# 90 gal. stocking suggestions



## pugmug (Nov 15, 2008)

HI all, i'm new to the forum. I have been keeping fish for maybe 15-20 years, but always smaller tanks. I just made the jump to a 4 ft. 90 gal. aquarium and would like to get larger fish that i've never been able to keep before for it. I like the central and south American Cichlids, but info seems to be real variable about what can go with what and how many in what size tank.

I always thought i'd get Discus if I got a larger tank, but every time I read about them, I get scared off. I'm wondering though if they would be too fragile anyway for a tank that is near a large TV and loud music.

I've decided that although I like them that fish like Oscars, Midas, Flowerhorns and Texas seem to get too big for this tank.

So I guess i'm looking for some suggestions about medium sized fish possibilities for my tank. I'm interested in Green Terrors, Texas, Fire Mouths, & Severums or anything colorful and interesting to watch like they interact like they have a soap opera for fish going on.

Thanks a lot for any input. Great site!


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## HiImSean (Apr 5, 2007)

actually any of those fish would be fine in a 90g, as long as the footprint is 48x18. you could keep one big fish like an oscar, midas, or FH. a pair of any medium to large fish would go great in that size tank. i've seen a 75g with GT, JD, FM, and salvini. anything that gets to a size of 12-14" would be fine solitary in a 90g.

i know what you mean about discus. id hate to spend so much on a fish to have it die on me, but i do plan on having a discus tank one day


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

G'day *pugmug*,

Welcome to C-F.

Do you know what your tap water values are, PH, GH, KH. These would be the major factors determining whether or not Discus would be a goer or not.

As for a tank being kept near a TV or Loud music. Not really in favour of such an idea. Everyone knows sound travels further under water than above water, but I'm not sure how sound goes from travelling outside a fish tank to into a a fish tank.

As for inhabitants. A 90 gallon is a nice big tank, but I would be hesitant to put a couple of large predatory cichlids into one. I know a lot of people have done it, but it doesn't mean it's always the best thing for the fish.

I like the idea of a pair of Gold Severums as your main show fish. For tank mates I'd look at two pairs dwarf acaras, Laetacara dorsigera.


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## cody6766 (Oct 27, 2005)

I'm about to move a pair of severums into a 90g. They're getting cramped in their 55g right now. I just need to get the water cleared and it'll be ready to roll


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

Pugmug,......I acted exactly the same to discus like you do right now. Abouth 5 years ago I had some plans for a 90 gallon and my favorit fish of all was the discus. So I bought books and did some investigation on the internet. I asked my dad abouth his experiences becouse he kept some when I was a kid. I was scared off just like you. Stories abouth HITH, poor looking discus that die becouse of bloat, dificulties with feeding, water qualety. I tried several other species in stead. Something deep inside still wanted Discus.

Over here I met Larry (Apistomaster) and besides the forum we had (and still have) a nice e-mail contact. He keeps discus for more then 4 decades so he is very very experienced. He showed off his wonderful fish and also his discus. Talking to him gained my interest so we talked a lot abouth discus. In addition I also looked up extra info on several forums of which www.simplydiscus.com was the best source of information. After abouth half a year I bought 8 youngsters of which I selected the best 6. They are now 5 to 5 1/2 inch TL (at the age of 10 months) and still need to grow. I'm so happy I bought them!!! I keep 6 red turquoise discus. Domesticated are not that difficult compared to wilds and red turquoise should be the hardiest among them. I don't treat them diferent to the other fish I keep (among them; apisto's, bolivians, oto's, tetras, pleco's, guianacara, whipetails). Discus are beautiful friendly and curious cichlids. They always greet me and feed from my hands. I keep them at 28C, PH=7.5, GH=7. The only thing abouth discus is that they are a lot of work. The reason is that discus have a poor metabolism and for that eat a lot and poop a lot. Discus do need clean water to stay healthy. Growing out discus requires even more work with daily water changes of 50% or more. Right now I do 3 times a week a 65% water change and possibly it can be reduced to 2 large wc and one smaler once they are adult.

