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im sorry for another thread, i tried to delete the other one, but I couldnt find the option..

How would you stock a 72" 120g tank?

Im just looking for ideas..

Well when getting a new tank I always think about the fish I already have and move some of them in there, especially any that I did not realise when I bought them they would need a larger tank. Doesnt happen much anymore because I research but in my earlier days...

What fish are you interested in?

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

If this 120 gallon tank is currently empty, it would make a good home for your recently acquired Black Ghost Knife Fish.

It would give you a few years to plan for the really big home that the fish will eventually need, and you can put one or two other oddballs in there with the Black Ghost Knife Fish too. The Reed Fish Erpetoichthys calabaricus springs to mind as a truly wacky 'living fossil' that you could have as a companion to your Black Ghost Knife Fish, provided of course that compatibility issues with such a strange pairing don't throw up any compelling reasons NOT to pair them up ... I can't immediately think of any reason why those two fishes couldn't share an aquarium, because they're not likely to display aggression toward each other, though if you DO decide to run with an 'oddball' setup like this for your 120, be advised that Reed Fishes (also known as Rope Fishes) are basically Houdinis with fins - expert escape artists that will find their way out of the aquarium through ridiculously tiny gaps if you don't pay attention to this! Plus, the lid on the aquarium will need to be weighted down, because as it grows older, a Reed Fish might just decide to make its escape by trying to head-butt its way through the hood! It's a powerfully muscular fish, don't let it's elongate eel-like shape fool you , but it's also a very attractive fish , with orange and green markings (there's a combination you don't see every day!), and it has a host of weird features to study at leisure. For example, it has lobed fins like a Coelacanth (but it isn't related to those fishes), it has accessory air breathing capability (but different from the Lungfishes, to which it isn't closely related either), and its dorsal fin is divided into ten separate moveable finlets, resembling an extinct fish called Birkenia from the late Silurian era, to which it isn't very closely related either ... in fact the principal feature that DOES relate it to other fishes is the extened tubular nostrils, which places it in the Polypteridae alongside the Bichirs. This is a fish that hasn't changed that much since the Cretaceous era at least, and it's possible to find recognisable relations dating back as far as the Devonian era - that's about 200 million years before the Dinosaurs arrived!

Put a big collection of bogwood tangles in there for both the Black Ghost Knife Fish and the Reed Fish, and you can have your very own underwater "Jurassic Park"


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I totally agree with Calil on stocking with oddballs. Do you have any fish you already know you're going to put in there? That's the place to start.
A 120 would make a fantastic home for a lot of the larger fish that people in the forums are always saying need a bigger tank. Many of the catfish species, for instance. If I had a big tank like that, I'd have birchirs, Eels from the Mastacembelidae family, some of the larger Ctenopomas, or perhaps a group of Uaru cichlids. You could have a group of full-grown clown loaches!

Your possibilities have skyrocketed with a tank this size, and your major limitation is going to be compatibility. Make lists of fish you'd love to have and post it, and ask about compatibility.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

well, i made this thread to get ideas on what fish to get, because if I do get this tank, im gonna end up getting the same exact fish I already have for them.

all of the fish I have right now are staying where they are, so in reality, the 120 will be empty

Hey there,
since youve refused to state what size tank
the BGK is in, I assume its much too small for it
to live to maturity.
Id suggest starting your stocking on the 120 with the
BGK, and working your stocking around this fish as your centerpeice. Remember - he will get HUGE and need at least this much space.

Some tankmates that would look good with the BGK -
Congo Tetras
Rams/Apistos
Keyhole Cichlids
Festivum
Discus
Buenos Aires Tetra
Angelfish

basically, any fish too large to be eaten by the
BGK and not aggressive.


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Thats a good idea, I would love to get another BGK.. i love them... but they wouldn't make a very good centerpiece fish, since they are never around.

I would love discus, but they are way too hard to take car of.. i dont have enough time to be doing so many water changes.

Maby I can get some more black angles, and a BGK, and other dark fish

I do water changes on my discus tank once a week to every 10 days, 35%, and they are in my opinion, as easy to care for as Angelfish.
Only wild caught discus are more tricky, and not anymore
so than any other soft water wild caught fish.


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yeah, I do water changes every other week.. that prolly wolnt be good enough for a discus.

my dad used to have angels fine though

im thinkin a few black angles, a BGK, and some bala sharks

how would it look with black gravel?

or should Igo with normal colored gravel?

Bala sharks are a bad mix with any large, disc-like cichlid.

wish I had that tank. I would go with a couple of large agressive cichlids, since they are my fav's but seeing as you already have the BGK and seem to want to include it in the tank I would say go with a large less agressive cichlid like a choclate or a couple of severums. You can go with something a little smaller like Firemouths or Acara's that could work as well. A large school of some type of medium sized tetra's would be nice too. If you're not a cichlid fan like me, my next choice would either be like 3 bala's or tinfoil barbs. Another thought, if you could afford it, would be to get a school of the denison barbs-really nice fish & the only reason I don't have any is B/c of my cichlid love Lastly why not try some type of biotope tank and surround the BGK with fish it would naturally be surrounded with. It'll take a little research but an option to consider, I think their from Asia but not sure.

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
Socrates-
I happen to have become a philosopher

thanks for the replies.

why arent balas good with angel/discus?


to the second reply.. i love seinfeld but im not much of a chiclid person, other than angels.

i like baby frontosas, but i dont like the bump they get on their head.

Hi there,
120 gallon is NOT big enough for Bala Sharks.
Balas grow to be 14-16 inches long, and need a tank
size at adulthood a minimum of 8 feet long and 3 feet wide,
or around 250 gallons+.

Balas can be kept with Discus and similar fish with
No problems, assuming the tank is large enough.
However, 120 is not big enough for balas, or their
close resembling cousins the TinFoil Barb,which grow
even larger than Balas.

I would go with a smaller Cyprinid - SAE's,
Denisoni Barbs both come to mind. A nice mixed
group of the two would look fabulous.

If you like big cichlids, why not look into
some of the Geophagus - red hump eartheaters and
demon eartheaters are both great fish.


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I concur with SVS's suggestion of getting eartheaters. I currently have a Satanoperca jurupari in my 75g and i absolutely love him He is the most peaceful fish in my tank and has never once shown any aggression towards any of his tankmates. With a good filter, you could probably keep 3 of them in your 120g, as they prefer to be kept in groups.