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200L will be ready soon! Now... what to put in it?


purplex

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Hi all,

My 200L is getting closer to completion, and I've been wondering what to put in it. The hubby has decided that because he's had to do some stuff for my tank, that he wants input as to what to put in there. (Might let him choose this time, then get me a bigger one later! :rotf: )

Anyways, he's fallen in love with the huge BGK at Animal Antics, and he now wants one. Thats ok, cause I think they're cool too - and I've read up on them, know the pH levels, temps etc that they need, as well as plenty of hiding places.

So I have a few questions :dunno:

1) What can go in the tank with it? He also likes Kribs, but I've read that they don't play nice? I don't like a 'teeming' tank, but I do like a bit of movement.

2) I'm still struggling to find a decent filter for the tank, I don't have a lot of room, and while this may seem strange, I actually like the 'hang-on' filters. If I got two of those (I've seen them go up to 100L), and put them at opposite ends of the tank would that be ok? Or should I go for a different style?

3) Back to the BGK - does anyone breed them?? The only one I've seen for sale was $69.90! :tears:

Either way, I'd appreciate any input I can get :bow:

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A BGK will eat anything that can fit in its mouth, so that rules out guppys/neon/swords/platys/dwarf cichlids etc. Also 200ltrs is not really big enough for a BGK unless you keep it by itself. I have kept a large one (30cm +) in a 200ltr community tank with rams, gouramis and large sword tails but he wasn't really comfortable and could get quite "pushy" with the other inhabitants. If you do decide to get one maybe try to keep it with algae eaters like common plecos and chinese/siamese algae eaters. They are an awesome fish though and mine would eat out of my hand and loved rubbing against me when I was doing maintenance. They have a habit of sucking the eyes off slower moving fish aswell. Also as they do get really large a planted aquarium is out of the question as they require alot of space to move around.

As for filtration if I were you I would try to get a decent canister filter, you can pick up some real good cheap ones on Trademe for the price of 2 hang-on filters. With filtration more is better than not enough.

As far as I know there has never been any proven, documented breeding of BGK's to date, although I did read a story about some guy in Aussie breeding them by keeping them in a tank outside on his porch. They are next to impossible to sex and don't get sexually mature until they reach quite a large size, they do grow to over 50cm in captivity I hear. Also as they use electrical impulses to navigate they should not be housed with other fish of the same species or they muck each others sensors up which causes aggression. If you had a monster sized aquarium (1500ltrs +) it might be possible.

Hope this helps

Jamie.

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Thanks for the reply.

I knew they'd eat anything they are capable of fitting in their mouths, and while my husband thinks this is awesome, I think otherwise LOL

I've seen them kept with angels, but I know that angels need very specific water params, so don't really want to be messing around with that. I might see what others say, and keep an open mind, cause my fish tend to do what they want, not what they're supposed to.

Is there a particular brand of canister filter that people would recommend? I would prefer one that is quieter, as the tank is going to be in our lounge, and the bedroom will be quite close to it. But other than that, as long as it doesn't cost more than the tank did, I'd be happy! (Tis a joke, I got the tank for $20 + sheet of replacement glass for $15 + silicone $15)

As for the breeding, damn, was worth an ask though...

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Godly3vil - thats really good info you have given in your reply. :D

Filters - depends on your budget. I run the cf cannisters on most of my tanks with no issues but the quietest external filter I run is a sunsun - I think you can still pick them up new off trade me for around $90. The minimum turnover you require is 4x the tank size so 800lph but always go for something larger, more filtration is better and also generally the turnover rating on the filter is without media slowing it. Anything between 1000-1600lph is good imo.

The type of feature fish I have in my lounge tank is my husbands choice as it was a trade off between the type of fish he likes which I traded off against the amount of time I spend in the back shed on my other tanks. Fortunately he likes discus, although I still have to say I would rather have Africans. I get to do my thing while he looks at the discus, however I still have to maintain the tank. :lol:

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The type of feature fish I have in my lounge tank is my husbands choice as it was a trade off between the type of fish he likes which I traded off against the amount of time I spend in the back shed on my other tanks. Fortunately he likes discus, although I still have to say I would rather have Africans. I get to do my thing while he looks at the discus, however I still have to maintain the tank. :lol:

^^^As for maintaining the tank - I've told him I don't care how much he has done to get the tank ready, he is helping maintain it if he's picking most of the fish! LOL

I'm all excited about getting it cycling soon.... :thup:

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