Future Plans

[nano]

hi everyone,
im new to the forums but not to the hobby.

so straight to the point ...
my plans for the future (my way of introducing myself):

i have a 30 gal with a variety of tetras the common 30 gal ... u kno like school of black tetras, cardinals, and a bunch of lemon tets.

so here's wat i was thinking ...
get a 75 gal
keep a decent 75 gal with a couple oddballs ... say aro and and maybe a bicher?

then within maybe a year or two upgrade to a 120 and add lets say 2 rays ... while ill add couple of dats and a large catfish in the 75'er

by now i shud just be entering college , so then maybe get a 210 or so, and move it to the dorm, and combine all of the fish, and add on.

u like or no?
i've had experience with oddballs before ... just not kept them myself. i've always looked forward to it, but parents were against it. but now they dont care since im the one whos gonna be spending my money.

agree ... disagre .. suggestions ... comments ??

 

[mark7616]

DISGREE......

You cant keep and Aro in a 75g period not even to grow it on. And you cant keep any rays in a 120 unless its got silly dimensions. You would either need to get you 210 straight away and as long as its at least 30" wide and 6ft long you could keep and aro and a pair of rays (but the smaller viriaty). Also if you got dats you will need to try and get large ones as they a verrrrrrry slow growers and could end up as potential aro food.

 

[syntax_error]

Welcome to the forum!

Yup, certainly disagree and I can assure you anyone in the forum will give the same answer. Mark has told all that's needed to be said. I suggest you check out the oddball index.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=44

 

[nano]

ok thanks for the suggestions

hmm
would lets say:
5x dats
1x bichir
work for a 75 gallon??

then maybe in a year or so upgrade to a 210'er and keep the aro's and rays in there, and eventually move the days and bichir aswell. and hopefully later add a large catfish. sound good?

 

[DarkEntity]

Dats will easily hit 8-12"+ in a tank and some if not all will exceed 2 feet in the wild

 

[CAC]

ok thanks for the suggestions

hmm
would lets say:
5x dats
1x bichir
work for a 75 gallon??

then maybe in a year or so upgrade to a 210'er and keep the aro's and rays in there, and eventually move the days and bichir aswell. and hopefully later add a large catfish. sound good?

Depends what bichir really...If it were delheizi or seneglus (sp?) then yeah that would be fine, but an ornate in a 75g would be pushing it IMO.
For a tank that size, it couldnt comfortably hold an adult group of 5 dats, but like mark said they are very slow growing, so a group of 5 would be fine for a good while in there. Try using the 75g as a growout tank (so dont over stock it) for things that will go into the 210g as for them not to become aro food.
I personally wouldnt get an aro until you have the big tank that will house it for life. For a 210g there are lots of options for larger catfish, but we would need the diamensions to give you a good idea of what you could go for.

Mike

 

[mark7616]

I personally wouldnt get an aro until you have the big tank that will house it for life.
Mike

Like what I did!!!!! Although I did get my Aro 2 months before tank was built.

Also Dats will grow Waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy past 8" although does take years they WILL hit 14-16"

 

[nano]

yup, i rrlly like this forum. ppl actually know stuff and are quick on posts.

ye like catfish r cool suggested im planning on using the 75 gallon as a grow out tank.
See right now im a junior in high school so i have 2 more years to go to college.
and im not supposed to be getting a larger tank. so the 75 gal as a grow out tank works out fine i think.

I was told mark that dats dont grow very fast so thats good news.
Im not sure exactly what size, but i was thinking 3-4" dats (5 of them) and 1 bichir.

The question now is exactly what bichir. I know eventually down the road i'll need a larger bichir so it wont be bullied by the larger tankmates (catfish , rays , aro ect)
I looked thru the fish index (which i must say is rly well organized and well done) and i think the Senegal and delzhi may be to small ... could be pushing it? or am i wrong?

the ornate bichir actually seems like it wud be a perfect addition, but then the question is how fast does it grow ...
are there any other bichirs which wud work??

o and btw mark thats a nice tank.
What r the dimensions ?

 

[CAC]

Im not sure about ornates growth rates, so cant help really on that, but Im fairly certain that a 16" fully grown delheize wont be eaten by even a black aro...
Nice tank BTW mark, what size and diamensions?

 

[nano]

acutally catfish are cool u make sense.
a 16" wont be eaten lol.
the growth rate is still something i need to find out, ill prob look it up on the web.

so atleast i've got the 75 gal under control:
5x 3-4" dats
1x delzhi bichir (what size shud i get this?)

before we talk bout the 210'er i had a few questions on the 75 gallon.
im guessing a delzhi requires some kind of room to hide , but would it prefer sand over gravel?
i've also read the delzhi's can be rather a nuesense when it comes to plants. are there any plants that wud be compatible?
o and wud dats need a pump?

for the filter, what wud u guys reccomend?

thx for the help

 

[CAC]

For filters: Where do you live? If your in the UK, America, Austraila, you could easily get an eheim. Go on their site and have a look, they are the best make and last for ages, come with a range of options etc and are more expensive than other filters, but their worth it...
Pump: Depends on what filters you get, it probably wont be needed cos your flow rate should be enough.
Plants: I have no experiance or referances to bichirs and plants, but Im pretty sure people use them (if not use fake). The dats will like plants too.
I would just go with sand, then you know it will be useable no matter what...I would imagine its nicer for the fish.
Yeah so the main points that i would go with for those fish would be:
Plants fake or dead streching from bottom to top so all can use it. Have some bogwood and some smooth stones for the bottom to break up line of sight between dats and caves etc for the bichir. Use dim lighting. And then figure the rest out as you go, you will know when they prefer or hate something so just give things a go

Good luck

 

[nano]

k cool.
thx for the help.

i think i ran out of questions.
ill start looking for a tank asap. ill let u guys know as soon as i buy the tank.

thx.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

I don't care what dorm you go to they won't let you keep anything over a 10 gallon fish tank in a dorm.

 

[nano]

thats *if* i stay in a dorm
most likely im gonna get an apartment.

 

[starrynightxxi]

having been a fish keeper in college i would suggest not getting a 210. First off it's likely that in a dorm they won't allow more than a 10-20 gallon tank to be kept. secondly it's very likely that you won't be staying in the same dorm room/apartment during your entire college career, not to mention vacations where you won't be around for up to three months at a time. Not only will a tank that big be difficult to move frequently (heavy, fragile, and difficult to transport in most cars), you want to keep fish that are notoriously sensitive (rays) to anything but PERFECT water conditions.

Also, if you are in a dorm room, water changes are going to be practically impossible unless you go to a school that has bathrooms in each room (which mine did not).

Honestly I would say that the absolute biggest tank I would suggest for a fishkeeper in college is a 55g and that's only if they have an apartment.