Need some advice on starting a 150 gallon freshwater community aquarium.?

Question

Since its such a big tank I'll need some worthy equipment for it. Any particular filters, gravel vacs, air pumps/stones/wands you recommend. Should I get a kit that has everything to test the water conditions? What are some good plants I could add and what type of lighting will they need? Lastly what type of fish would you recommend?

I have a betta, cory cats, dwarf gouramis, and neon tetras at the moment. I figure I'll definatly get some corydoras as a clean up crew. How many do you recommend? What about some otocinclus catfish?? If so, how many of those? I'm also interested in tiger barbs and bala sharks. What about Cichlids?? What about some frogs or snails? Types??

I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING I CAN ADD! PUT YOURSELF IN MY POSITION AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD DO. I WANT ALLLLLLL THE DETAILS, PLEASE!!! THANKS!!!!!

ALSO WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO CYCLE YOUR TANK? WITH OR WITHOUT FISH??

Answer 1

For starters, you should get about 5 Cories. Don't get Tiger Barbs, they will limit the other kinds of fish you can have (they would go after the Bala Sharks). If you want Bala Sharks, you could have about 5 of them as your "centerpiece". Surround them with mid and bottom level swimmers like Yo-yo Loaches, Gouramis, and Tetras. This will give you maximum capability to stock to its fullest. As far as equipment goes, get the best of everything, if you try to go cheap, you are just going to get stuck with faulty equipment. Your filter should be rated for a 200+ gallon tank just to be safe.

I've always done fishless cycling, that might take way too long for such a large tank though. After running your tank (fishless) for 3 days (dechlorinator should be added the first day the tank is set up), buy some (3-4) feeder Goldfish. They will provide large amounts of waste and help build up the helpful bacteria. After the Goldfish are in there for about 1-2 weeks, take them out (if you get them from Petco or Petsmart, you have 14 days to return them) and try to return them. Let your tank run as it is (don't do any cleanings until you are ready to get the fish you want) for about 2 weeks, do the first gravel vacuuming, and then add the fish you want. Good luck!

By the way, Bala Sharks only get a little over a foot and will not bother smaller fish at all. Also, keeping Tiger Barbs and Cichlids almost always leads to trouble in the longrun. Avoid both of those fish and you will have a better chance of success. Frogs would be okay, but you should definitely provide submerged platform decorations (driftwood and other obtrusions) so they don't have to go from the gravel to the surface every 15 minutes, driftwood will cut that distance in half.

Nosoop4u

Answer 2

I dont know much about filters but buy gravel that is pretty big or buy rocks for the bottom. I say no bala sharks and tiger barbs but get abot 20 neons 10 corydoras 15 zebra danios no otos also some guppies but start out with about 7 and pretty soon youll have 20 and probly cichlids wont be good but i would maybe put a 2 or 3 snails and 5 black skirt tetras

Answer 3

Get lots of coryadoras as they are awesome fish - fun to watch and super peaceful and great at keeping the bottom free of excess food. They are happiest in groups of 6 or more as they are very social fish. If you get a frog or two, make sure it's an albino dwarf frog, and not a clawed frog as those get big enough to eat the fish! Also, make sure if you have a frog that your gravel is too big for it to swallow.

Add more neon tetras as they look great when they school around together in a big tank! If you're interested in cichlids, you should stick to the less agressive types to mix with these kinds of fish. You have enough room to keep a few pairs without them needing to be too aggressive even if they do get a little territorial. Rams, keyhole cichlids and apistogramma are pretty peaceful for community tanks. Personally, if I had a tank that big, I'd want an oscar, but that's just me. They're NOT good community fish. ;P

If you get snails, stick with Pomacea bridgesii or ramshorns, especially if you plan to have plants. They are the least likely to eat the plants and the most controllable population-wise.

DEFINITELY get a master test kit to test your water conditions. It's a MUST for starting any aquarium. You will want to test the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to know when your tank has fully cycled, and you may want to know your PH levels as well. That size of a tank is going to take a long time to cycle, even if you have some gravel or filter media from an established tank to kick-start the process. I'd do it with a couple of hardy fish myself (convicts or danios) just because I can't stand looking at a bare tank while doing a fishless cycle, even if it is easier on the fish.

I can't recommend a good filter as I'm completely into DIY sponge filters. They are safe for all fry and most of my tanks have breeding shrimp in them. Unless you have a strong power filter though (probably not good for a betta) you should have at least one other thing bubbling in there to add extra oxy though. I'd have 2 filters in a tank that size. Just because more filtration is better than not enough. As for a gravel vac, get a python.

The plants all depend on what kind of a look you want in your tank. Get some driftwood and java moss. Java moss is the weed of aquatic plants! It grows under any light and nothing you can do to it will kill it! Fry love it, shrimp love it, and it does all the beneficial things any other plant does without all the work. It's squishable, stretchable and can be tied onto anything, so you can make it look how you want to a limited degree. Make it a flat mat or a tall, wavy frond of a plant, it all depends on how you tie it down. Other than that, check some plant sites and see what you like. I've listed a few.

