# Asian Biotope



## bigfish93 (Jul 7, 2009)

I have been bitten by the aquarium bug. I am now planning out my next aquarium, only this one will be much bigger. I would like to get a 75 gallon, but the 50 gallon seemed like a better deal at Petsmart. They had a 75 gallon with the glass hoods for $210. The 50 gallon inlcuded the glass hoods and lights for $130 dollars. I will probably go with the 75 gallon despite the money because of the size difference. This will be an asian biotope so I have started my temporary stocking list which includes 1 redtailed shark, 9 tiger barbs, some kind of compatible gourami???, and I need some ideas for bottom feeders. I plan to keep the planting simple like I did with my 20 gallon, so I am only going to use jungle val, driftwood, and rocks for the aquascaping. I am going to try and create as many hiding spots as possible because this is going to be an agressive tank. I know I will need a canister filter for a tank this large, but can I go with a canister that is rated for 40 or 60 gallons instead of 75? The reason I ask is because it will be a planted tank and I don't want to have a lot of water flow in the tank. I was looking at the Fluval 205 or 305.


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## spike0544 (Aug 29, 2010)

I have a Fluval 405 on my 55 gallon and it is working great. I don't think I would go any smaller than that. Look around online you may be able to find some better deals on them. As for the bottom feeders, you may be limited with the Red tail black shark. A bristlenose pleco would work nicely, but I think it is South American. You could also pull more Tiger Barbs in a 75 gallon, something like 20 if you have suitable filtration. I would also steer clear of the Gourami with Tiger Barbs as they are very active and tend to be fin nippers.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Yes, you are certainly limiting your fish selection. I personally would not waste so large an aquarium on two species, but if that is what you want, it is yours not mine.;-)

No substrate fish will be advisable with one Red Tailed Shark, and this fish can only be housed individually itself as noted in the profile. Having "aggressive" fish can be managed, but that does not mean one should mix fish to deliberately create aggression and thereby have some of them constantly in fear of their lives. As would occur. Loaches for instance would be stressed out by the mere presence of such an aggressor. And that means unhealthy and very unhappy.

A 75g tank is well suited to a group of loaches, 5-6. Some fine gravel, rounded rocks representing river boulders, and chunks of bogwood to create a very realistic Indian stream, home to many of the Botia loaches. Barb and danio are ideal tankmates.

Tiger Barb should not be combined with long-fin fish such as any gourami. Other tankmates can include some of the other barb, some danio; these are active enough that they tend to be left alone.

Byron.


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## bigfish93 (Jul 7, 2009)

this is the tank that inspired me


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## bigfish93 (Jul 7, 2009)




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## bigfish93 (Jul 7, 2009)

I guess I should ask for stocking ideas for a 75 gallon. This way, I might learn about fish that I did not know existed. So please feel free to share any ideas you have.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I finally managed to find some data on that tank. It is 420 litres, or 112 gallons. The fish are a decent size, and in my view too crowded. That impacts on fish behaviour, usually detrimentally to the fish--being prevented from exercising their natural instincts is worse for the fish. A few times one can see flashing by the clown loach, which means stress.


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## bigfish93 (Jul 7, 2009)

Byron said:


> I finally managed to find some data on that tank. It is 420 litres, or 112 gallons. The fish are a decent size, and in my view too crowded. That impacts on fish behaviour, usually detrimentally to the fish--being prevented from exercising their natural instincts is worse for the fish. A few times one can see flashing by the clown loach, which means stress.


Thanks Byron. I really like the look of the redtailed shark and thought it would be a cool fish to have, but I am open to any ideas. I know for sure I won't have this tank running until after Christmas, most likely not until summer roles around so I have plenty of time to think about my stocking list. I already have a SA biotope, so I was looking to do something different.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

bigfish93 said:


> Thanks Byron. I really like the look of the redtailed shark and thought it would be a cool fish to have, but I am open to any ideas. I know for sure I won't have this tank running until after Christmas, most likely not until summer roles around so I have plenty of time to think about my stocking list. I already have a SA biotope, so I was looking to do something different.


