Christmas Present

[chamberpot]

Hi,

My LFS has just had a major revamp. It used to sell a whole mishmash of fish, and very little equipment.
I was there today and my eyes were on stalks. A whole range of tanks in different sizes up to 100G, all kinds of filters and lots of healthy looking fish, each in their own tank instead of being thrown in together, in cloudy water, looking half dead.

I am going to buy myself a 100G tank when I get back to Saudi after Christmas, and I would like to put some of the beautiful mono's that the LFS has in it.
This will be a major upgrade for me and I want to do it properly. I tend to get carried away and have made all of the usual newbie mistakes.
But I've learned a lot since I joined the forum and think I can do it. (With fingers crossed)

I know if I go to the LFS with the cash, I won't get the proper advise and I'll be leaving with a lot of stuff I don't really need,
(as was the case with my 40G tank), so if you were me....

What, IYO is the best type/size of filter for a 100G tank? They have all of the Fluval externals, but I can buy an alternative in the UK to take back with me.
Most of the tanks come with some sort of internal/built in sponge/filter tray arrangement, so I will use this as well.
How long will a fish out cycle take using frozen prawns?
Some of the fish I have need a bigger tank, especially my tiger oscar, common plec and tin foil barbs x 2, so are mono's a good idea at all?

Thanks in advance and best regards, Don.

 

[Davo86]

Hey, i'd reccomend doing some research into monos, i don't know much about them but i do know that they need brackish or even marine conditions to survive long term, something that your current fish won't tolerate.

As for the fluval external filters, IMO they are as good as any of the other makes available so any one that has the capacity should be fine, especially if it is running alongside an internal filter which is sold with the tank.

are you going to transfer everything accross to the new tank? if so you can use the current filter media to cycle your new tank.

 

[chamberpot]

Hey, i'd reccomend doing some research into monos, i don't know much about them but i do know that they need brackish or even marine conditions to survive long term, something that your current fish won't tolerate.

As for the fluval external filters, IMO they are as good as any of the other makes available so any one that has the capacity should be fine, especially if it is running alongside an internal filter which is sold with the tank.

are you going to transfer everything accross to the new tank? if so you can use the current filter media to cycle your new tank.

Thank you, that's a good idea... transfer everything to the new tank because they all get along. I've had a couple of monos before, and I love them. They were in with some eels and catfish.
So, is a 40G big enough for a brackish tank just for monos? If so, what else can I put in with them?

 

[Davo86]

So, is a 40G big enough for a brackish tank just for monos? If so, what else can I put in with them?

as i say, i don't know too much about them so the brackish forum may be the place for a better answer

but i would say monos are a shoaling fish so you would need to keep them in a group, i also think they get to around 8",
what are the dimensions of the tank? i think in a fairly long tank you may get away with 3-4 Monos provided the tank is well filtered and maintained.

 

[Straydum]

just a 40g wouldnt do. mono's get up to around 8-10" and should be kept in groups of at least 3, making the minimum tank size a 75g.