Getting 150 Gal Tank

[nukeonekitty]

I am going to be getting a 150 gal tank this weekend and I need to serious advice/ideas for safe fish to stock together. I am looking to set up a community aquarium, but I am open to any advice or ideas. Also live plants and any ideas for lay outs of rocks and such. Anything would be helpful!

 

[africantigerfish7]

Very broad question, but first you'll want to cycle the tank. There's all sorts of posts on that, so do that first, and I'll TRY to get back to you. I don't always remember what posts I am replying to.

 

[nukeonekitty]

Yeah, I realize it is a broad question, I'm just looking for any input. Thank you though and I look forward to your help!

 

[djloach]

I am going to be getting a 150 gal tank this weekend and I need to serious advice/ideas for safe fish to stock together. I am looking to set up a community aquarium, but I am open to any advice or ideas. Also live plants and any ideas for lay outs of rocks and such. Anything would be helpful!

There are so many things you can do with a tank that big. You really have to do some reading and pick out some fish that you like. Here is what I might do with that tank:

8-12 Rainbowfish (Australian or Boesemani)
20-25 Cardinal Tetras or Harlequin Rasboras
2-3 Three Spot/Opaline/Blue Gouramis
6-8 Clown loaches
4-6 Weather loaches
3-4 Siamese Algae Eaters
Lots of plants
A couple pieces of large driftwood

Most of those fish don't really need much rockwork so rocks aren't really that important but make sure there are some places for the clown loaches to hide.

 

[nukeonekitty]

How are you able to insure that all these fish would get enough food? That has kind of been my worry because it would be hard to see who is and isn't eating!

 

[africantigerfish7]

I am going to be getting a 150 gal tank this weekend and I need to serious advice/ideas for safe fish to stock together. I am looking to set up a community aquarium, but I am open to any advice or ideas. Also live plants and any ideas for lay outs of rocks and such. Anything would be helpful!

There are so many things you can do with a tank that big. You really have to do some reading and pick out some fish that you like. Here is what I might do with that tank:

8-12 Rainbowfish (Australian or Boesemani)
20-25 Cardinal Tetras or Harlequin Rasboras
2-3 Three Spot/Opaline/Blue Gouramis
6-8 Clown loaches
4-6 Weather loaches
3-4 Siamese Algae Eaters
Lots of plants
A couple pieces of large driftwood

Most of those fish don't really need much rockwork so rocks aren't really that important but make sure there are some places for the clown loaches to hide.

Problem here is that most rainbows like hard water, while tetras like regular water. Also weather loaches are usually kept with goldfish as coldwater specimens. I'm not saying it won't work though.

As far as stocking goes, I would like to know what kind of tank you want. There are so many choices, like an Amazonian community, an african cichlid tank, a south american cichlid tank, brackish tank, a specialized species tank, etc. I could go through every one, but this post would sooner become a book !

 

[nukeonekitty]

I have been thinking of setting up a tank with large oscars, bala sharks, silver dollars and jack dempseys. Would this work?

 

[djloach]

I have been thinking of setting up a tank with large oscars, bala sharks, silver dollars and jack dempseys. Would this work?

I don't know much about Oscars and Jack Dempseys but I think they are agressive fish so they might not be the best for a community tank. Silver Dollars are nice but they do eat plants so you'll either have to choose bad tasting plants (i.e. Java Ferns) or go with plastic plants. If you like Bala sharks you could replace the rainbows and tetras/harlequins in my suggested list with 5-6 bala sharks and maybe a few Tiger Barbs or something like that. Bala's are fairly peaceful but when they get full grown they might see very small fish as food.

I personally think that every tank should have a combination of mid-level fish and bottom dwellers and that is why I suggested the clown loaches. In groups of 5+ they are quite playful and are quite colorful as well. A tank with a school of balas as the main mid-level fish and clown loaches as the main bottom dwellers would be quite nice.

As Barracuda said, rainbows do prefer hard water but they are also quite adaptable so it shouldn't be a problem if you went that route. I have a group of rainbows in fairly soft water and the are doing quite well and showing off lots of color. Weather loaches do like cooler water as well but will do fine up to mid 70s farenheit which many tropical fish can also live in. Weather loaches are pretty hardy fish too. I've got a couple living with clown loaches and rainbows at around 77F.