Conclusion: Domesticated Discus are just as easy as any other cichlid. You will need to do a lot of large water changes so they are more work as most other cichlids. They aren't difficult fish but you need to stick to some rules like clean water, good qualety foods. If you are willing to do more work and put some more effort in maintaining the water qualety, then you will be fine. Don't give up to fast on Discus becouse of all the false stories that they are difficult very demanding fish.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Here are the 3 basic options I see for youâ€¦

Wet Pet â€" Single large specimen tankâ€¦
Medium Community â€" 4 or 5 medium sized Cichlids (such as JD, GT, FM, etc)
Discus tank â€" self explanatoryâ€¦

Wet Pet â€" You could keep a single Midas, Flowerhorn, Oscar, Texas, etcâ€¦ you â€˜mightâ€™ be able to keep two females of one of these species, but that would be more of a risk than I would personally take unless you had another similar sized tank available if things donâ€™t work out. If you were to keep a pair of one of these species it is likely that the male will get abusive on the female (or vise versa).

Community â€" If this is the direction you choose, I suggest selecting one or two key fish you want in thereâ€¦ then select tankmates that compliment that choice. Keep in mind that a 90 has the same 48â€


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

> Discus â€" I say go for it! Iâ€™ve yet to do Discus myself but several friends in my local fish club have convinced me to drop my â€˜fearsâ€™ and move forward.


 The reason your friends to convinced you is probably that there are to many myths around discus that they should be extremely difficult. I can assure you that domesticated discus are quit hardy and not difficult at all. You only need to follow some rules such as large water changes (and plenty of them), right temp, mid to soft water (GH of 9 or lower would be great) temp at 28C to max 30C, multiple feedings (depend on age) of good qualety foods and definitely protein rich foods.



> Just step into it a little on the conservative side, heavily filter, lightly stock and create a simple process for water changes


 I absolutely agree! I do 9 times filter turnover and the filter media are 7.5 gallon of fine sponge.



> lightly stock and create a simple process for water changes


 The water changes is the largest issue for me on maintaining Discus. I have no auto water changing system and need to do all the work with buckets. Making my arms and shoulders strong :wink:



> A small group of young Discus with a small group of Dwarf Cichlids on the floor of the tank would be amazing (this is the set up I have planned to try Discus in beginning this winter).


 Exactly what I like as well. I planed a large group of rummynose but I lost 2 batches during quarantine. It is hard to get decent healthy rummynose over here. The same for apisto's. So I bought some Apisto's and breed them. I added 3 male and 3 female to the discus tank in stead of tetras. They are great! Fun to watch them hovering over the substrate. They also feed on foods that get stuck inbetween plants or at places where the discus can't reach them. I also keep a BN pleco in there and a Peckoltia for cleaning crew and algea control. The Peckoltia feeds on spoiled foods while the BN keeps the wood clean of algea and also feeds on spoiled foods.



> As for the concern of a loud TV or stereoâ€¦ sound created in water travels very well in waterâ€¦ but have you ever had your head underwater when someone was yelling outside of the water? You can barely hear it, if at all. So unless the speaker or its direct vibration is touching the tank, I donâ€™t think the sound would bother the fish.


 No problems at all with loud music,...but I don't spoil them like most people. In my experience they get used to walking in front of the tank and noises. If they do get bothered by the loud music you will notice it on the bars your fish display. I have 2 cats and one likes to watch the discus and the other likes to chase them (wants to play with them) At first the fish acted skittish and more then once they shoot all over the tank and even get damaged. They healed within a week and I never seen a fish heal that quickly! I can assure you I was quit woried abouth the behaviour of my cat. I'm not always at home when he wants to play with the fish so it is hard to adjust his behaviour. Now they aren't intimidated any more by the cat. He taps the glass and the fish watch him and nothing happens. I have to mention that I read a lot abouth the shyness and skittish behaviour of wild discus. Those are a diferent story!


