm), five swordtails, three red eyed tetras and a few siamese algea eaters (ive warned her already that they will eventually need to be rehomed, less they start "de-sliming" the angels once they start becoming more aggressive.). so here's my question. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH ALL THAT SPACE???

I cannot imagine being lucky enough to have such a huge tank for myself to play with. i want to stock this up reallllly nicely for her (my uncle recently passed away-he was the fishkeeper and she is sort of continuing his "legacy")... i was visiting her yesterday and chatting with her about the tank. she definitely wants more fish! i was only so helpful as i know nothing about angelfish, really (and these are her favorite-so they're staying)...

but what sort of community fish would you stock it with? i know with a tank that large there is LOADS of possibility...id like a great big shoal of someone in there...and some fun bottom dwellers. maybe some other colorful (peaceful-ish) ciclids that would get on with the angels...the tank is nicely decorated with lots of slate/rocks/driftwood and other hidey holes. she said colorful things are nice (duh) and mentioned wanting some "blue" in there (and i know neons are OUT of the question!). sooooooo....

hit me with any and ALL ideas...im completely opened to suggestions!!!

tank stats as of yesterday:
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- o
Nitrate- between 10-20 ppm
pH- 7.2
Temp- 78 F

c'mon....lay it on me.

Thanks so much in advance. im looking forward to bringing her some ideas later in the week on my next visit
id love to start adding stock slowly over the next few months.

Cheers all

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Angelfish are for the most part pretty gentle, but they can get a little nippy with long finned fish like guppies, bettas and long finned tetras. Watch out for really small fish, as the Angelfish could gobble these guys down. Watch out for breeding, as they tend to get a little more feisty guarding the eggs.



If I was you, I would keep the Angelfish as the center piece fish, and expand that number of red eye tetras, or go with a bigger tetra all together.


4X Angelfish
4X German Blue Ram
5X Swordtail
30+X Red Eye Tetra (Make sure they are big so they don't get eaten)

OR

20+X Congo Tetra

But that's just me. As for thing to stock with, there are too many to count! Rainbowfish would be another good one to consider IMO.

 

[loraxchick]

i havent seen rainbow fish around here (which is too bad 'cause i like them a lot)...i definately will get more red eyes...the angels atm seem quite tranqil, but im sure these things will change as they get older...
i also understand the possibilities are HUGE giventhe tank size...thats why i want all sorts of ideas to talk over with my aunt.

rams will get on fine then? lots and lots of hidey holes for them in this tank... i realllly like them and i think she would too. will they eat schooling fish like harlequins, etc? i am crap with the "compatability issues".

thanks for the reply...im hoping for lots of ideas, so keep em comming
cheers!!!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

i havent seen rainbow fish around here (which is too bad 'cause i like them a lot)...i definately will get more red eyes...the angels atm seem quite tranqil, but im sure these things will change as they get older...
i also understand the possibilities are HUGE giventhe tank size...thats why i want all sorts of ideas to talk over with my aunt.

rams will get on fine then? lots and lots of hidey holes for them in this tank... i realllly like them and i think she would too. will they eat schooling fish like harlequins, etc? i am crap with the "compatability issues".

thanks for the reply...im hoping for lots of ideas, so keep em comming
cheers!!!

Rams are fine to go in. They shouldn't really pay attention to any of the fish, they will tend to fight with each other a little bit though.

 

[Davo86]

rams will get on fine then? lots and lots of hidey holes for them in this tank... i reallly like them and i think she would too. will they eat schooling fish like harlequins, etc? i am crap with the "compatability issues".

rams will be fine with most small fish including harlequins and cardinals,

I would go with something similar to this:

4 angels
5 swordtails,
12 red eyed tetras
12 x-ray tetras
2 Blue Rams
2 Keyholes
12 Corydoras
6 Hatchet fish
1 albino bristlenose

 

[corycatz]

You could also try some apistos or mabey a nice school of Columbine tetras

 

[loraxchick]

rams will get on fine then? lots and lots of hidey holes for them in this tank... i reallly like them and i think she would too. will they eat schooling fish like harlequins, etc? i am crap with the "compatability issues".

rams will be fine with most small fish including harlequins and cardinals,

I would go with something similar to this:

4 angels
5 swordtails,
12 red eyed tetras
12 x-ray tetras
2 Blue Rams
2 Keyholes
12 Corydoras
6 Hatchet fish
1 albino bristlenose

Cories were kind of a no brainer...i have some in my tanks and love them to pieces! im excited about the rams and keyholes...will deinately do more research into them. and hatchets- LOVE THEM!!! and surely i will increase the nimber of red eyes...that was my absolute first thought. bristlenose are hard to fine here if at all but i will be keeping an eye out. will also look around at what other tetras are around at the GOOD lfs's...their stocks change all the time so ill see what's available as of right now just to get an idea.
thanks so much for the replies so far.

please keep the ideas coming...it's overwhelming having that large a tank to deal with...id be in hog heaven (well i knda am having taken the chrage of figuring out who else to add to the tank.

CHEERS!

 

[loraxchick]

so i did a little bit of quick research this morning on the rams and it says that they are best kept in slightly acidic water...the pH of the tank is 7.2 so i am uncertain if this would be good forthe rams (and i am not about to go messing with the pH- can only lead to trouble). keyholes should be fine tho...

the search continues

thanks again for some starter ideas...im still looking around and open to more suggestions.

 

[Davo86]

so i did a little bit of quick research this morning on the rams and it says that they are best kept in slightly acidic water...the pH of the tank is 7.2 so i am uncertain if this would be good forthe rams (and i am not about to go messing with the pH- can only lead to trouble). keyholes should be fine tho...

the search continues

thanks again for some starter ideas...im still looking around and open to more suggestions.

if they are tank bred it shouldn't matter too much, although it would be best adding them to the tank near to the end, when the tank has got used to the increased stock levels and the stats have stabilised.

Although Bolivian Rams (as well as Apistos) are a suitable alternative(s) if your still not sure

As almost all of the fish suggested come from the region of South America, it may be a good idea to do a complete SA themed biotope which would look amazing

 

[loraxchick]

if they are tank bred it shouldn't matter too much, although it would be best adding them to the tank near to the end, when the tank has got used to the increased stock levels and the stats have stabilised.

Thanks for this...i reallllly like the rams so thats good to know theyll likely be ok. and yes, the stock is going to be added very slowly...i dont get to cisit as much as id like so a bit with each trip...she's great on the maintenance so no worries there.
cheers