Help With Stocking A 135 Gallon Freshwater Tank
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Blondielovesfish
Kia Ora
1. Community - big size.
2. Biotope
2. Biotope
Hi welcome to the forum 
I have the same size tank I keep a South American Cichlid community in mine with a mix of Characins and Catfish as well.
It all depends on what kind of fish you like really. Do we get any clues as to which fish you are quite set on?
Wills
I have the same size tank
I keep a South American Cichlid community in mine with a mix of Characins and Catfish as well.It all depends on what kind of fish you like really. Do we get any clues as to which fish you are quite set on?
Wills
Hi, Thanks for the welcoming
Well so far in my 20 gallon tank, I have hoplo catfish, redtailed black shark and a common plec and was planning to put them all in the 135 gallon, and the fish i like are SA/CA fish, barbs, balls sharks, catfish. so with them 3 in the tank could you think of a stock that could go with them? With the fish i like. Thanks
Well so far in my 20 gallon tank, I have hoplo catfish, redtailed black shark and a common plec and was planning to put them all in the 135 gallon, and the fish i like are SA/CA fish, barbs, balls sharks, catfish. so with them 3 in the tank could you think of a stock that could go with them? With the fish i like. Thanks
ncguppy830
Male
semi agressive community tank
maybe some gouramis
maybe some gouramis
Wills said:Hi welcome to the forum
I have the same size tank
It all depends on what kind of fish you like really. Do we get any clues as to which fish you are quite set on?
Wills
Patience, old chap, patience. Personally, I don't do big tanks, I'm a nano man, so I can't add much, but it would help if you could name a few CA cichlids that you would particularly like. Gives us something to go on.
Wills is definitely the main man when it comes to American cichlids, he'll be along at some point, I'm sure.
Sorry for the delay I had to leave the house for some reason?
Anyway.... from your list - Bala Sharks, forget these, the tank is not big enough to keep them properly - you could look at Rose Line Sharks as a good tank mate, which are smaller more attractive and will do well in a Central American tank - which is actually the way I would take this tank given the fish you already have.
So maybe a stock like
2 Rainbow Cichlids
4 Thoricthys Ellioti
8 Rose Line Sharks
1 Red Tail Black Shark
5 Hoplo Catfish - get a big group rather than just one they make a great group and will look fantastic in the tank
1 Common Pleco - tank is probably still not too ideal but better than most.
or you could go more aggressive and change it to something like this
1 Vieja Synspillum (might be reclassified now but not sure) or Vieja Regani - V.Zonatum might be an option as well
1 Salvini
1 Texas Cichlid (either of the common species H.Carpintis or H.Cyanaguttus should fit here - but one of the rarer ones like H.Deppi are nice as well)
8 Silver Dollars
1 RBTS
5 Hoplo Catfish
1 Common Pleco
These are good starting points, lets see what you think and we can develop them futher
Wills
Anyway.... from your list - Bala Sharks, forget these, the tank is not big enough to keep them properly - you could look at Rose Line Sharks as a good tank mate, which are smaller more attractive and will do well in a Central American tank - which is actually the way I would take this tank given the fish you already have.
So maybe a stock like
2 Rainbow Cichlids
4 Thoricthys Ellioti
8 Rose Line Sharks
1 Red Tail Black Shark
5 Hoplo Catfish - get a big group rather than just one they make a great group and will look fantastic in the tank
1 Common Pleco - tank is probably still not too ideal but better than most.
or you could go more aggressive and change it to something like this
1 Vieja Synspillum (might be reclassified now but not sure) or Vieja Regani - V.Zonatum might be an option as well
1 Salvini
1 Texas Cichlid (either of the common species H.Carpintis or H.Cyanaguttus should fit here - but one of the rarer ones like H.Deppi are nice as well)
8 Silver Dollars
1 RBTS
5 Hoplo Catfish
1 Common Pleco
These are good starting points, lets see what you think and we can develop them futher
Wills
Nw dudes take your time, I was just trying to adjust to this forum.
