Need help populating a 500 Gallon Freshwater Tank

[Worthington]

Hey Guys,

New here, I just purchased a home with a 500 gallon tank. Had someone come by and clean/look it over and all is good. Picked up a couple of Plecos.

That said, we have NO idea what we can put in it yet. We are not knowledgeable but willing to invest where necessary.

There are a couple of fish that would be pretty fun that I'm interested in but I'm concerned about temperaments and what not.

One thing I was told is that we can have large and small fish, as long as the smaller fish have a large school (say for instance 50 tetras). It's a big tank and would be fun to have a colorful mix of fish. I'd also like some larger fish just because it's such a large tank. Something with a fun personality would be neat and I hear Oscars and Puffer Fish for instance have very interesting personalities but don't mix well with others.

So a few questions:

It's a 500 gallon tank, do some of the rules of mixing differ when you have that much space?

Can you mix smaller fish with larger potentially aggressive fish (African Cichlids for instance) if the smaller fish are in large schools (50 tetra example).

A few fish that are interesting but would love to know if there's a viable way to do it without being stuck with a narrow species list if we choose one of these:

-Pacu
-Oscar
-African Cichlids (love the colors, especially the Green Terrors)
-Puffer Fish
-Angel Fish
-Sharks (looking for something decent sized)
-Decent sized school of small, colorful fish (tetras, or other)
-Loaches


Would love to hear if there are other ideas as well for larger, interesting (color, personality etc) fish we should consider.

Also any advice on fish that will help keep things clean. I understand the Plecos clean, but their waste causes a significant mess in the process.

Really appreciate any help here.

 

[Worthington]

Can't seem to embed this pic so here's the link (pic of the tank):

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

 

[toolman]

Welcome to AA

500 gallons... WOW

Lots of possibilities.... And as many pitfalls.

One general rule to remember, most fish will eat anything they can fit in their mouth.

Cichlids in general are more aggressive, many here will have more information than me on those. But one species to consider IMHO would be rainbows, many colors and get fairly large.

 

[abw0004]

Puffers usually like brackish water, which the other fish you mentioned need freshwater. I am actually surprised you aren't wanting a saltwater setup with that size tank. What kind of plecos did you buy? Common plecos can get huge, and all plecos need driftwood along with algae wafers or they will starve FYI.

First things first, you need to read up on cycling a tank. It is really best to do a fish-less cycle however. If you do not cycle your tank first your new fish will die of ammonia poisoning.

Another thing you need to consider is if you want a planted tank or not. That will also help determine what fish you buy.

What kind of equipment do you have for your tank? What filter? Lighting, etc? These are really the first things we need to make sure you have squared away. Adding fish should be the last thing you do, although it is tempting to do it now.

 

[Tyrsdottir]

That looks like live rock. Was the tank previously Marine? Is it cycled?

 

[Tyrsdottir]

Puffers... Be sure to do your research. They are highly aggressive. They have a specialized diet. Most of them either need brackish or need to be full Marine by adulthood.

 

[Worthington]

Thanks Guys,

There is a ton of algae for the Plecos he said, told me they would eat from those rocks and the bottom. We cleaned it but there was a lot of stuff left.

I think it's just a common pleco -large or not that is ok given the size of the tank isn't it?

Staying freshwater because we don't want to create more maintenance overhead than necessary.

Previous owner had a ton of Cichlids and before that a massive (4 foot long) catfish which ended up being relocated to the local aquarium. But it'd been quite awhile.

We picked up a few hardy fish per the fish store and the person that helped me's suggestion. I forget what kind but a total of 7, including the plecos. Tinfoil Barb was one of them, that much I do remember.

We added some bacterial growth starter stuff and two other solutions to address ammonia and soften the water I think?

Regarding equipment, there are 4 40W, 48" bulbs at the top. Two air pumps, two water pumps. Filter is through the bottom he said and we picked up two 300W heaters last night.

I'm very new to this so I just paid someone to come clean it and look over the equipment. They said they thought we are fine with everything except needing the heaters we picked up (along with a bunch of cleaning supplies so I can keep it clean).

I understand we have to wait before we can really add a bunch of fish, these were just to get the tank started.

