180 Gallon: Taking Fish Suggestions!

[MyraAlam]

Okay guys, after considering a lot of your input, here's my list right now:



6 Boesemani rainbowfish
20 Zebra danio
20 Harlequin rasbora
10 Swordtails
4 Keyhole Cichlids
4 Blue Rams
25 Cardinal Tetra
15 Diamond Tetra
5 Pearl Gourami
8 clown loach
20 assorted corydoras (probably sterbai's, adolfo's, and panda's)


Please tell me- do I have any more room without overstocking? (Or even stocking to the brim to be honest, I wouldn't want to do that either.) If I do, what do you think about bala sharks? I haven't heard them mentioned too often, is there a reason why?

 

[loraxchick]

actually...ditto to the khuli loaches!!! have some of those too and they ROCK!!! need lots of hidey holes for them...and they are low on the bio-load so you could have quite a few providing enough places to hide.

 

[joshjames]

just my opinion but if i had a 180 gallon tank i would fill it will larger fish instead of tetras.
it is such a large tank i would go for new world cichlids and clown loaches defo
large catfish and how about bala sharks??? love them too

 

[MyraAlam]

actually...ditto to the khuli loaches!!! have some of those too and they ROCK!!! need lots of hidey holes for them...and they are low on the bio-load so you could have quite a few providing enough places to hide.

Hmm...khuli loach vs. bala sharks. What do you think, guys?

 

[puppyjess123]

I think bala sharks, get bigger and are more interesting IMO But its all down to your personal taste

 

[MyraAlam]

just my opinion but if i had a 180 gallon tank i would fill it will larger fish instead of tetras.
it is such a large tank i would go for new world cichlids and clown loaches defo
large catfish and how about bala sharks??? love them too

Thanks for your input, and I'm sure a lot of people out there would agree with you. I hope to someday get a really huge tank and just keep monster fish. In the meantime though, with the current list I have, what do you think would be a better addition? Khuli loaches or bala sharks? Bala sharks may be peaceful, but I think they'd get too enormous wouldn't they? But then again, clowns aren't all that small either...

 

[MyraAlam]

I think bala sharks, get bigger and are more interesting IMO But its all down to your personal taste

I think I'm a tad bit more biased towards the balas myself, to be honest! In that case, let's go with them. How many balas will fit? (And are khuli's really a whole lot more awesome? )

 

[MyraAlam]

just my opinion but if i had a 180 gallon tank i would fill it will larger fish instead of tetras.
it is such a large tank i would go for new world cichlids and clown loaches defo
large catfish and how about bala sharks??? love them too

By the way, I noticed you have cardinal tetra. I've heard that establishing and acclimating them to a tank is a nightmare. Is this true? Are they picky about the pH being acidic and the water being soft?

 

[MyraAlam]

actually...ditto to the khuli loaches!!! have some of those too and they ROCK!!! need lots of hidey holes for them...and they are low on the bio-load so you could have quite a few providing enough places to hide.

Change of heart, guys. Bala sharks are lovely but they just get way too big. I'm sticking with the kuhli loach. In that case, how many do I get? And will they stand out with the clown loaches having a similar pattern? Speaking of which, I've heard clown loaches get quite large, are they still alright for my tank?

 

[rdd1952]

Great tank size. The only thing I will add about the stock list is that you could have problems with the corys and rams if the rams pair off and spawn. They can become aggressive and territorial at that time and could be a problem for the corys. Someone that has experience with bth of them together can possibly shed more light on the subject.

 

[joshjames]

By the way, I noticed you have cardinal tetra. I've heard that establishing and acclimating them to a tank is a nightmare. Is this true? Are they picky about the pH being acidic and the water being soft?
[/quote]

yes i do have a group of 10
i have been ok with them myself they were my first fish into a not very welled cycled 60 litre tank and they were all ok
lost 1 or 2 along the way dont really no what by but generally i have been ok with them
other people may say different but my personal experiance has been fine with them
i never did water tests on the tank so dont really no what water parameters they prefer
i was very new to the hobby then and i think i just got lucky!

 

[nel5on]

6 Boesemani rainbowfish
20 Zebra danio
20 Harlequin rasbora
10 Swordtails
4 Keyhole Cichlids
4 Blue Rams
30 Cardinal Tetra
15 Diamond Tetra
5 Pearl Gourami
8 clown loach
20+ cories

Think is you need some kind of algae eaters, a group of 5 or so bristlenoses, or a big shoal of otto's (theyre also a schooling fish and look great in big numbers)

maybe even look at buying a shed laod of cherry shrimp. i think that tbh if you have enough in the first palce. they should breed well and produce enough offpsring as to not got all eaten, especially if the tank is full of plants.

you could also add a few more rams, maybe a coupla more keyholes's

thanks.

 

[MyraAlam]

Great tank size. The only thing I will add about the stock list is that you could have problems with the corys and rams if the rams pair off and spawn. They can become aggressive and territorial at that time and could be a problem for the corys. Someone that has experience with bth of them together can possibly shed more light on the subject.

Thanks I was a bit worried about that myself. I think if the rams do start to spawn then I'll just have to separate them, I don't want my corys pushed around. Thank you for your input

 

[nel5on]

Great tank size. The only thing I will add about the stock list is that you could have problems with the corys and rams if the rams pair off and spawn. They can become aggressive and territorial at that time and could be a problem for the corys. Someone that has experience with bth of them together can possibly shed more light on the subject.

Thanks I was a bit worried about that myself. I think if the rams do start to spawn then I'll just have to separate them, I don't want my corys pushed around. Thank you for your input

thing is, cories are NOT slow and they are not stupid, they get out of the way of our firemouths, and our tank is smaller than yours (150USG)and firemouths are known to be gurmpy especially when breeding

 

[MyraAlam]

6 Boesemani rainbowfish
20 Zebra danio
20 Harlequin rasbora
10 Swordtails
4 Keyhole Cichlids
4 Blue Rams
30 Cardinal Tetra
15 Diamond Tetra
5 Pearl Gourami
8 clown loach
20+ cories

Think is you need some kind of algae eaters, a group of 5 or so bristlenoses, or a big shoal of otto's (theyre also a schooling fish and look great in big numbers)

maybe even look at buying a shed laod of cherry shrimp. i think that tbh if you have enough in the first palce. they should breed well and produce enough offpsring as to not got all eaten, especially if the tank is full of plants.

you could also add a few more rams, maybe a coupla more keyholes's

thanks.

6 Boesemani rainbowfish
20 Zebra danio
20 Harlequin rasbora
10 Swordtails
4 Keyhole Cichlids
4 Blue Rams
30 Cardinal Tetra
15 Diamond Tetra
5 Pearl Gourami
8 clown loach
20+ cories
? khuli loaches
? bristlenose plecs

Please fill in the missing numbers for me! I was thinking of reducing the number of corys, would that be alright? Maybe from 20+ to 6 of the sterbai and 6 of the adolfo's? I don't mind a huge shoal of corys, I just don't want things getting overcrowded when the bristlenoses and khuli's are introduced. Let me know!

Great tank size. The only thing I will add about the stock list is that you could have problems with the corys and rams if the rams pair off and spawn. They can become aggressive and territorial at that time and could be a problem for the corys. Someone that has experience with bth of them together can possibly shed more light on the subject.

Thanks I was a bit worried about that myself. I think if the rams do start to spawn then I'll just have to separate them, I don't want my corys pushed around. Thank you for your input

thing is, cories are NOT slow and they are not stupid, they get out of the way of our firemouths, and our tank is smaller than yours (150USG)and firemouths are known to be gurmpy especially when breeding

Oh good, no worries then!