Started An Oddball Tank.

[Snooks1!]

The more I think about it, the more I want to start an oddball tank. Possible sizes will be at least 75 gal, but may be anywhere from 80-100 gals.

Possible stock would be:

1x Apteronotus Albifrons
1-2x Pantodon buchholzi

~Xx Peacock eel~

1x Panaque nigrolineatus

Xx Corydora


Will these fish be suitable together?

 

[Mr._Fishy]

I don't see any problems besides the bgk outgrowing the tank. Be sure to have at a bare minimum a 4x2 tank for an adult fish. I have mine in a 6x2 and wouldn't keep it in something much smaller when it is fully grown (it is about 10" now).

 

[Snooks1!]

I've found a used 80gal tank + marineland 350 Deluxe filter for 300$....Seriously considering that unless I can find a better offer.

How fast to BGK's grow, as my Really Not so LFS gets them in at around 4-7''. No sense in buying a tank...only to upgrade it in 5 months to accommodate a fast growing fish.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Mine isn't growing too quickly from 7" on out, but it is growing at about an inch every 2 or 2 1/2 months. It grew from 2.5" to 7" in around 6 months.

The filter that the tank comes with probably isn't going to be enough for your fish. Unless you under stock the tank quite a bit, I would recommend replacing or adding an external.

 

[Snooks1!]

Mine isn't growing too quickly from 7" on out, but it is growing at about an inch every 2 or 2 1/2 months. It grew from 2.5" to 7" in around 6 months.

The filter that the tank comes with probably isn't going to be enough for your fish. Unless you under stock the tank quite a bit, I would recommend replacing or adding an external.

It is an external...


If it's not enough, I could just get a HOB style filter for little to nothing at one of the shops around here.

Also, instead of using corys as a bottom feeder/sand sifter, could I use khuli loaches? Or would they not be good with the eel and BGK?

 

[Snooks1!]

Just a bit of an update...

I'm picking up the 80gal on Sunday, the guy said he has all sorts of extras for it, rocks, driftwood ect. Really old guy, had fish all his life and finally just isn't able to take care of them any more...

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Woops, sorry, I meant a canister. The marineland bio wheel filters work great, I have a couple myself. I would recommend maybe throwing on a marineland 280 or 220 whatever that current model is. Or an aquaclear or a canister.

I don't see any problem with the kuhli loaches being a meal for the eels, but the bgk could see it as a nice juicy worm when it gets bigger.

Ryan

 

[Snooks1!]

Woops, sorry, I meant a canister. The marineland bio wheel filters work great, I have a couple myself. I would recommend maybe throwing on a marineland 280 or 220 whatever that current model is. Or an aquaclear or a canister.

I was going to do that, if the filter that comes with isn't worth a hoot. Alike minds think great?

This is the filter...

I don't see any problem with the kuhli loaches being a meal for the eels, but the bgk could see it as a nice juicy worm when it gets bigger.

Hm, given I have enough cover and hiding spots, do think there would be any problems? Also, with the stock I'm currently wanting, would they need a more heavily planted tank or no?


Thanks for all your help man, I really do appreciate it.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Oh, I thought you had the Penguin 350. I don't know about that filter you have, but it seems to hold very little media, thus not have very effective biological filtration.

Providing lots of hiding spots probably won't help keep the kuhlis safe. The bgk is nocturnal and uses an electrical field to navigate and find food, so it will likely find the hiding kuhli. If you like the general body form of a kulhli, a weather loach (Misgurnus angullicaudatus) would probably work. They look like a lot like a kuhli, but bigger. The eels will burrow and sift the sand though, so a sand sifter/bottom feeder really isn't necessary. Personally, I would ditch the cleanup crew since the eels will do a good job and add a bichir, catfish, or some other oddball. It is all up to you though, having a clean up crew won't be bad, but I was never really fascinated by them.

The other fish in the tank will appreciate a planted tank. The bgk is often found in underwater root systems and the Panaque genus of plecos appears to actually need to eat wood, so I would recommend having some bog wood and some other plants in there. The abf likes floating cover, so having some duckweed or some other floating plants would be good.

When you are buying your eel(s), be 100% sure as to what species you are getting. Virtually every book gets them wrong. This article by Neal Monks is one of the best I have seen as far as spiny eel id and care. Fishbase is also your friend here. Just to make sure, I would post pics here before you buy your eel so we can make sure you get the species you want.

What are the dimensions of the tank? If the bgk will get a different tank when it gets too big, you could probably have a few more fish in there. If the bgk will be in there for life, that is probably a good stocking depending on the number of the cleanup crew and eels.

Ryan

 

[Snooks1!]

