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i have a 250 gal tank its has no fish in it and its all set up with some hardy plants like java sword and chain sword. i want some type of cool larger fish.

if you have plants stay away from large sichlids as they will destroy the aquascape...

maybe a large pair of Kissing gourami?

also you could try koi or fancy gold fish...

hmmm large fish... a eel or some angel fish... i can think of anything large off habd that would be very nice and colorful or cool...

sounds great though.. always wanted a large 100+gal tank!!!!

PICS ???

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Discus? Could have a fantastic south american biotope going on in there. Things like rummy nose, few nice L number plec's, angels, silver dollars (though they would decemate the plants as well), bleedingg hearts.

What about a school of about 20 Bosemani Rainbowfish, and a school of P.Denisoni!!!! That would be a fun tank to watch!!!


55G -5x Bosemani, 3x Emerald Cory,3x Red Rainbow, 3x Turquoise Rainbow. 20G-Empty. 10G -4x Danio 3x Cory Fry 1 Gold Mystery Snail. 10G- 1x CAE, 2x Tetra 1x ADF

wow thats a big tank heres what i would mabey look at
the clown loach

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/328.htm
and then the rest of the space id fill with anglefish
but im probably the only one on this forum that would fill a 250 gallon full of loaches catfish and

33 gallon 7 neon tetras-5 platys-3 bleeding heart tetras-2 corys-1 rainbow shark-2 L83 gibby plecos

Don't be so sure about that last comment platy boy, I would stock a tank full of just catfishes any day!

What are the dimensions on that? What's your experience with fish? How much cash are you ready to lay down? With a tank your size you could totally go predatory community. Without knowing the exact dimensions of your tank I could say some of the species of polypterus, gar, knifefish, datnoids, stingrays, and many big catfishes are often kept in tanks of this size. Oh, and you'll need some masterful filtration if you want to go predatory.

There are also some other uncommon fish that are nice but not predatory, but could still live with predatory fish due to their size, but also with small fish due to the fact they don't eat fish. One of my faves are the Prochilodus; they are extremely attractive, shark-shaped herbivores. Of course, large plecs are generally compatible with predators, though sometimes they are known to rasp on bichirs and stingrays.

There are some beautiful tanks of this size, on the other hand, that are just mega-versions of what you can do in much smaller tanks. I heard Discus mentioned, but these fish are comfortable with tall plants to hide in and such; the sparse planting of your tank may not be ideal. I do have to admit the large schools of rainbowfish and P. denisonii would be absolutely STUNNING. Schools of other, large fish may also be possible, such as silver dollars, bala sharks, or tinfoil barbs.

The shark catfish is a no-no if you're keeping this tank freshwater.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

The shark catfish is a no-no if you're keeping this tank freshwater.

oooops... dident see the add salt part sorry riri1 ill edit that out
shini:yay! more catfish lovers!

33 gallon 7 neon tetras-5 platys-3 bleeding heart tetras-2 corys-1 rainbow shark-2 L83 gibby plecos

If you don't mind losing some plants every now and then, this would make a good tank for a Giant Gourami. You may need to upgrade it later though, a local restaurant had one the was about 10 years old in a 300 gal.

100 Tiger Barbs

Or a school of congo tetras

Or a school of various rainbowfish

So many choices!!

When you say 'cool larger fish', what do you mean by cool? Something that'll eat any meat that gets into the tank, or little community fish that interact with each other in interesting ways?

small school of tinfoil barbs(~8 or more) and a large school of tiger barbs (20+) and another small school of clown loaches(8+)... that would be an amazing stock!!! a very active and very interesting stock...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

i was looking at some leopard bushfish i like them a lot and my lfs has like 30 in stock i dont really know much about them like how big they get. They where in a tank with wolf fish and some other larger cichlids and catfish. i kinda want a preditory tank with them in it because they look sooooo cool. so if u could tell me a little about them.

Bushfish get around 6" "long and up" - they're a bit like a big Scat.
It totally depends on your taste mate...
I'd sacrafice the plants and go for a few larger cichlids, however i'd also love to do "the amazon three" (IMO) with 50 Cardinal Tetras, 5 pairs of apistogramma (or so..) and some Discus..possibly one of the nice plecs, or depending where you are some of the L046 Zebras..
Tell us you're taste and we'll be able to help more..

With zebra plecs being around $350 a piece around here for 1-2" specimens I don't think most people will be getting them anytime soon. Best left to the serious breeders, IMO, so we can try to get some good tank-bred populations around.

