Stocking New 125 Gallon Tank

[Canadian Fish]

Hi, getting a new 125 gallon tank in just over a week. Looking for stocking advice.

These are the fish I am considering. I would like opinions on which are compatible, and how many of each I can keep.

Bala Sharks
Tiger Barbs
Redline Barbs
Flying Fox (1)
Banded (Giant) Gourami (1)
Weather Loaches

I know weather loaches are cooler water species, but the profiles I have read say up to 25 degrees C. From what I have read, if I keep the temperature around 24 degrees, it should be ok for all of these.

I am open to suggestions of different fish, just not cichilds.

In my other tanks I have silver dollars, peacock eel, zebra loaches, rainbowfish, serpae tetras, dwarf frog, corys, platies, guppies, neons, harlequin rasboras, hillstrream loach, mollies, moonlight gouramis, platies, and as soon as it comes out of quarantine at Big Al's, a leopard bush fish (can't wait). So I am looking for fish other than these.

Thanks!

 

[dbanner]

All i will say is out of the fish you have mentioned the tank is waaaay too small for bala sharks. They need to be in groups of 6+ and need tanks over 8 feet long. The ideal tank for them is around 10 x 3 x 3. Some may even say bigger. This is not only because of their potential size but also because they are such fast and active swimmers.

Your tank will also be too small for a giant gourami, they get huge.

The tank is a great size for the redline torpedo barbs, again a group of 5-6+ is needed, although they prefer cooler water temps. Around 20-22 degrees is ok. They are considered peaceful in terms of what barbs are usually like. They can be kept with gourami, neons, rummynose, corys, just to name a few.

Tiger barbs are considered "fin nippers" so any fish with long fins are not recommended with these. The bigger the group of tiger barbs the less likely (in some cases) that you are to get fin nipping. A group of 12+ is good.

 

[Canadian Fish]

LOL, the gourami I meant was supposed to be a max of 4". I read this on liveaquaria:

The Giant Gourami, also known as Banded Gourami, Rainbow Gourami, or Striped Gourami, is a pale to golden yellow with silvery pale blue stripes running vertically along its body. In some parts of India it is used as a food fish, where it is dried and then eaten.

I just googled Giant Gouramie, and I see what you mean. The Banded Gourami is what I want.

All i will say is out of the fish you have mentioned the tank is waaaay too small for bala sharks. They need to be in groups of 6+ and need tanks over 8 feet long. The ideal tank for them is around 10 x 3 x 3. Some may even say bigger. This is not only because of their potential size but also because they are such fast and active swimmers.

Your tank will also be too small for a giant gourami, they get huge.

The tank is a great size for the redline torpedo barbs, again a group of 5-6+ is needed, although they prefer cooler water temps. Around 20-22 degrees is ok. They are considered peaceful in terms of what barbs are usually like. They can be kept with gourami, neons, rummynose, corys, just to name a few.

Tiger barbs are considered "fin nippers" so any fish with long fins are not recommended with these. The bigger the group of tiger barbs the less likely (in some cases) that you are to get fin nipping. A group of 12+ is good.

 

[dbanner]

Ah right lol well the tank will definitely be big enough for the gourami you want although personally I wouldn't mix one with any barbs other than the redlines.

If you like the look of tiger barbs but you want the gourami as well then why not go for "five banded barbs" instead? They look pretty much the same as tiger barbs but they havnt got a reputation of being nippy and are in fact peaceful. They grow to around 3 inches so you could have a nice group of them without having to worry about wakin up one morning to a gourami with its fins missing

 

[SandraNewbie]

I have a small set up which I'm about to stock with a dwarf Gourami and some 5 banded barbs, I can say from the look in the LFS that it's quite a nice set up.

What are the dimensions of your tank?

 

[dbanner]

A standard 125gal tank is 72x18x22

My tank is 60x22x24 which is 100UK gal/120USgal. (juwel rio 400 - 450 litres)

 

[Canadian Fish]

I have a small set up which I'm about to stock with a dwarf Gourami and some 5 banded barbs, I can say from the look in the LFS that it's quite a nice set up.

What are the dimensions of your tank?

Yeah, like dbanner said, it's 72x18x22.

However they have a big sale tomorrow and my tank is not on sale, but a 220 gallon 72x24x30 tank. It's on for $100 less than my setup, so we're going to be there at 10am sharp to try and get it.

 

[dbanner]

I have a small set up which I'm about to stock with a dwarf Gourami and some 5 banded barbs, I can say from the look in the LFS that it's quite a nice set up.

What are the dimensions of your tank?

Yeah, like dbanner said, it's 72x18x22.

However they have a big sale tomorrow and my tank is not on sale, but a 220 gallon 72x24x30 tank. It's on for $100 less than my setup, so we're going to be there at 10am sharp to try and get it.

Is a 6 foot long the most you can go to? Reason being that an 8 foot x 2ft x 2ft 220 gal would be better. Most fish prefer more length rather than more height. Height is only good for things like discus and angel fish.

I'll be getting my 220gal soon. That's an 8x2x2

 

[Canadian Fish]

I have a small set up which I'm about to stock with a dwarf Gourami and some 5 banded barbs, I can say from the look in the LFS that it's quite a nice set up.

What are the dimensions of your tank?

Yeah, like dbanner said, it's 72x18x22.

However they have a big sale tomorrow and my tank is not on sale, but a 220 gallon 72x24x30 tank. It's on for $100 less than my setup, so we're going to be there at 10am sharp to try and get it.