 

[abw0004]

Are you sure that is a 500 gallon tank? Unless the depth is deceiving in the picture, that doesn't look like a 500 gallon tank (I could be wrong). What your LFS said about not needing to feed the plecos or have driftwood throws up a lot of red flags for me. That tells me he does't know what he is doing unfortunately. What store is this?

Common plecos get really, really big. And create an insane amount of waste. Many people only have one pleco per tank, and not common plecos. Plecos absolutely need driftwood in the tank, along with algae supplements like wafers (Omega One is the best brand of fish food you can buy).

It makes sense that the tank was a cichlids tank due to the bare landscape. It was most likely a cichlids only tank as those fish are very aggressive and will kill peaceful fish like tetras.

I would first determine if you want peaceful, schooling fish, or larger colorful aggressive fish like cichlids. That looks like a good substrate to plant in should you want to go that route.

I would really look into cycling your tank without fish first. Cycling a tank takes 4-6 weeks and if you have fish in it during that period, you will be doing 50% water changes everyday, which for that size tank, will burn you out. If you don't do the water changes, you fish will die anyways. You might want to return your fish for the time being to cycle your tank. Actually, that would buy you time to learn about the hobby and how to take care of fish. It is not as simple as plopping a goldfish in a bowl. Also, go out an buy an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. This will be your new best friend the next 6 weeks. Very critical to have.

Kudos to coming to a site like this to learn though! Most people come here after they encounter problems, which is harder to fix.

Here are some helpful links:

Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First! | Tropical Fish Forums

 

[Worthington]

Positive it's a 500G tank, previous owner dropped 15K on it. I'll add a few more pics in a moment with equipment etc.

PS. Fish have been in for 12 hours and seem lively but of course that's from my uneducated lens.

 

[Worthington]

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7d6xOPOHIQ9WTRHRmNHUnBqenhFS3NqdnVva3JJY18yOUhF

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7d6xOPOHIQ9ektfUEhyM3BpSzZHTTJjdV84Q29BbDhEOFpB

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7d6xOPOHIQ9aGdDMDVsNHF0a1h2bmJCOHRKNnh4NWZoN01V

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7d6xOPOHIQ9MUFkeWlMc19Idm4yVkxLVk5Kd2xtUm0tRVVR

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7d6xOPOHIQ9WHUtRWp5VmZHQXdZZ1lYaWdvMW96R0xpeUI0

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7d6xOPOHIQ9YmdYTEZFY2dkY1hmejNEeFNiOTFHYUcyVHo4

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7d6xOPOHIQ9WjdQT2VVbERBaUtJWld6S2dTY25HZHpUOXpN

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7d6xOPOHIQ9TkppaWk5STFiaE8zeHpqaEJXMzFFcnhvUWo0

PS. I haven't used forums in years, why am I struggling to insert pics?

 

[abw0004]

Positive it's a 500G tank, previous owner dropped 15K on it. I'll add a few more pics in a moment with equipment etc.

PS. Fish have been in for 12 hours and seem lively but of course that's from my uneducated lens.

It will take longer than 12 hours to see the effects of ammonia burn. So a crash course: Fish eat food, digest it, and excrete it, correct? That fish waste causes ammonia in the tank water. This is poisonous to fish that breathe it in through their gills. It is like if we had to breath in car exhaust, but had nowhere to go to escape it. It takes a few weeks for the beneficial bacteria colony to develop that eats the ammonia, and turns it into nitrite. Nitrite is still poisonous to fish. Another beneficial bacteria colony needs to develop to eat nitrite, and turn it into nitrate, which is safe for fish, unless in insane amounts. 12 hours is not enough time, but you have to be careful. This is why you need the test kit, to monitor those levels. and be sure to treat your water with Seachem Prime (water dechlorinator). That is by far the best water conditioner on the market.

I don't doubt your tank size, it was just an observation. What are the dimensions of the tank? Is the fish store you go to a specialty store that only handle aquariums, or big box store like Petco or PetSmart?

 

[mbooker]

Wow very neat looking tank! I'm excited to see what you end up doing with it!

Lots of great advice from the others so far and lots of different directions you can go with a tank that size. I'd second the idea of taking the fish back for now if you can and do a fishless cycle by adding ammonia. So much less work doing big water changes to keep your fish healthy and it gives you time to figure out your filtration system and figure out how you want everything decorated and such.

