# Need ideas: feature fish for a 175 gallon tank



## vinz (Feb 19, 2004)

Hi all,

I'm seeking ideas for a feature fish for my 175 gallon (180cmx60cmx60cm) planted tank. It used to hold my asian arowana but she passed on. I'm likely to have to move house in the next few years so I'm postponing getting another of those beauties till I can set up a new and hopefully bigger planted tank for it in my new home.

I know there is a sticky thread for schooling fishes and I've been through it, but I hoping to get ideas more suited to a large tank.

So now I have a big fishless planted tank... well almost, there are a bunch of Otos, a cigarfish and a trio of sparkling gouramis in there at the moment. I just added 29 rocket pencilfish (N. eques) last night as a secondary fish.

I had thought of:
- Altums and discus, but they don't really appeal to me.
- Puntius denisonii (Redlined torpedos, Denison's flying fox).
- Classic tiger barbs

Suggestions I have gotten:
- Rainbows
- Congo tetras
- Festivums
- R. espei
- Guppies (no appeal to me either)
- 6-banded barbs
- T barbs
- R. harlequin

I'm thinking of adding 20 or so six-banded barbs as a secondary fish and some rams. Maybe some three-line pencilfish as well, but I'm wondering if this last group will be the one that is the one too many types of schooling fish.

At the moment a school of about a hundred R. espei as the feature fish sounds quite attractive, but I'm hoping to see more ideas.

Help?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

It sounds like you're going to have a beautiful tank.  

I would personally nix the Tiger Barbs since they are almost always more trouble than they're worth (and I don't like them...  ), and the Discus would probably not do well in a bigger mixed community like that.

I think Rams or Apisto's would be a nice addition to your tank, in addition to the schools you're already building on.
I guess if it were me, I'd also keep building on your existing schools, rather than adding other schools. One or 2 huge schools would look great.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

How could I forget.... No tank is complete without a big school of Cory's bouncing around the lower portion of the tank.

Another fish that is a real showpiece in one of my tanks is a pair of African Butterfly's. They stay at the surface, so they'd make a nice balance, and they're the first ones everyone notices when they look at the tank. They're harmless to other fish, unless you have some really small ones (like Guppy fry) who also inhabit the upper portion of the tank.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I'd have to agree with JanS on the Rams and Apistos. 

I have two trios of Apistogramma borelli 'Opal' in my 75g and it is quite interesting to watch them come out of the plants and defend their territory when other fish get near. 

You would really get to enjoy your large aquarium with a nice group of smaller fish. As for schooling fish, there are a bunch out there. Cardinals and Neons would go nice with A. borelli 'Opal' and some R. heteromorpha or espei would go nicely with some A. cacatoides "Double Red" or "Triple Red".

With that being said, I prefer to limit my tanks to two or three species to try and have a little continuity or "harmony" among the fishes. However, I don't count the algea crew in my species count. A small school of cories would also be nice thought my Apistos do a decent job of finding any food that makes it to the bottom. 

My 2 cents


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## vinz (Feb 19, 2004)

Thanks for the feedback.

For upper water, I already have 29 rather skittish N. eques.

I think I'll skip on the 6-banded barbs as the secondary schooling fish because I really want to get 3-lined pencilfish. Looks like it's going to be a huge tank with small fishes.

A band of cories is definitely a good idea.

Rams are on my list... they've been a favourite from childhood till now.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Jun 3, 2005)

For a 175g, I would maybe consider about 6-8 rose line sharks. I never bought one, so I'm not sure what they are like, but they are beautiful


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## vinz (Feb 19, 2004)

I already have a school of rose line sharks in a 50G tank, and I agree they would look great in the 175G. But I'm not about to go and try catching them... they are just too much trouble to catch in a planted tank with branchy driftwood.

We know them here as red line tropedos and Denison's flying fox. I had suspected that's what you were referring too, so I did a google on them and went "ah-ha!" This fish has the most variations of common names that I've known.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I like espei a lot (now changed to _Trigonostigma espei_) and have a school of them in my 30 gallon. They school well and look great against dark green plants.

The Denison's? Will you be setting up a planted aquarium or a salad bar?  
That can be a problem with the Congo tetras too. They have been known to destroy _Anubias_.


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## vinz (Feb 19, 2004)

Interesting, I haven't had any problems with the Denison's and plants. This is the first time I've heard of this. We're talking about this fish right?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Yes, that's the one. I haven't kept them myself, but Ghazanfar was telling me that they really went to town on the plants in his 225. There's one in there that he still hasn't been able to catch.


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