New 90 gal Suggestions

[Peter Demski]

I ran across someone selling 3x90 gallon tanks
2xstands and 1x canopy/light combo for $450(total)
so I couldn't pass it up. I am looking for some
suggestions on some larger fish that would do well
in a tank that size. I would like to have one as
a community tank and I am going to save one
until I am confident enough to try salt water.
I prefer community tanks to having just one
big fish swimming around. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Peter

[NetMax]

"Peter Demski" > wrote in message
m...
>
>
> I ran across someone selling 3x90 gallon tanks
> 2xstands and 1x canopy/light combo for $450(total)
> so I couldn't pass it up. I am looking for some
> suggestions on some larger fish that would do well
> in a tank that size. I would like to have one as
> a community tank and I am going to save one
> until I am confident enough to try salt water.
> I prefer community tanks to having just one
> big fish swimming around. Anyone have any suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Peter


A typical soft-water 90g set-up is Corys, Cardinals and Discus.
A typical hard-water 90g set-up is African cichlids, mixture of mbuna and
utaka.
A species tank of Tiger barbs would have 3 different coloured fish in it.

Will it be a planted tank, rockscaped? You could fill it with driftwood
(cut a chunk of wood out of the root ball of a fallen tree) and take it
from there ;~). There is almost no fish which you could name, where we
couldn't come up with a dozen combos with that fish, so how about
narrowing it down by naming at least one fish for us?
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Peter Demski]

Ok here are some constraints then:
Ph:7.8 out of the tap and I'm not going to mess with it
Hardness: Liquid rock

It will be planted although I haven't figured out how I want to do the
lighting(32wattx4 planned). Nothing fancy since I'm new to planted
tanks.

I would like to have at least 1 fish that gets 6" or larger that will do
good
in a community tank and will eat guppy fry. It has to be a community tank
so a less aggressive fish will be required. It doesn't have to be beautiful
just
get along with everyone. I feed flakes with occasional batches of brine
shrimp
so it can't have any special feeding requirements. Also since I'm still
pretty
new at this the hardier the fish the better.

I am also looking for filter suggestions since I will have to buy some. I
was considering a Aquaclear 110 or 2x 70's per tank since I have had
good luck with that brand and they are reasonably priced.

Will a 300Watt heater be enough for a 90 gal tank? I got a titanium heater
with the remote temp adjuster for $10 from the guy I got the tanks from.

I hope that is enough to narrow things down a little.

Thanks NetMax!

Peter


"> A typical soft-water 90g set-up is Corys, Cardinals and Discus.
> A typical hard-water 90g set-up is African cichlids, mixture of mbuna and
> utaka.
> A species tank of Tiger barbs would have 3 different coloured fish in it.
>
> Will it be a planted tank, rockscaped? You could fill it with driftwood
> (cut a chunk of wood out of the root ball of a fallen tree) and take it
> from there ;~). There is almost no fish which you could name, where we
> couldn't come up with a dozen combos with that fish, so how about
> narrowing it down by naming at least one fish for us?
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>

[m]

If I had a tank that size I'd probably get a small school of Silver
Dollars.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile23.html



On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 23:50:16 GMT, "Peter Demski" >
wrote:

>
>
>I ran across someone selling 3x90 gallon tanks
>2xstands and 1x canopy/light combo for $450(total)
>so I couldn't pass it up. I am looking for some
>suggestions on some larger fish that would do well
>in a tank that size. I would like to have one as
>a community tank and I am going to save one
>until I am confident enough to try salt water.
>I prefer community tanks to having just one
>big fish swimming around. Anyone have any suggestions?
>
>Thanks!
>
>Peter
>

[NetMax]

midposted...

"Peter Demski" > wrote in message
...
>
> Ok here are some constraints then:
> Ph:7.8 out of the tap and I'm not going to mess with it
> Hardness: Liquid rock

The pH doesn't present a problem with anything but the most sensitive,
though it will negate spawning many of the soft water species.

