Calling All Monster Fish Experts: 500 Gallon Stock List

[MyraAlam]

Hello everyone!


A friend of mine is attempting to stock his 500 (U.S.) gallon tank. He's been searching for great fish but is a bit picky! (The more gorgeous the fish, the better.) I'd love to hear any suggestions you guys might have. Currently the fish that he's decided for SURE are 1 silver arowana, and an oscar. (Probably a tiger...or an albino.) He'd have liked to keep 2 oscars but I've heard that it's better to keep a single oscar or a group of them due to aggression issues. Can someone tell me whether this true?


I was going to suggest tinfoil barbs but would they pester the Oscar? A clown knife is also a possibility. I've heard that stingrays make wonderful tankmates for aro's but even adding a single stingray would reduce the number of possibilities significantly. (Don't stingrays need an awful lot of room devoted to them?) He's a pretty experienced aquarist so I wouldn't worry about him not knowing how to handle the rays.


Got any other fish that would make this tank awesome? Recommend away! Please don't recommend a datnoid or a jaguar catfish as he doesn't want to keep either. And yes, we've already heard the, "Keep 500 Neon tetras!" suggestion.

 

[england]

2000 exedon's

hehe ok what country are you located, no tinfoils will not harass oscars.i kept 3 large<still have>with oscars no problem, just food bill costs more as tins eat alot
so country will help to determin as some countrys ban fish others dont

did you just add your location?otherwise my comps playing as it didnt say owt before<honest

ok so snakeheads are out for you....

oscars is a hit and miss but that size tank its worth ago....
aro um what about Paratilapia polleni a stunning cichlid in a 500 should work,

what catfish does he not really like or what about lima shovelnoses?

 

[MyraAlam]

2000 exedon's

hehe ok what country are you located, no tinfoils will not harass oscars.i kept 3 large<still have>with oscars no problem, just food bill costs more as tins eat alot
so country will help to determin as some countrys ban fish others dont

did you just add your location?otherwise my comps playing as it didnt say owt before<honest

ok so snakeheads are out for you....

oscars is a hit and miss but that size tank its worth ago....
aro um what about Paratilapia polleni a stunning cichlid in a 500 should work,

what catfish does he not really like or what about lima shovelnoses?

Hi nelly!


Yeah, I was about to say, I think it says right there where I'm from LOL thanks for the exedon suggestion I've kept tinfoils in the past but they were in a tank all to themselves so there wasn't really anyone to bother. Although you're right, they certainly had hefty appetites! The aros been in mind since the beginning of this tank so I'm afraid the aro's gotta stay. We're trying to stock centering around it, actually. Thanks so much for the paratilapia suggestion, I've never heard of that fish before but it seems fantastic. (Would it get along with the Oscar?) As for catfish, the prettier the better.

 

[mixmaster jay]

giant gouramis are cool i have a12" gold giant gourami
18"marbled clarias catfish (i think thats a no no in usa too as its a walking cat i beleive could be wrong)
12" silver arowana
12 channel cat

i would like thing like barimundi/aropaima/tigar shovelnose/gars/fly river turtles/pacu's/red asian arowana i cant think of anymore ive gone blank lol

 

[Davo86]

Hello everyone!


A friend of mine is attempting to stock his 500 (U.S.) gallon tank. He's been searching for great fish but is a bit picky! (The more gorgeous the fish, the better.) I'd love to hear any suggestions you guys might have. Currently the fish that he's decided for SURE are 1 silver arowana, and an oscar. (Probably a tiger...or an albino.) He'd have liked to keep 2 oscars but I've heard that it's better to keep a single oscar or a group of them due to aggression issues. Can someone tell me whether this true?


I was going to suggest tinfoil barbs but would they pester the Oscar? A clown knife is also a possibility. I've heard that stingrays make wonderful tankmates for aro's but even adding a single stingray would reduce the number of possibilities significantly. (Don't stingrays need an awful lot of room devoted to them?) He's a pretty experienced aquarist so I wouldn't worry about him not knowing how to handle the rays.


Got any other fish that would make this tank awesome? Recommend away! Please don't recommend a datnoid or a jaguar catfish as he doesn't want to keep either. And yes, we've already heard the, "Keep 500 Neon tetras!" suggestion.

Hi what are the dimensions?

