Inspiration For Large Tank...

Lookin for some ideas from the creative collective we have here.... So the plans are to build a steel framed tank with poly-vinyl interior and a single glass or acrylic front window. Rough dimensions are 120"Lx32"Dx36"H, considering 48"H... Filtration will be well taken care of. Trying to figure out what to put in it??? Ideas so far...

Vampire Tetra School http://www.thejump.net/id/payara.htm
Assorted Stingrays

Assorted Arrowanas(not silver or black)
Assorted Stingrays

Any other ideas would be appreciated, no bread and butter fish.... something interesting!
Cheers!

Wow, not much love in the freshwater department...lol

[Dale D]

I'm all about the freshwater now, after 15 years of reef tanks no more saltwater for me.

I just spent the whole weekend working on my dual 220 gallon system.

I'd go with the Arowana's if I were you. I'd love to get a couple for my new system, but, I'd be afraid of my turtles making an expensive snack out of them.

[Scavenger]

Sorry, just too scared to post. Those are some big fangs!!!

[Delphinus]

That's a "tetra" ?? Yowzers !!!

I miss my old tank setup with vampire tetras, but yeah, Im leaning heavily towards an asian arowana setup...and I could use the "luck". I know they are comonly kept singularly but that would bore me and the tank will be roomy....at either 600 or 800 gallons. Probably go with 6 of them and unload 3 of them as they reach a respectable size,(or just keep em all, time will tell).(Im sure some business man wanting a pick me up would be happy to take them off my hands) goin with arowanas will tempt me to make the tank deeper(I can always take the sliding glass doors out to move a 40"-48" deep tank into place, that would bring her up to 1000+gallons.)

[Dale D]

Wouldn't even a 10 foot long tank be too small for grown vampire tetra's? They look like they would be pretty active swimmers. They look like salmon with fangs.

It would make a pretty impressive display though.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Someone I knew had a school of Asian arrowanas but they kept jumping out whenever one of his kids would forget to close the door on the canopy.

If you keep them well-fed, I would imagine that you could start off with a small school in a tank that size if all are introduced at the same time. Of course, if that doesn't work you'd have to sell them off pretty quick, so that's the risk.

Arrowanas on top, with assorted stingrays on the bottom I think would be a cool looking tank.

BTW, can you even get Vampire tetras in Canada? Never seen them around here before. Those would be a show-stopper.

Anthony

Originally Posted by Dale D

Wouldn't even a 10 foot long tank be too small for grown vampire tetra's? They look like they would be pretty active swimmers. They look like salmon with fangs.

It would make a pretty impressive display though.

Vampire tetras can reach 40" (max wild length) reports say they have never exceded 20-24" in captivity, last group I had made 14"-16" before I sold them off. They actually dont swim alot(outside of them liking a current but staying in one place), they can, and have the ability for huge speed bursts, but they are a thin fish, not a long hauler like salmoniods.They are a hunting machine, hovering lower to mid water column, at a slight downward angle, waiting for some poor bastard to swim above them. When something does go above them they impale them from below with their huge lower fangs. Probably the only fish Im actually nervous around and really wont put my bare hand in their tank, and Ive had alot of crazy mean fish....The more I talk about them the more I miss them...and they look so nice in a black tank with a blue hued light cuz they have such a reflective metallic body. Their a little more active than a school of piranahas, but look way nicer in my opinion, and they bring a whole new meaning to "mean" fish. natural food in the wild is piranahas. Damn, screw my last post, who needs luck, I want a school of these fish again!!! And yeah you can get them in canada Anthony, Im not sure who else brings them in but I would be importing them for myself again.

[Rahim101]

i've seen vampire tetra's at Gold's before