Oh, I thought you had the Penguin 350. I don't know about that filter you have, but it seems to hold very little media, thus not have very effective biological filtration.
If you like the general body form of a kulhli, a weather loach (Misgurnus angullicaudatus) would probably work. They look like a lot like a kuhli, but bigger

I can always buy an additional HOB filter for bio-filtration. I'll look into the weather loaches, I'm not sure if any of the stores around here carries them though...Do you know any place that I get them online? 3-4 would be fine for my tank, no? ( I read that they are social and need their own company. ) Also read that they are prolific snail eaters...So would getting a butt-load of MTS end up being a massive problem?

Personally, I would ditch the cleanup crew since the eels will do a good job and add a bichir, catfish

I'll look into what catfish my stores have, as I'm almost 90% positive that no place near here carries bichir...But, I think I may have seen some at a shop once...If not, maybe I could find a place some-where online.

The abf likes floating cover, so having some duckweed or some other floating plants would be good.

I was thinking of using duckweed,big lillies, or riccia...I never see people using riccia for it's intended purpose, a surface covering plant.

I'll get pictures of the eel I'm getting before I actually pick them up, as the store just has them labeled as 'striped eels'.

What are the dimensions of the tank?

4'*2'*X ( I'm not sure what he said the height of the tank was )

 

[Mr._Fishy]

The tank should fit a bgk for life. Giant duckweed also works well as surface cover, and you can get rid of it if you don't want it anymore unlike regular duckweed. Senegal bichirs are pretty common. Even my petsmart sells them. Weather loaches will eat snails, but I am not sure about mts. Not very many fish seem to eat them. They are gregarious and would prefer their own company, but my friend has one by itself and it seems okay. It is around a foot by now, so it can't be too stressed. They are fairly large though, so depending on the rest of your stocking, they might not be the best fish. They do like cooler temps, preferably in the lower 70's, although they can survive in water up to around 80 or so.

For catfish, I think a school of pim pictus would look ace. It is a pretty common fish, so you shouldn't have much trouble finding any.

Ryan

 

[Snooks1!]

Well, stocking thus far would be:

1x Apteronotus Albifrons
1-2x Pantodon buchholzi
1x Panaque nigrolineatus
2-3x Misgurnus angullicaudatus

~2-3x Peacock eel~
1x Bichir

?x XXXX cat

I've seen Pictus in pretty much all the shops around here, so if I can't find anything else I'll get a few of those. And at Bowles...they have this cat, I'm not sure what he is, I'll have a look next time I'm out there.

Will that work?

Otherwise... all I need to do is find a good 3d background for the tank And seeming as we had a pretty bad snow-storm last night. I won't be picking up the tank until Friday, so even more time to work things out, plus however long it takes to cycle.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

It seems to be crowding an awful lot of large fish on the bottom. Also, depending on what species you get, catfish and bichirs can get pretty big. Maybe remove some bottom dwellers, and that would be fine. I would get rid of the Panaque, keep only one Misgurnus angullicaudatus, and get a small catfish, maybe one or a school of pictus or a raphael. Only one M. angullicaudatus because often if you keep a schooling fish in pairs, they fight, and three may be pushing it as far as stocking goes. You could always start with one, then add another and see what happens. I would keep to the smaller bichirs, as you already have some decent size fish on the bottom. As long as you keep up with your water changes, you should be fine.

You probably already know this, but you can speed up the cycle by adding mature media from another filter. If you do it right, you could probably get it done in 10 days or less.

Ryan

 

[Snooks1!]

Any reason as to getting rid of the Panaque?

Also, the M. angullicaudatus are a big maybe...As no stores around here carry them and I'd either have to travel a good distance to get them, or get them online.

I'll look into the pictus or raphael....For some reason that name strikes a nerve with me, so it could have been a raphael at Bowles. 5-8 inches, black with yellow blazes, no?

 

[Mr._Fishy]

A species of raphael does grow up to 10" or so, is black with a yellow stripe down the side and a has a lightish colored under belly. I usually find them at or just under 5".

I would get rid of the Panaque simply because it doesn't seem to fit the whole theme of the tank (oddballs), it will eat your wood (not much, but it will), and I never really found most plecos very interesting. It also won't really do anything throughout the day except crowd the bottom of the tank where all the other fishes are. But that is what I would personally do, not what is necessarily what you should do. If you want the pleco, by all means go ahead, it shouldn't do any harm. I just don't really like plecos that much.

If you can't find the M. angullicaudatus, another fish has the same general body form (but won't scavenge) is a rope fish (Erpetoichthys calabaricus). Some say they need to be in groups, others say they are fine alone, I personally keep one alone in an 80g, and it seems fine. It would go along with your theme well and they look great with senegal bichirs!

Ryan