I probably would of never thought of a stock like this.it looks really cool, anyway I prefer going down the route of the aggressive fish, so the second stock appeals to me more but don't get me wrong the 1st one is good, I like the Texas cichlid, but what about severums, convicts, fire mouths, green terrors, JD, tinfoil barbs, and a redtailed catfish but Ik I can't because I have a pleco and a hoplo and going to buy more hoplo if they do better as a school might as well. Silver dollars sound great as well, wb giant gourami. Thanks for helping
Jaguar cichlid or flowehorn?
I probably would of never thought of a stock like this.it looks really cool, anyway I prefer going down the route of the aggressive fish, so the second stock appeals to me more but don't get me wrong the 1st one is good, I like the Texas cichlid, but what about severums, convicts, fire mouths, green terrors, JD, tinfoil barbs, and a redtailed catfish but Ik I can't because I have a pleco and a hoplo and going to buy more hoplo if they do better as a school might as well. Silver dollars sound great as well, wb giant gourami. Thanks for helping
Jaguar cichlid or flowehorn?
Woah!! A lot of those fish get very very big... way to big for this kind of tank your in pond kind of territory. Red Tailed Catfish, forget it they can grow as big as a teenager... Tinfoil Barbs are a very big schooling fish getting to over a foot and are very active very fast fish - check out T1KARIMANs 1000g tank in the members pictures section to see what they grow into. Giant Gourami again way too big.
These are all monster fish that you need like upwards of 500 gallons for all of the above
Severums are a different type of cichlid to the others I suggested if your going for tank 2. Not tough enough to go with the other fish in there. Convicts should be okay, I just find them a little boring. Firemouths - I put Ellioti in the first mix which are very close relatives but I think better looking? Green Terror might work but they often end up being too aggressive to be house with anything and end up on their own - I think they could easily dominate a tank of this size, especially if you had a very dominant male... JD might work but I would swap that for the Texas it would do okay with the other two in there I think.
Forget the Jag and the Flowerhorn way to aggressive to mix in this kind of tank, Jag is probably too big as an adult as well.
If your going down the aggressive route make sure you have some kind of back up plan like a spare tank or large bucket that you can set up with a filter and heater in an emergency - ie if one fish turns uber aggressive and goes for the other fish.
Make sure you get very young fish and grow them up with each other, resist the urge to go looking for the biggest you can find. I have always, always had more success when adding youngsters to any kind of tank, the mature ones ignore them and when you start the tank its the best way to get the hierachy going. When they cant really do too much damage, compared to when they are at adult size.
Wills
These are all monster fish that you need like upwards of 500 gallons for all of the above
Severums are a different type of cichlid to the others I suggested if your going for tank 2. Not tough enough to go with the other fish in there. Convicts should be okay, I just find them a little boring. Firemouths - I put Ellioti in the first mix which are very close relatives but I think better looking? Green Terror might work but they often end up being too aggressive to be house with anything and end up on their own - I think they could easily dominate a tank of this size, especially if you had a very dominant male... JD might work but I would swap that for the Texas it would do okay with the other two in there I think.
Forget the Jag and the Flowerhorn way to aggressive to mix in this kind of tank, Jag is probably too big as an adult as well.
If your going down the aggressive route make sure you have some kind of back up plan like a spare tank or large bucket that you can set up with a filter and heater in an emergency - ie if one fish turns uber aggressive and goes for the other fish.
Make sure you get very young fish and grow them up with each other, resist the urge to go looking for the biggest you can find. I have always, always had more success when adding youngsters to any kind of tank, the mature ones ignore them and when you start the tank its the best way to get the hierachy going. When they cant really do too much damage, compared to when they are at adult size.
Wills
Wow you know your fish, ok so with that said, ok I'm going to rush the green terror but thinking of putting it last in the tank. Ellioti look better, but my local pet store don't have them only seen fire mouths. So with that said could you make anothe stock up with the new info, I would like the JD, fire mouth included in the stock. Wb a red parrot? Thanks
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