[Lazlopes]

I'd be afraid to put rays in a tank that big. You'd not get food to them in a proper way with all those crazy fish mid level.

http://www.raubwelse.de/

I understand the fear, I think you would have to have a contraption like at the aquariums and Zoo's to deliver the food straight to the bottom...

[Peck]

Thanks for the comments.

The only thing with the Amazonian type tank that puts me off is I live in Australia. Exotics are very expensive here. For Cichla all I could have is Monoculus no others. So I'm quite limied.

On the sharks I spoke to a professor at my university who used to be chief aquarist at Seaworld over east. He said aggression will not be a problem with black tips, they are not the most territorial shark species, actually quite sociable animals. My biggest problem will be keeping them well fed, not letting one dominate the other.

Alex

[dustin]

Thanks for the comments.

The only thing with the Amazonian type tank that puts me off is I live in Australia. Exotics are very expensive here. For Cichla all I could have is Monoculus no others. So I'm quite limied.

On the sharks I spoke to a professor at my university who used to be chief aquarist at Seaworld over east. He said aggression will not be a problem with black tips, they are not the most territorial shark species, actually quite sociable animals. My biggest problem will be keeping them well fed, not letting one dominate the other.

Alex

when i lived in hawaii i use to go spearfishing and wen black tips frenzyed they bite everything even each other i hate sharks bad experiences

[E_americanus]

GARS...lots and lots of GARS...and then BREED the GARS

but seriously, you have a ton of options alex and i envy you! sounds like you are giving this a ton of thought, and that's great. given your thoughts so far, i would go with the tankbuster tank...the sky is the limit with most fishes, as long as they are chosen wisely from the beginning.

you could go with plenty of bichirs, arowanas, gars, and even a few AULs...FW has a higher diversity and therefore more options than SW does.
i also think you'd be able to pull off an arapaima in that size tank. contrary to what everyone says about them getting to 15' in the wild, this is a wild max...most individuals (in the wild) do not reach this size...statistically you won't be dealing with a record-size pima. then take into account the captivity factor...in MOST cases, fishes in captivity just won't reach their wild max (there are exceptions), but due to the natural build up of toxins, space constraints, etc in captivity, even a fish with a ton of room will most likely not reach what it could in the wild, and not their wild max.
even at large public aquariums you don't see 10' pimas...they have giant ones and those are around 7-8' long.
just something to consider in case you really want to do the pima thing (which would be sweet) --
--solomon

ps-- best of luck and keep us posted as to how things are going!

[Brooklamprey]

A whole buttload of Galaxiids and a few AUL...Native pride my man Native pride.....

[E_americanus]

A whole buttload of Galaxiids and a few AUL...Native pride my man Native pride.....

i agree...or perhaps set it up as a huge ephemeral environment...and do salamander fish! i've always wanted to keep one of those little guys!

but yeah, i think somewhere in the complex there should be an AUL or 3 --
--solomon

[Peck]

GARS...lots and lots of GARS...and then BREED the GARS

but seriously, you have a ton of options alex and i envy you! sounds like you are giving this a ton of thought, and that's great. given your thoughts so far, i would go with the tankbuster tank...the sky is the limit with most fishes, as long as they are chosen wisely from the beginning.

you could go with plenty of bichirs, arowanas, gars, and even a few AULs...FW has a higher diversity and therefore more options than SW does.
i also think you'd be able to pull off an arapaima in that size tank. contrary to what everyone says about them getting to 15' in the wild, this is a wild max...most individuals (in the wild) do not reach this size...statistically you won't be dealing with a record-size pima. then take into account the captivity factor...in MOST cases, fishes in captivity just won't reach their wild max (there are exceptions), but due to the natural build up of toxins, space constraints, etc in captivity, even a fish with a ton of room will most likely not reach what it could in the wild, and not their wild max.
even at large public aquariums you don't see 10' pimas...they have giant ones and those are around 7-8' long.
just something to consider in case you really want to do the pima thing (which would be sweet) --
--solomon

ps-- best of luck and keep us posted as to how things are going!

I understand that they will not reach anywhere near 15'. It would be pretty cool to kick back and watch an 8' fish swim around my fishroom... I Already have a couple big boys growing out that would love to go in a large tank so FW would be the sane option for me. But their is a certain appeal about reef sharks... the more I think about it the more I lean to FW. I still have a good while to decide and knowing me I'll change my mind a couple times between now and then.

Their is actually alot of Arapaima floating around Australia at the moment all around the 12-18" mark now!

A whole buttload of Galaxiids and a few AUL...Native pride my man Native pride.....

I catch Western Galaxia all the time, cool fish. The only down side to them is they love to jump more than any fish I have ever kept. Even with when using floating plants to your advantage.

I do love my natives though. Love the big Saw-fish up north, although not 100% FW. Australia has some great natives. I have a 14" Barra at the moment, great fish. Smashes the food as hard as any Peacockbass.

A whole buttload of Galaxiids and a few AUL...Native pride my man Native pride.....

i agree...or perhaps set it up as a huge ephemeral environment...and do salamander fish! i've always wanted to keep one of those little guys!

but yeah, i think somewhere in the complex there should be an AUL or 3 --
--solomon

My 2 little guys are quickly becoming not so little guys. I haven't taken any pics of them in a little while but the bigger of the two is about 8" and the smaller 7", put on a heap of size.

Here they are the day I got them. I actually cherish these pics, will be great to look back when they are 3'+ and remember how tiny and tadpole like they were.



Will get some updates asap.

Alex

This post has been edited by Peck: 23 May 2007 - 04:58 AM

[ExPeNsIvE HoBbY]

If you want something freshwater that gets really big but with the aggression and dentition of a shark, do what I did, track down a true Goliath African Tiger Fish! Just look at that guy!

This post has been edited by ExPeNsIvE HoBbY: 27 March 2011 - 08:39 AM