When I post pictures on the site here, I usually like to use a photo hosting site, seems to make everything run smooth for me. I will upload a photo to somewhere like tinypic, and resize it for forums or message boards. Once it is uploaded they will provide you with a link for forums that you just copy and past on your post. When you actually submit the post the picture will show up as a nice size. Send me a PM if you want more help!

Good luck with the aquarium, I'll be following to see how everything goes for you!!

 

[Worthington]

Hey Guys,

Are there products you can set in there that perhaps show a digital readout of the chemical levels?

Also, based on the pics I took here (this is great, I'm learning as we go through this) I have the following:

2 GEN-X PCX 40 Pumps
2 GEN-X Air Pumps (GX-9803 - 4.5L/MIN)

Fish Tank is 96" long, 24" wide and 48" tall.

The glass however is 1 and a quarter inch thick.

Also, no Petco. There is a local fish store that has great reviews I went to yesterday.

 

[t-bone]

Are you sure that is not acrylic? The looks of the top is highly suspicious. Glass at 1 1/4 inch thick is insane. Just want to be sure because acrylic can scratch very easily. Just want to make sure you clean it with the correct tools.

 

[abw0004]

I did not see a filter or sump, but I assume there was a sump tank somewhere. Do you happen to know? Thanks for the pictures, it is a 500 gallon. I would strongly suggest a fishless-cycle now seeing your tank the entirety. If you don't you will have to change 250 gallons a day to get the ammonia down while it cycles. I would not wish that on my worst enemy. I cannot stress a fishless enough. You can search on this forum or on Google of plenty of horror stories of people losing fish to ammonia. I don't want that to be you, so I want to help.

Happy to see you have Prime already. You might want to purchase the gallon containers on eBay to save money as that is a big tank. I would not use algicide as those can be harmful to fish. Plecos will eat the algae, but not all of it. Be thinking if you want a community tank with peaceful fish, or a species only tank for cichlids.

Community tanks don't have fighting between fish, fun to watch school, but are typically smaller fish. You can also add live plants to make it feel more natural and homey to the fish. Species only, like cichlids, are bigger, colorful fish that has personality, and aggression. Don't use plants for these, the tank the way it is will work jus fine. They are more work though and need experience to have. Many sites will say what fish are comparable with each other. Aside from getting along, you have to make sure they can tolerate the same temperature, ph, etc. Also, when buying a heater, always get one that can heat tanks bigger than yours. Same with filters, you can never have water that is too clean.

I am kind of jealous you got that with the house. I am in the market myself and now kind of hoping to hit the jackpot you had.

Also, down the road, you will want to buy a 15 gallon quarantine tank. Petco runs sales of these for $15, plus a heater and airstone. Fish can carry diseases. The most common is ich, and that is hard to get rid of. If you buy sick fish (just because it looks healthy does not mean it is), you don't want that disease getting into your main tank. There again you will have too change the water everyday, and buy medication. If you put the fish in a QT tank first (yes even your plecos if you keep them), it is MUCH easier to do water changes in a 15 gallon. And you won't infect everyone else in your main tank. QT fish for about 4 weeks. It is like if you have a sick person in a small room with 5 other people, do you think the other 5 people will get sick as well? So why not put that person in their own room so they can get better.

 

[toolman]

Good Advice here by all.

Agreed... I'm jealous but you have a big learning curve with lots of potential pitfalls..... It will be worth it in the long run.

One cool tank! Can't wait to see the results.

 

[abw0004]

Any updates so far? We want to help in any way we can.

 

[Worthington]

Sorry, life is crazy, work has been insane and every spare moment seems to go into this new house.

So we talked to the fish store and they thought we were ok adding more fish. We put a Tiger Oscar, Blood Parrot, Green Terror, 2 Fire Mouths, a tiger striped looking one (can't recall the name) and some white eel looking thing the wife liked.

We had one fish not make it, but the rest seem to be doing fine and the levels have been great. The pet store thinks that because he left it running it was pretty much cycled already. It's been nearly a week with no issues except one fish that I can't recall the name of (it was a cichlid).

 

[abw0004]

What are the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings?

 

[The camaro show]

The target puffer is truly freshwater and the amazon puffer is too getting up to 4 feet