There are many options for SE Asian, plants and fish. The multitude of suitable loach species is too good to pass up when one is thinking SE Asian. Some get rather large, the Clown for instance I would not consider unless I had at minimum a 6-foot tank to accommodate a group at maturity when they are a foot or so. But there are several fairly peaceful species in the Botia genus, have a look at those in our profiles. A group of 6 or so, and some can be mixed (two species, 6 of each). Above them it depends upon whether you want smallish quiet fish, or more active fish like the barbs and danio. If quieter, there are gourami [many of the rarer species are interesting and deserving], several rasbora species, a couple of the barb work--my fav is the Black Ruby barb, I am still waiting to find this fish locally so I can acquire a group for my 90g. All these are in our Cyprinids section in the profiles.

My 90g pictured below is along the lines of the habitat, just change out some of the plants and fish. Gravel, river rock, lots of wood (loaches like hiding spots and prefer to find their own individual "home") though with the plant growth it is difficult to find the 5 chunks of bogwood. My Botia kubotai are in this tank, and it was built around them. The Aponogeton, Tiger Lotus, Hygrophila and crypt plants are Asian.


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## bigfish93 (Jul 7, 2009)

Thanks for all the help Byron! Your tanks are always an ispiration for me and I wish I knew how you did it. I did some research online and felll in love with the Scalare Angelfish. If I am not mistaken, a 75 gallon is large enough for a group of these angelfish. Now I am in the process of finding some suitable tankmates for these guys. Because this is going to be a large tank and a rather big expense, I want to take my time and get almost everything right the first time. I think a large group of cardinal tetra would be cool, but from what I read, they are food for the angelfish. So far my stocking list looks like this: 3 or 5 Scalare Angelfish, 3 whiptale catfish, and now I am looking for a large school of some kind of tetra (possibly rummynose tetra, but I am not sure if they are to active for the angelfish.) I hope they are compatible because, after watching videos of them shoaling, they are awesome!


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## Grimmjow (Jul 22, 2009)

This may have been answered but I have too much rum in me to read everything. If water flow is the reason you want a lesser filter why not just turn the part where the water comes out towards the glass? I did this on my 75 and it works pretty good.


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## Jbrofish8 (Jul 7, 2011)

bigfish93 said:


> Thanks for all the help Byron! Your tanks are always an ispiration for me and I wish I knew how you did it. I did some research online and felll in love with the Scalare Angelfish. If I am not mistaken, a 75 gallon is large enough for a group of these angelfish. Now I am in the process of finding some suitable tankmates for these guys. Because this is going to be a large tank and a rather big expense, I want to take my time and get almost everything right the first time. I think a large group of cardinal tetra would be cool, but from what I read, they are food for the angelfish. So far my stocking list looks like this: 3 or 5 Scalare Angelfish, 3 whiptale catfish, and now I am looking for a large school of some kind of tetra (possibly rummynose tetra, but I am not sure if they are to active for the angelfish.) I hope they are compatible because, after watching videos of them shoaling, they are awesome!


I dont think rummynose are too active. I have a shoal of them in my 29g and you are right, they are awesome! But they are not nearly as active as the blue tetra I have in my second tank. The rummys mostly just stay in a group and swim around peacefully. They really are awesome little fish.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I think rummys would work with angels. Of the three rummy species, the best might be Petitella georgiae as these are a bit larger. Harder to come by though, unless you have a local importer.

Any of the smaller "torpedo" shaped tetra like neons and cardinals are usually not good with angels. As the angels grow, the tetra become more like food. The best characins for angelfish are some of the disk-shaped species, such as the Rosy clade in Hyphessobrycon; H. rosaceus, H. bentosi, H. sweglesi, H. megalopterus (these are all in our profiles). Also H. flammeus, H. pulchripinnis, and if you can find them H. metae. Also Hemigrammus pulcher, H. ocellifer. Trigonostigma heteromorpha works unless you want to be strictly SA.


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