# stocking my 125 gallon



## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

im 14 so prices must be realistic
i have so many questions to start off wheres a place to buy a jardini arowana?
whats a good cichlid with red color? where can i buy one? it has to be compatible with a electric blue jack dempsey? what would be a good botttom dweller? how do i hide a bubble wand?
and if i sold the elctric blu jack dempsey what would be some cool colorful aggressive predatory cichlids/ oddballs and what site to buy them off of. what would be a cool bottom dweller besides a pleco with cichlids?


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

You need to slow wayyyy down. First off arows are not cheap fish. IMO it gonna be a PITA finding fish that will mix with that kind of arow.


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## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

jardinis are like $80 im speaking like nothing over that and on top of that if i need to ill do a silver
and i have no clue wat IMO or PITA is?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

lol, you need an acronym list. Pain In The A..


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Yes, please don't type in shorthand on here. Save that for texting with your cell phone while you're NOT driving. A 125 is a lot of work during initial setup so be prepared for that, but after it is cycled maintenance is rather minimal.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Is that 125 the long or the deep? If its the 48x24x24 you will be okay with arowana for a while. Eventual it will outgrow that tank though. It will be longer than the depth of the tank. My lfs keeps them with peacock bass all the time and they seem to do okay(i don't ask because I would never buy one of these fish). that tank would make a very nice ciclid tank by the way. Building a huge pile of rocks with some nice driftwood would look sick.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

grogan said:


> Is that 125 the long or the deep? If its the 48x24x24 you will be okay with arowana for a while. Eventual it will outgrow that tank though. It will be longer than the depth of the tank. My lfs keeps them with peacock bass all the time and they seem to do okay(i don't ask because I would never buy one of these fish). that tank would make a very nice ciclid tank by the way. Building a huge pile of rocks with some nice driftwood would look sick.


What's the minimum to keep an arowana for life? 250?


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

250 is what a quick google search pulled up. I would say with this fish it would be more about the tank dimensions rather than the gallon. A tank that was 3-4 feet deep sounds like it would be better. Getting a custom built tank would be the way to go. My lfs has a cube tank full of large arowanas that people bought and they outgrow the tanks. Their biggest one is 3 1/2 feet long and came out of a 90 gallon...hand to face.


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## platies pwn (Nov 29, 2010)

You could try a red devil,although they get really aggressive when older(mine is a wimp).Convicts are cool,too,but are even more aggressive than a red devil.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Oddly enough predatory and aggressive aren't the same thing. Most fish-eaters are pussy cats except when hungry and algae-eating fish chase everything in sight. Lions are less dangerous than hippos and water-buffalo. When not hunting, predators are playing or sleeping. The vegetarian male that has to attract females to his green patch chases every thing that isn't one of his harem and kills it if it can't get away. The "gentle" fish that hides all the time is the one who is responsible for the fish vanishing at night.

So do you want to watch a big fish make a small fish vanish or do you want to watch constant chasing and tail-nipping? 

The cheapest way to stock a large tank is to search craigslist for fish that have outgrown their tanks. Big S.A. cichlids like Oscars and Jaguars show up often, often for sale with a 55 gallon tank. So do large plecos and mbuna. People will ask lots of money for the big fish, but they will get no offers until they try to sell the tank without the fish. 

Make a 'wish list' of stocking and watch and wait. Bookmark searches in several categories and search multiple times every day. Contact sellers and offer $5-10 for fish they think are worth $100s. Promise a good home in a big tank. Likely they will call you on moving day. Large tanks are far less common that large fish and stores don't buy them because people give them big fish for free all the time.

Buying at any distance online can get you great fish, but it is never cheap. Shipping live fish is expensive and gets more expensive as fish get bigger. 

If you have a nice LFS, hang out there, read the books and magazines and make friends with the people who work there. Maybe get a part-time job. 

If you can find a local fish club, or especially a fish auction, go if you can get a ride. Fish are amazingly cheap and you will meet people who know what you need to learn.