I would probably agree that one oscar would be best. (in that size tank a group could/should work but as you want the aro and others i would stick to just the one)

Tinfoils are ok as are Silver Dollars,
A clown knife should also be fine

with regard to rays, if the tankmates are going to be safe with a fully grown silver arowana then they really should be ok with rays,

Other fish i can think of are;
Giant gouramis, (perhaps a gold or redtailed)
flagtail prochilodus (look great in amongst tinfoils)

other cichlids like Rotkeils, Uaru, True parrot cichlids, chocolate cichlid, pearsei etc will do fine,
cats could include a lima shovelnose, tigrinus, perruno,

 

[mixmaster jay]

gold gourami
flagtail i love these
and purunno i nearly bought one not so long ago they have like leopard markings on them but dark brown in colour vey nice cat

rays would be fine in my oppinian

 

[england]

well it is always a mis and match with cichlids, i know of a few peoples in the usa with 300us tanks with an aray of cichlids including para's....all works well....
yes what is the dimention's?
also i love the look of cichla<PEACOCK BASS>

 

[england]

1 silver arowana
1 oscar
1 Paratilapia polleni
1 ornate birchir
2 lima shovelnose's
4 true parrot cichlid<Hoplarchus psittacus if you can find them they are stunning

 

[mixmaster jay]

peacock bass are nice fish

 

[always4lora]

Jealous of the tank size Peacock bass is nice , i'd probs go with a load of bichir's for the bottom and then the arro's at the top

 

[MyraAlam]

Thanks for all the replies guys, you're awesome. To answer a few questions:


The tank's dimensions are 96 x 36 x 36. This is actually a bit larger than 500 gallons but we're sort of limiting ourselves on purpose so we don't stuff more fish in there. After going through a lot of the fish you guys suggested, here's the list of the ones we like: (the ones in bold are the super favorites)

Silver aro (this has to stay)
tinfoil barbs
flagtail prochilodus
clown knife
motoro stingray
giant gourami (gold)
Rotkeils (major...major...MAJOR favorites)
Uaru
pearsei
true parrot cichlid (don't think it'd be available though)
jaguar catfish (yes I know, I did some major convincing LOL)
and of course...the oscar.


Now it's up to you guys to help my poor friend out. Which is the best combination for this tank? How many of each would you suggest? Obviously not all these fish are going to fit, so we just want you to come up with the best stock list you think is possible. Have a blast

That reminds me guys- are bala sharks completely out of the picture? I mean, is it not possible to keep them here at all? Just wondering.

 

[mixmaster jay]

thats what i am upgrading to 8x3x3 soon lol

well out of all them ive got a gold giant gourami and silver arowana, i used to have a 2ft silver with my arow but that died they wher great together

BUT ive now got a 12" silver (i bought it at 8" about a month ago) i tried it then and the gourami didn't like it lol but i am tyring it again in the next day or so and fingers crossed they will work, so if you want it to work i suggest to get a silver 3 or 4" bigger than it

thats what i am upgrading to 8x3x3 soon lol

well out of all them ive got a gold giant gourami and silver arowana, i used to have a 2ft silver with my arow but that died they wher great together

BUT ive now got a 12" silver (i bought it at 8" about a month ago) i tried it then and the gourami didn't like it lol but i am tyring it again in the next day or so and fingers crossed they will work, so if you want it to work i suggest to get a silver 3 or 4" bigger than it

 

[england]

well that is a big tank
what filteration is this "friend" running?

what about
1 Silver aro (this has to stay)
6 tinfoil barbs
2 flagtail prochilodus
1 giant gourami (gold)
8 Uaru
1 oscar<of course
jagaur catfish the only problem is it has very soft smooth skin,if it receives an attack from the oscar it could have problems as no hard protection as skins so soft<only from what i have read...

was thinking should be fine with a Oxydoras niger,i love these catfish

 

[mixmaster jay]

8x3x3 =
2039 L
448 uk gallons
539 us gollons

na thats not big enough lol

 

[Davo86]

Without the rays i think that the bottom of the tank is going to look quite bare as jag cats don't really get that big (in terms of monsters) especially considering its a 3foot high tank

Does your friend like plecs or Bichirs?
or any of the big synodontis species? (decora, notata or ornatipinnis for example)
or even a group of striped raphaels (platydoras armatulus)

2 flagtail prochilodus

even in such a big tank i doubt 2 would tolerate each other for long,