> It will be planted although I haven't figured out how I want to do the
> lighting(32wattx4 planned). Nothing fancy since I'm new to planted
> tanks.

Plants like a little hardness (they use the calcium in the water), but
too much and some plants will not do well. You need to specify what you
have as liquid rock. I try to keep my tank below 35dgH, and some
Echinodoras do alright, as does Hornwort. In my case, I've had poor luck
with Java, Corkscrew, Lace and Pennywort, but my pH is much higher than
yours.

Your light level of 120W is ok, nothing special. Remember the depth of a
90g cuts the light down a lot. You will need to experiment to see which
plants do best under your conditions.

> I would like to have at least 1 fish that gets 6" or larger that will
> do good
> in a community tank and will eat guppy fry.

There are fish which get that big and don't eat Guppy fry (and if they
did, they would eat Guppy moms too), and there are fish which stay much
smaller and eat Guppy fry, so it will be two different fish for this.
Maybe some Pearl gouramis and a Betta.

It has to be a community tank
> so a less aggressive fish will be required. It doesn't have to be
> beautiful just
> get along with everyone. I feed flakes with occasional batches of
> brine shrimp
> so it can't have any special feeding requirements. Also since I'm
> still pretty
> new at this the hardier the fish the better.

Given the appropriate conditions for the particular species, I find most
fish are 'hardy' once established.

> I am also looking for filter suggestions since I will have to buy some.
> I
> was considering a Aquaclear 110 or 2x 70's per tank since I have had
> good luck with that brand and they are reasonably priced.

The AC line is a workhorse. Equip them with double sponges and rotate
them (and their cleaning).

> Will a 300Watt heater be enough for a 90 gal tank? I got a titanium
> heater
> with the remote temp adjuster for $10 from the guy I got the tanks
> from.

Possibly, it will depend on the difference between your set point and
your room temperature. You will need to experiment to see what kind of
margin you have left. I would recommend that you add an additional
heater in the opposite end of the tank just for safety (in the event of a
failure, or your room gets very cool).

> I hope that is enough to narrow things down a little.

It did and it didn't ;~). Natural plants precludes many fish which are
very hard on plants. This includes Silver dollars, Pacus, many of the
African mbuna, and almost every large cichlid (they dig). If you want
relatively large fish, then they probably all need to be large (or the
small get eaten), and they have to be non-digging carnivores (so they
don't eat your plants). I think Angelfish, Discus, many Rainbowfish,
Bala sharks, ID sharks, Congo tetras, and many gouramis might fit that
description. Of that list, the Discus would be the least pleased with
your liquid rock. Omitting the Angelfish and Bala, you could stock in
the medium to large tetra groups. A very lively tank could be had with a
mixture of Tiger barbs, Red-Line tetras, Black Skirt tetras, Pearl or
Moonlight gouramis, Bosemann rainbows, and you're not very limited in the
ground crews available (small Plecs, Otos, SAEs, Kuhlis etc). You could
even mix in some little cichlids Julies, Brichardi, Leleupis (who would
eventually take over the tank, but would be quite entertaining to watch
;~). There are some mid-water cichlids which might work (though pushing
the envelope a bit), but I don't know how experimental you want to be.

If you switch over to silk plants, and/or rockwork and/or driftwood, then
the scope of possibilities changes (widens) again. Hope there was some
ideas there for you.

> Thanks NetMax!
>
> Peter

--
www.NetMax.tk

>
> "> A typical soft-water 90g set-up is Corys, Cardinals and Discus.
>> A typical hard-water 90g set-up is African cichlids, mixture of mbuna
>> and utaka.
>> A species tank of Tiger barbs would have 3 different coloured fish in
>> it.
>>
>> Will it be a planted tank, rockscaped? You could fill it with
>> driftwood (cut a chunk of wood out of the root ball of a fallen tree)
>> and take it from there ;~). There is almost no fish which you could
>> name, where we couldn't come up with a dozen combos with that fish, so
>> how about narrowing it down by naming at least one fish for us?
>> --
>> www.NetMax.tk
>>
>
>