The two most common large cichlid tanks are

1. an all Lake Malawi tank with cichlids, maybe a few synodonis, lots of rocks and sand. They are bright, colorful, with lots of digging and chasing. 

2. Assorted large, single S. American cichlids. These fish will jockey for position and pecking order, but usually only kill mates, rivals for mates, and to protect their spawn. They are, however, not easy to sex and they will pair up with each other and spawn even if they aren't the same species. And they will swallow any other fish that fits in their mouth.


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

Ghost Knife said:


> Yes, please don't type in shorthand on here. Save that for texting with your cell phone while you're NOT driving.


Another option would be you could just learn common internet acronyms or ignore them. I care more about the accuracy of the advice I give then how I type it. Why should I not give advice just because I like to shorthand some phrases? Beyond that acronyms are way too common on any forum. Forums on particular topics have their own commonly used acronyms known by most members. Its not just a particular forum but all the forums that deal with that topic. This being a fish forum, LFS, LPS, CAE, SAE, ACF, WCMM, FOWLR, HOB, UGF, and ect.... All pretty unavoidable acronyms that will show up on these kinda forums. A lot of probably have no trouble reading those, where a beginner would be totally lost. Still it would be a PITA to type out those words every time they came up. If its an issue they can just ask like the OP did... If its a big issue make it a sticky 

Be glad cuz texting shorthand is no where near as bad as that. Even worse though, if I wrote this on paper you probably wouldn't be able to make sense of my scribblings


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Mikaila31 said:


> Another option would be you could just learn common internet acronyms or ignore them. I care more about the accuracy of the advice I give then how I type it. Why should I not give advice just because I like to shorthand some phrases? Beyond that acronyms are way too common on any forum. Forums on particular topics have their own commonly used acronyms known by most members. Its not just a particular forum but all the forums that deal with that topic. This being a fish forum, LFS, LPS, CAE, SAE, ACF, WCMM, FOWLR, HOB, UGF, and ect.... All pretty unavoidable acronyms that will show up on these kinda forums. A lot of probably have no trouble reading those, where a beginner would be totally lost. Still it would be a PITA to type out those words every time they came up. If its an issue they can just ask like the OP did... If its a big issue make it a sticky
> 
> Be glad cuz texting shorthand is no where near as bad as that. Even worse though, if I wrote this on paper you probably wouldn't be able to make sense of my scribblings


So what was your point with this?


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

Simplified.... this is a forum and there is nothing wrong with using acronyms or abbreviations. Don't like them don't use them. IMO they're wonderful.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Mikaila31 said:


> Simplified.... this is a forum and there is nothing wrong with using acronyms or abbreviations. Don't like them don't use them. IMO they're wonderful.


Yeah, they're wonderful if you know what they mean otherwise you're SOL.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Typing everything out is a PITA,. IME & IMO some common acronyms really save space. UR for your and your're doesn't seem worth it for me, it is not much shorter and it's confusing. Spoken acronyms annoy me, WW2 and WWW are longer than what they stand for. Look back at your post. If it's illegible, edit it when you get to a keyboard. Hard to read posts are the last ones answered and some are just ignored. If you don't know one, do a quick look in the advanced search. If you can't find it, ask.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Lol...off subject again are we


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## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

so i want predatory
but from what ive seen theyre like never colorful because they have to ambush
i do like the look of the freshwater lionfish and i do kno they do better in brackish but i also know it will still live a healthy life in freshwater


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## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

oh and btw jaridnis dont get as big thats why i want one
i will only have this tnak up for around 3 and a half years due to the fact that im planning on going to college to be a marine biologist


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

It sounds like you want to go the Cichlid route since they are rather colorful. You just have to be careful which ones you mix together. Once you pick out individual fish ask in this thread if they are compatible.