 

[africantigerfish7]

Bala sharks and silver dollars are a definite no if you want to keep oscars or dempseys.
Balas are quite skittish, and won't defend themselves.
Dollars can be nippy, but can't compete with those cichlids.
If you keep oscars keep only one, or they will likely pair off, and you will have no room for any other fish other than the first pair.
Dempseys are quite aggressive, but again only keep one unless you want a dempsey breeding tank.
If you want, you could get various large cichlids, but be careful not to overstock, and make sure they are compatible. If I had the tank you had, I'd keep a pair of wolf cichlids.



Oh and balas and clown loaches get to around 1' a piece.

 

[nukeonekitty]

My parents are worried that this tank will make a big jump to our electric bill (because of filters, heaters, heads, lights and what not) Will it?

 

[africantigerfish7]

You will see a difference, but how much of a difference, I don't know because I don't pay my electric bill ! Add up the wattage on all your accessories, see how many hours a day you will use the accessories, and find some kind of electricity calculator on the net.

 

[jacs]

My parents are worried that this tank will make a big jump to our electric bill (because of filters, heaters, heads, lights and what not) Will it?

We currently have 4 tanks up and running 2 of which are tropical and 2 cold water, My partner used to have a 6ft long, 2ft hieght, 18 inches depth, which held over 100 gallons, I don't know how much you know but you will need to set the tank up and have everything running in it for at least a couple of weeks, then put hardy fish, this will help to build up the bacteria in the filters, hardy fish are: golden barbs, black widows, some tetras, then increase very slowly the amount of other community fish, thats if you don't want to use chemicals to boost up the bacteria,

 

[nukeonekitty]

Yet another issue... is the weight of this tank a problem on the second floor of my house.... I will lay it perpendicular to the jouces in the floor of course... I just dont want it to fall through the floor!

I have the fish I really want to put in my tank... tell me if everything sounds safe and good for one another! 3x Blue Gouramis, 20x neon tetras, 5x clown loaches, 10xGuppys (I don't know what kind would work best, SUGGESTIONS???)... this is just an idea... tell me if it will work well or not

 

[djloach]

Yet another issue... is the weight of this tank a problem on the second floor of my house.... I will lay it perpendicular to the jouces in the floor of course... I just dont want it to fall through the floor!

I have the fish I really want to put in my tank... tell me if everything sounds safe and good for one another! 3x Blue Gouramis, 20x neon tetras, 5x clown loaches, 10xGuppys (I don't know what kind would work best, SUGGESTIONS???)... this is just an idea... tell me if it will work well or not

The weight is a bit of an issue. Definitely place the tank perpendicular to the joists and if you can place it close to a supporting wall (i.e. an outside wall) that would be good too or a corner would be even better.

Your choice of fish looks pretty good. With the Gouramis try to get one male and 2 females so that the male will split his agression between the two females instead of having one female getting picked on by two males. It isn't always easy to sex when they are typical store size but the males have pointy dorsal fins while the females are more rounded. I ended up with 2 males and one female and so far it has been OK but it is safer to have the reverse.

You might want to consider Cardinal Tetras instead of Neons. They look pretty similar with the cardinals being hardier fish, slightly bigger and slightly more colorful but the neons would work too.

I don't know much about guppies but they would probably work. I would definitely consider adding 3-4 siamese algae eaters as well to help keep the tank clean.

That would be a good start to your tank. A 150g tank could probably a few more fish so at that point you could consider adding more cardinal/neon tetras (they look great in large schools) a school of corys or something like that. Remember that although clown loaches get quite big they are quite slow growers and can live 15+ years. Most of your other fish will probably have died by the time they reach 6" or more so in the next 4-5 years you wouldn't need to count them for any more than 30" in the inch per gallon rule.

5 clown loaches = 30 inches
20 cardinal tetras = 40 inches
3 blue gouramis = 12 inches
10 guppies = 20 inches
3 siamese algae eaters = 18 inches

total = 120 inches

 

[africantigerfish7]

The inch per gallon rule isn't a good one. That's like saying you could put two 6'(144") fish in there with a couple guppies. You really should look up one of those tank volume calculators. That will tell you how much fish you can keep. The reality is that the clown loaches will get to 1' in that tank which will be 5'(60"). The stocking you have sounds good, just remember to keep 2-3 female guppies per male. Good luck !