Stocking Ideas For Tank

[sharpshark]

Hi,

Yep its official we have the bug, we have all but sealed the deal on a 5ft by 2ft by 2ft, can't afford it, but hey what the hell, LOL.
I currently have a Jack Dempsey and a red tailed black shark (both Juveniles), what else could go in there?

Thanks!

 

[ox5477]

my my, 150G, lots of room. You could go quite wild here. If you looking for more cichlids, could put with your JD most other cichlids as there is plenty of room. I would be careful with other very aggressive fish like GT's, jag's and the sort. You could have a couple species that are very agressive, three max IMO. But really with something that size, you can have alot of different fish. Give us an idea of the type of tank your going for. ie... more of a community atmosphere or a few large showpeice fish.

O and a note, watch the rtbs as it gets older. I've read two horror stories on here about the rtbs killing fish that are 1.5 times bigger than it, in one case a GT. So just be wary that they may turn homicidal and start attacking your other stocking one day. But maybe not either, these could have been isolated incidences.

Anyways, like I said, narrow down the general idea of what you want for your tank and we can give more specific suggestions

 

[sharpshark]

Thanks,
I think I would like a more community feel but with larger fish, not too (dare I say) easy, I want some fish with a bit of heart which is why we went for the JD, an oscar would be nice, but not essential, my wife has her heart set on a silver shark.

Thanks for the info on the RTBS, funny you should say that I have seen him give the JD (scrubs as we have unofficialy called him) chase a few times, I will keep an eye on him, any trouble and hes back to the LFS.

 

[ox5477]

Bala's would actually work in a tank this size. make sure you get atleast 4 but a group of 6 is prob better as they will feel safer in a larger group. Make sure that you buy the bala's larger than the JD as this reduce chances of the JD trying to take bites out of the bala's. Make sure as well that you have a heavy lid on the tank as the bala's spook very easily (I know as everytime I walk by my tank they dart across the tank and I have had the two bigger ones go ape sh*t and start dive bombing into the tank walls and jump into the lid.

Another large schooling fish option are silver dollars. They shouldn't be bothered too much by the JD because of their shape but again, should be in a group of atleast 6. You can also try tin foil barbs. They are not as skiddish as bala's but resemble bala's so your wife might go for these instead.

As far as cichlds go, you can put in a GT, red devil, firemouths, convicts (not a pair, will take over tank while breeding) etc. Really its endless with the cichlids with your tank being the size it is. Just make sure you don't put more than 3 or 4 8"+ fish in the tank if your getting the large schooling fish to go with them. This puts you at what I feel would be tank limits.

 

[sharpshark]

Well I got a Juwel 400, 150 cms x 51cm x 62cm in the end, not quite 150 gallons , but nevermind it looks nice, but am I now limited to stocking options, or are a few aggressive cichlids and some other stock such as the Tin foil barbs still okay?

I hope so!

 

[LisaLQ]

I'd go for silver dollars or clown loaches over tin foil barbs, tin foil barbs get massive quickly, and poo for England - I had to sell on my 5 at about 7", because my 6ft tank (which at the time only had a juvie oscar and vieja in there with some clown loaches) was getting too small for them

Silver dollars are showier but dont get massive, and clown loaches double up as a clean up crew. Both need to be in groups of 5 or more though, so I'd probably pick one or the other if you're going for another cichlid or two.

 

[Boids-n-more]

its about 125 galoons , you could put some red terrors in there as well as the other fish listed. The length actually is better for the cichlid species anyways. Texas cichlids look nice also , and the electric blue jd is really nice looking.

 

[sharpshark]

So could we get away with my JD and RTBS, a Oscar, some other cichlid say a Red Terror, and some schooling fish such as silver dollars?

Also, anyone know of a species that looks similar to bala sharks, that won't outgrow the tank, my wife realy likes the sleek silver look of them and has her heart set on something like that? So siver dollars woud be the last resort really.

Thanks Guys

 

[LisaLQ]

I'd leave out the red terror, they have that name for a reason, and they'd kick the crap out of an oscar