Gauntlets Ready!

[PEMfish]

Well, I don't know, but think I will change the cichlid plans ( 10g Catchup + ) too this;
A 85g stock tank. And change the cichlids to piranhas. This would have to go in my unfinished basement as the floors up here didn't cope well with the 29g. And who has room / wants to look at a stock tank in there living room. Come on, I'm not that much of a redneck. So they are a very abused type of fish, I will not be one of those people. If I do even do piranhas, probably will. The tank will measure 35" x 51" x 18" deep. Perfect. Light will be the one on my planted now, it is soon to be replaced. 100lb of pea gravel, any extra decor I have now, a few river rocks from the local query, flower pots, plastic plants, drift wood, low budget decor all around. They will be eating a varied diet, no live for lack of disease control with that. Some beef heart, cocktail shrimp ( oh no, I will be fighting piranhas for meat! lol ), lean chicken, pellet along with a few greens every now and then ( potatoes, zucchini ). The specie I will keep are Pygocentrus nattereri, or P. cariba, or Pygopristis denticulatus, or Catoprion mento. In that order ( from really prefer to will keep... ). I hope to get one of the first two on the list. Money is a factor too. And how many I would keep depends on spices, from 2 - 6. To protect My cats, I will buy a large sheet of .5" styrofoam made by DOW and cut it down. I may cut a hole in it and glue a sheet of thin acrylic over the hole, a $5 upgrade. filtration will be a Ebay bought AC 110.

[PEMfish]

Cost about $170 without fish.

[PEMfish]

Hmmmm, Could cut a hole in the side ( an inch away from nearest ribs ) and bolt / silicone in a acrylic window . I'll call manufacturer and see what they say about that doing to the structural integrity.

[PEMfish]

I this tread being boycotted for lack of pics!?? Well come on, I'm planning, and maybe dreaming.
'Stole' these from Google image;
Pygocentrus nattereri in the first pic, and the last two are of multiple species in a stock tank ( gives me + u an idea of what I'll be looking at in my tank... )

[kathywithbirds]

Sounds cool. I don't really know much about pirhanas, they always looked mean to me with that overbite!! Didn't know they could eat that wide a variety of "people food."

[PEMfish]

Meat is meat. Just watch out for at as it will do hel to filtration and water quality. I hope to get them on pellets.. We'll see...

[Frankie]

I would stick with cichlids. Piranhas are boring.

[PEMfish]

Well, the tank planned would just keep them alive, not happy. No room to go bigger. I will seriously think of doing them if the window on the tub is not possible. What do you think? I think it would be fine...

[Frankie]

I think the Pygocentrus nattereri are beautiful fish and look awesome in a huge natural lake type setting you would see in a zoo. When i saw how oscars looked in this type of setting i stopped breeding them knowing i could never do it right like that.
An 85 gallon would be a sweet set up for some Africans~
Sorry Pem, I am not to much into the fresh anymore. It's been years.

[PEMfish]

The thing with cichlids in a tub is that looking from the top mostly, you never see there true beauty. Or behavior in the basement.

W/C real easy, use the 5g bucket and scoop out the water, dump in the new water. Super easy and fast.

[PEMfish]

Also, I plan on buying feeder fish for them once they get older, but NOT giving them to the piranhas. freeze them first. Nothing, fungus, parasites, is said to survive that. I won't do that often sense they hold little nutritional value.

So I'm thinking this is becoming more of a possibility, the piranhas, that is.

[PEMfish]

I decided it be smartest to finish all other tank projects be fore start a new one. I got the PVC plumbing done on my reef, well almost. FW light is next. Will keep you posted as I plow through;
FW light part 1 & 2
Renforcing FW stand
Redoing FW plants
Getting more FW fish
New light bulb ob the reef
add baffle to sump
Getting SW water chemistry solution long term ( adding drip containers, finding a good method, getting test kits )

And then A NEW TANK!!!

[PEMfish]

If I get and old iron bath tub for cheap, and a pond liner from this guy,... I see a real cheap and good way to do this without sacrificing gallons or inches.

[sasquatch]

if the choice is fish or bathing? keep the bath Paul

[SubRosa]

Originally Posted by PEMfish

Also, I plan on buying feeder fish for them once they get older, but NOT giving them to the piranhas. freeze them first. Nothing, fungus, parasites, is said to survive that. I won't do that often sense they hold little nutritional value.

So I'm thinking this is becoming more of a possibility, the piranhas, that is.

The idea that feeder fish hold no nutritional value is asinine!I have raised many obligate piscivores on nothing but guppies,then Fatheads(aka Rosy Reds)and then goldfish.Feeding freshwater feeders to SW fish is a bad idea as the fatty acid profiles are very different(SW fish are skewed toward Omega-3's,FW towards Omega-6's),and feeding live fish to freshwater fish that eat other things is a good way to introduce diseases,but as you yourself said,meat is meat!I have a real soft spot for Acestorynchus tetras aka Freshwater Barracuda and they generally eat nothing but live fish.An interesting sidenote is that I have never had a problem with disease keeping these guys.After all predators generally eat the weak and the sick.

John