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## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

would electric blue jack dempsey, red terror or tapajos pike cichlid( one or the other) a ornamental pleco, jardini arowana work in my 125 gallon?
and what would be another good bottom dweller
and my tank is a wider than normal tank


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## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

ok scrap EVERYTHING i have said im buying a teacup stingray(reticulata) 2 datnoids, a clown knife fish, and jardini arowana. does this sound like it would work


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## platies pwn (Nov 29, 2010)

No clown.They get HUGE!The minimum for them is a 500 gallon.I'm pretty sure it is the same for the stingray.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

a teacup , 2 dats , a clown knife and a jardini would be perfect...and you could also adds a few red texas cichlids...for about a week.....


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

greenterror said:


> ok scrap EVERYTHING i have said im buying a teacup stingray(reticulata) 2 datnoids, a clown knife fish, and jardini arowana. does this sound like it would work


Not enough room. Scratch the Clown Knife and Arowana and go with a Black Ghost Knife or a school of African Brown Knives.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

greenterror said:


> ok scrap EVERYTHING i have said im buying a teacup stingray(reticulata) 2 datnoids, a clown knife fish, and jardini arowana. does this sound like it would work


=worst idea ever!

I know this tank looks big right now but those fish will make it look small really quick! If you want to do this tank right and keep the fish you already have then it has to be a ciclid tank. Or you could be one of those guys that takes a overgrown fish into the lfs and gives them back...where they die because nobody wants them.


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## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

the disk size of the stingray is 10 inches max. my aquairum is like 18 inches deep
so i dont see the problem with the stingray and plus what else could go with him


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

greenterror said:


> the disk size of the stingray is 10 inches max. my aquairum is like 18 inches deep
> so i dont see the problem with the stingray and plus what else could go with him


I gave you good suggestions to go with the stingray. Also, because of the stingray you'll have to use sand instead of gravel. Furthermore, if you have a standard 125 it is 22" deep rather than 18".


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

unless he has the 125 long 72"x 18" x 23". Don't stingrays need lots of space to move? All sting ray tanks that I have seen are nothing but sand. Rocks, plants, ect just get in their way. They always look empty. That being said they are cool fish and Ghost Knife has a good idea going here. Stingray on the bottom and a death dealer from up above. What about 2-3 needle nose gar? They get up to 15" and would look neat. Get some floating plants on the top. The gar would hide in the top and the plants would make the light at the bottom of the tank dim..Just pictured it in my mind, I like it. Watch out for the fingers though! Im sure somebody wont like this idea but I put it out there.


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

Yeah most ray tanks are entirely bare of decor. Rays are extremely sensitive fish and tend to hurt themselves on a lot of decor. I also agree that this tank is not a good ray tank. There is no ray I know of that won't outgrow that tank. Main thing is rays need a large footprint. There was someone breeding these things in our local club a while back. He had a pretty cool plywood tank for the adults.

edit: I still say the jardini is gonna kill everything eventually.


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## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

damn...
what are some good freshwater oddballs then


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

greenterror said:


> damn...
> what are some good freshwater oddballs then


African Brown Knives are rather peaceful and like to be in groups of at least 2 or more. Black Ghost Knives are peaceful most of the time, but you can only have one per tank and will eat any fish that will fit in their mouths. Other interesting oddballs are the freshwater eels such as the Tire Track or Peacock Eel.


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

bichir look very sweet especially as they get bigger. There are also ropefish.


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## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

im talkin predatory


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## platies pwn (Nov 29, 2010)

greenterror said:


> im talkin predatory


They're talkin' predatory.


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## greenterror (Jul 21, 2011)

i want them to make mollies disapear
so not the predatory im talking about


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## Ray112 (Nov 3, 2011)

Greenterror, do you find any type of gars to be interesting?


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

greenterror said:


> i want them to make mollies disapear
> so not the predatory im talking about


Haha a YOUNG bichir will definitely make a molly disappear, probably faster then half the fish you are talking about. But this raises another issue. If you want to feed live fish you have to breed them yourself. A diet of completely feeders is not healthy either. Using store bought feeders is something you should never do. Especially with the fish you are wanting. Shop fish are always full of disease and feeding your fish sick fish will quickly result in your fish being sick. About the worse thing you can do is throw shop feeders in with a bunch of expensive and sensitive fish.


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