Answer 4

You need to have some kind of cheap fish to get the water the way it should be. Cichlids can only be paired with certain fish as they are aggressive. I would suggest getting some gold fish or something like that and then check the PH and all those good things before adding anything else. It can take awhile in a 150 gallon tank. I would talk to someone at a petco, or get a book to help. It has been years since I had a big tank, but I do know (from experience) you cannot put all fish into a tank of water if the PH and everything is not correct.

Answer 5

I dont know anything about filters, gravel, vabs, pumps that stuff because my tank already had them sorry. :\ Yes def. get a kit like Pets Mart- Freshwater Master Test Kit its like 20-25$ it tests the
pH
high pH
nitrAtes
nitrItes
ammonia
I recommend Black Skirted Tetras, or Flame Tetras check those out. I DONT think you should get bala sharks they get about 16" and they will eat your other fish like neons, maybe betta,.. and other smaller than thier mouth fish. I think oto catfish are so cute I look to getting some myself, that might be a good choice like 5-6 of them! :] thats all i know with my experience..which isnt toooo long i have a 29 gallon tank with 6 Black Skirt Tetras, 5 Flame Tetras, 2 Leopard Danios. good luck its soo fun. p.s. I would go the fishless cycling path but .. i dont have that big of a tank so i dont know how long.. You could do like 2 scout fish for the water though. Good fish like zebra danios, guppys, black skirts, white cloud mountain minnow.

Answer 6

You do not want to go with the idea of getting cheap fish, as suggested by somebody here, to cycle your tank. I you do it properly you will not kill them. That means frequent water changes. With a tank that size I would start with 4-6 fish. Now hardy fish like mollies and swordtails can handle the stress best, if your ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate do happen to get away from you. Get a test kit. I recommend that you get a master test kit with bottels of liquid and glass vials. The dip strips are not very accurate, just easy... Test your water daily, at least until you start to see the pattern of how the bad chemicals accumulate. A master test kit will cost about $20.

Water changes. Change about a third of the water daily. Remember that even though these chemicals are poisonous you do NOT want to change the water so much that you have 0 ppm (parts per million). You need to have a little bit left in there to encourage the bacteria to grow, to keep it from starving also. Test before you change water. You may test again after to see the difference if you want.
You will see ammonia first, it will peek. Later you will see nitrite and nitrate appear. When this happens the ammonia will slowly start to decline. The nitrite and nitrate will then peek. Then the nitrite will start to decline. When there is zero ammonia and zero nitrite, with no water changes, your cycle will be complete. You will always have nitrite. It is poisonous to fish but less so than the other two. This is why you should do regular water changes. The frequency will depend on the number of fish, how much you feed, filters, ECT.

PH
If you are doing a community tank PH is not very important. The majority of fish you will get are used to a wide range of PH. They are captive breed. There are a few that need it to be exact but most do not. Even those often only care if you are trying to breed them, like discus fish. I have always used city water with no PH adjustments. I have had no problems. I tried messing with it once and found that it is very hard and expensive to control. The PH bounce was worse for my fish than the PH being high. I test my PH about once a year and that is usually just for the heck of it because it comes with the test kit.

Type of fish
I will not go there. We all have our own likes and dislikes. Find a good fish only store, ask them about combatability of whatever you see and like. Also, NEVER by fish at chain stores (walmart, kmart type places). They are uncared for. Because of this they are ladden with disease to bring home to your tank. Just go look at how the tanks look in a chain store and how many dead are left in the tanks. A good fish store may have a problem on occasion but they will not sell from a sick tank. They care for their fish properly.

Get aquarium salt, or rock salt. NO IODINE, it is deadly. Use 1 tablespoon per five gallons. This is good for your fish slime coat. Helps resist disease.

I like fluval filters. I recommend for you 2 fluval 405 filters. I alo think every tank should have an undergravel filter even with other filters. Undergravel filters run better with powerheads on them. The better your tank is filtered, the more fish you can put in and still keep them healthy and happy, while keeping crystal clear water. The same goes for Aeration.
Air pumps. I have no particular preference but I recommend getting bigger than what you need. You will find out later you always have more use for air. You will want one with multiple air outlets. Get a good heater, again bigger than needed is better. It will turn off when the water is right but if it gets cold in your house it will be able to handle the extra load. You wil probally need two. I am not sure about sizes for 150 gallons. I have only gone to 100 gallons. I do recommend you get stainless submergible heaters with a remote dial. They don't break, and you do not have to put your hand in a million times while adjusting them. The dial is fairly accurate, but not perfect.

Good luck.

Answer 7

I would recommend getting 4-5 bala sharks since they like to school. They are peaceful fish and would do great in a 150 gallon tank. The tiger barbs would do fine but they are notorious for fin nipping. So it is advised to keep them in packs. I would also recommend red tailed black sharks. keep them in 5-6 to avoid dominance. Cichlids are good for 150g and those types of fish. But make sure that the chichlids are not big enough to eat the tiger barbs or red tails. Make sure you get them around the same size.

Answer 8

First of all, cycle your tank with a few cheap fish.(feeder goldfish) Fishless cycles don't work.

Tiger barbs, chiclids, and bala sharks will eat the neons.

I think frogs do better in smaller tanks but I don't know.

Snails sound good.

Answer 9

get sum fish and sum water