Is a 6 foot long the most you can go to? Reason being that an 8 foot x 2ft x 2ft 220 gal would be better. Most fish prefer more length rather than more height. Height is only good for things like discus and angel fish.

I'll be getting my 220gal soon. That's an 8x2x2

We have the room for an 8 footer, and I realize that would be better, but it's the 6 footer they have on sale. It's marked down from $1600 to $1000. They wanted $1100 for the 125 gallon setup I was getting. So even though the 220 6 footer isn't as good as the 8 footer, it's still better than the 125 gallon, and cheaper. It's a little wider too, so I can still add more little fish, like various barbs. It still increases their swimming area a bit.

 

[phantomlink]

I'm hoping to go to Barrie to Big Als for their sale this weekend, no idea it was on tanks that large my email just shows basic kits. When you got the 125 I got, did you get the lid/lights/stand as well? I believe the card at this store said like $1300 for it all but I got everything but the stand

 

[dbanner]

I have a small set up which I'm about to stock with a dwarf Gourami and some 5 banded barbs, I can say from the look in the LFS that it's quite a nice set up.

What are the dimensions of your tank?

Yeah, like dbanner said, it's 72x18x22.

However they have a big sale tomorrow and my tank is not on sale, but a 220 gallon 72x24x30 tank. It's on for $100 less than my setup, so we're going to be there at 10am sharp to try and get it.

Is a 6 foot long the most you can go to? Reason being that an 8 foot x 2ft x 2ft 220 gal would be better. Most fish prefer more length rather than more height. Height is only good for things like discus and angel fish.

I'll be getting my 220gal soon. That's an 8x2x2

We have the room for an 8 footer, and I realize that would be better, but it's the 6 footer they have on sale. It's marked down from $1600 to $1000. They wanted $1100 for the 125 gallon setup I was getting. So even though the 220 6 footer isn't as good as the 8 footer, it's still better than the 125 gallon, and cheaper. It's a little wider too, so I can still add more little fish, like various barbs. It still increases their swimming area a bit.

Oh yea it will be better than the 125

 

[Canadian Fish]

I'm hoping to go to Barrie to Big Als for their sale this weekend, no idea it was on tanks that large my email just shows basic kits. When you got the 125 I got, did you get the lid/lights/stand as well? I believe the card at this store said like $1300 for it all but I got everything but the stand

The 125 I was going to get was stand/tank/cover/lights for $1099.99, which was around $1245 with tax. We paid all but $125.
The 220 we're getting instead is $999.99. It is also stand/tank/cover/lights
If you look at the Barrie flyer, in the middle it says: Super HOT deals on display aquariums!
So I called the manager and asked him if mine was going to be on sale, and he said no, but there was another one on sale. So I pestered him until he told me which one, and for how much. We're $13 away from having it paid for. God knows what delivery will cost. It was going to be $60 to deliver my 55 gallon and stand, but we managed to fit it in my car. My back seat is about 50" across so it just fit, and the stand fit in my trunk with it bungee'd down. We had to remove our car seat and pawn the kid off on the neighbours for an hour.

dbanner, better and cheaper!

Now the issue is equipment. Unless the stuff I want is on sale, I'm going to be purchasing the equipment on Wednesday for double points. That will put me over 3000 points, which is $100 store credit, which will help buy more equipment. I'm hoping the Eheim 2217 with the Aquaclear 110 will be enough filtration, and as I stock more fish later on I'll add another 110. I'll also need a lot of substrate, and I'm getting the Jager TruTemp Submersible Heaters - 300 W, as they are rated for tanks 159-264 Gallon. I'm hoping I can start with one now, and add another in a couple of weeks when we have more money.

I'm hoping I have enough cash to get the substrate/heater/filters next Wednesday so I can get this thing cycling. Otherwise it's going to be sitting in my basement, empty, and driving me crazy. Next month we'll get an air pump, background, decorations, etc. I'm going with black substrate, very dark background and rocks and drfitwood/roots for a more natural look than my current tanks, which are cheezie Vegas style. Also going to try black airlines for a change to try and clean it up.

 

[phantomlink]

I kinda wish I waited since my tank is still in its cardboard shelling, but I'm in an apartment and the 125 is as large as I'm going to be able to go

 

[Canadian Fish]

I kinda wish I waited since my tank is still in its cardboard shelling, but I'm in an apartment and the 125 is as large as I'm going to be able to go

I did all my research for equipment for a 125 gallon tank so now I'm rereading all the filter descriptions to see what I need for the 220. Luckily I can still go with the same heaters.

 

[dbanner]

For a tank of that size I'd go with 2 300 watt heaters as general rule is 1 watt per litre and 200 gal is around 800 litres so you may get away with it. Also that's not going to be anywhere near enough filtration. Your going to need 4-5x the tank volume. So I'd go with 2 fluval fx5's.

I never buy tanks or equipment brand new. They are just too expensive and loose their price after purchase far too quickly. I purchased my 125gal with the original stand (with receipts) fluval fx5 filter and 405 filter (with receipts), sand, bogwood, 2 x 300 watt external heaters and some other bits.. All delivered as well for £200 which is $325 (US). Everything was and still is like brand new.

I changed the internal heaters for a 300 watt hydor external heater as they are far better. I changed the normal sand to black sand and changed the filters for 2 matching tetratec ex1200's (as the heater connects straight onto the tetratecs pipe work). I sold the fx5 and 405 filters for £200 and the heaters for £40 so no extra money had to come out of my pocket