If you go predatory with bushfish that wouldn't be so bad; they're kinda like mini-datnoids, if you think about it... Leopard bushfish (Ctenopoma acutirostre) is related to the gouramis, and is in the family Anabantidae. However, it's quite a bit more piscivorous in nature and will take down small fish. I hear they're not easy to wean onto flakes and pellets, but may respond to frozen foods; don't quote me on that, though.

In a recent Aquarium Fish International article, the writer claims that while leopard bushfish have a reputation for being aggressive, they are actually quite timid. This fish can be kept with fish including bichirs such as Polypterus palmas, Elephantnose fish, African Knifefish (Xenomystus nigri), and perhaps even Ropefish in a tank your size. Though Ropefish get 3' long in the wild, this is absolutely unheard of in captivity. Hey, now that's an African-themed predatory tank if I've ever seen one. Other fish from other countries would also be compatible, provided they are not too aggressive, large enough to eat the bushfish, or small enough to be eaten by the bushfish.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

owever, it's quite a bit more piscivorous in nature and will take down small fish. I hear they're not easy to wean onto flakes and pellets, but may respond to frozen foods; don't quote me on that, though.

- You are indeed correct, just like the Leaf fish. Lovely things, they are.

If you want the most amazing colors. Go for African Cichlids, however that what other fish you can add besides cichlids and other African fish. Some soft water fish can be adapted to hard water. But there is TONS of different cichlids. Generally they got the best colors out of all the fresh water fish. So there is Africa theme.

Then there is Central and/or South American? theme. Put in Pacus, Silver Dollars (I think red hook variety are the ones that get big?), Tiger Shovlenose Catfish (not sure how big 250 gallon tank is, I think these get 3 feet? max), A big pleco of some sort, maybe common pleco. Red Tail catfish I think is too big. I think they need 300 gallon tank or so bare minimum. I think that would be a sweet tank, a local zoo has a HUGE indoor pond that has all those fish in it.

Could go for orange and black stripes theme. As brandeeno said, go for Clown Loaches and Tiger Barbs.

shin yea i read that artical thats where i got the idea about that fish i really like preditory fish so i breed feeder i know people dont like that its just more safe that feeding the feeders from the store that are a liveing diesse its just not good for fish. i have breed convict cichlids for the feeders for my other tanks i really want some preditors for my tank i just love to feed them feeders because it seems more natrual for the fish.

well if you want you could get a clown knife, a black ghost knife, an oscar pair, and umm idk a few other large catfish maybe... or possibly a pair of another cichlid species... these will take up most of the room though and would provide an excellent display... buy the catfish larger than the others, and ake sure the others are somewhat young ... and of equal or similar size... you could also do a few black ghost knives and a few clown knives... and ditch te oscars... these will utilize your plants as they are carnivorous but timid... then you could also get a few catfish... buy young and ween a few out as they age..

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Ah, breeding your own feeders seems appropriate for the size that the bushfish are. If you were keeping datnoids and shovelnose cats the fry might even be too small.

What are the dimensions on that tank? I'm not even sure how big a tank like that would be. Is it custom-made? I have a 125 gallon and it's pretty big, but that's only half the volume of your tank.

Are you really set on the bushfish? IMO you could go bigger than the bushfish. In a tank your size you might appreciate larger predators such as Tiger Datnoids, which are similar to bushfish but from Asia, in a bigger package, and striped. There are a few species of these fish from the genus Coius ranging from 1' to 1.5'. A bushfish would be all right in a 55 gallon. I'm just saying, with a tank your size you might feel restricted because you can't get many large fish species just because they would eat the bushfish, not because they wouldn't fit in your tank.

Without knowing the dimensions on your tank, it may be possible that Tiger Shovelnoses and Clown Knives would grow too large for this tank in the long run; if your tank is 2' in width, you should avoid these fish. If your tank is 3' in width, your tank would be the bare minimum for these fish so that they could turn around, assuming your tank is mostly bare. Clown Knives in the wild can even reach 4', but I've never seen a captive specimen reach that size. A smaller shovelnose, Sorubim lima and its relatives of the same genus, will be more appropriate, though; these fish reach about 1.5' max. I won't guarantee that it wouldn't eat a bushfish, though; pims often have surprisingly large mouths and capacity to feed.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

O so you want a predator tank.

You could do all piranhas tank

You could try putting 1 or some of the following fish together:

Tiger Shovlenose catfish
Fresh water barracuda (not sure how big they get, the ones I have seen were kind of small)
Oscars
bichars
Gars, there are couple of different kinds
Clown knives
Pike cichlids? I think they might be
Pacus will eat smaller fish

If you really want a big fish though, go with the tiger shovelnose catfish. Watch a video of them on youtube

red tailed catfish is one fish...there sweet ive always wanted one of my own but havent been lucky enough to stumble across a tank your size

i like feesh