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## pugmug (Nov 15, 2008)

Thank you all for the responses and reassurances of what I could actually put in there. A foot long fish still seems too big, but I guess they don't move around a whole lot. I think learning more about the "personality" of each of these large fish and what type of decor should be in the tank would help me decide. I've been watching videos on You-Tube. I do know that Flowerhorns can bite and bash on the glass and Oscars will rearrage anything in there with it.

I have been reading more lately that Discus arn't as difficult as what I was reading years ago, so I feel better about that. I will keep them as one of my options. My water is Lake Michigan water, so in looking that up, the PH is 7.5 and it isn't hard enough to need a home water softener. That's all I know at the moment.

I've been looking at African the past few days and have added the combo of Blue Dolphin- c. Moorii and yellow labs as an option.


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

Pugmug,....I still didn't talked you over to Discus? :wink: Hmm,....well then I give up :lol: I'm not knowledge enough on Oscars, Midas, Flowerhorns and Texas so I can't help you with that. I do want to point you towards an other interesting group that might be interesting,...Geophagus and especially the small once like Orangehead and Pindare. You tank will be large enough for a group of 5.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

As the old adage goes... stable parameters are more important than specific parameters...

For that very reason I don't like to do anything to condition my local water besides add dechlorinator. This has worked great for me as my local water is excellent for my preferred Cichlids (SA/CA). Since you have interests in fish that prefer soft, moderate as well as hard water, finding out your local parameters may help you choose which way to go...

I do think Discus would be a great choice, but having to treat the water with peat for a couple days... then filter it with carbon (to remove tea color)... may be a little too much. Especially if you are going to do an increased water change schedule for them...

Chances are you wouldn't have to do all of that to keep Discus... but until we know your local parameters we won't know for sure...

To get a general idea I would pour tap water in a clean glass... let it sit 24 hours... then stick a test strip in it. The strips are not as accurate as the drop kits but they are fine for getting a general idea of conditions or for verifying consistency.


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

> I do think Discus would be a great choice, but having to treat the water with peat for a couple days... then filter it with carbon (to remove tea color)... may be a little too much. Especially if you are going to do an increased water change schedule for them...


 Domesticated discus be just fine on PH=7.5,.....for youngsters it is even beneficial! I agrea that stability is of more importance. So if the water isn't to hard and your PH is around 7.5 you will be fine.


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## pugmug (Nov 15, 2008)

Thanks for the advice. I just spent hours reading every post on Severums. I think one or 2 of these would be perfect for the main fish in a 90 with lots of possibilities for tankmates. Plus, I think this is the only option that allows me to take down my 38 and use those fish and filters to cycle the tank before adding the Sevs. (9 tiger barbs, 2 pictus, 2 cories and a rapheal cat).

Severums seem to be sort of like Discus, but a bit easier and less expensive. Maybe I will try Discus in another tank after I get some experience with the sevs.

1 question, is black sand and background ok with gold Sevs or are they like Discus and show brighter with light surroundings? I am very partial to the black look.

Thanks all.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

sevs arent called "poor mans discus" for nothin, haha. sevs are a good choice in my opinion, but if you really want discus i would go for it. the advice you have gotten will give you a great start and if thats what you want, i say go for it. otherwise, i love severums. you may want to be careful with tiger barbs with severums. severums develop nice long fins and mine HATES when fish nip at him. if you get a male sev, those fins can get real long. just an fyi.

Good luck!!!!!


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## jcushing (Apr 6, 2008)

uarus are another "poor mans discus" fwiw

the only problem with sevs is that you certainly couldnt do anymore than 1 pair in a 90 where with discus or even uarus you could have alot more of them. they have the potential to get pretty big and are more "cichlid like" in aggresion. if thats ok with you then sev's are a great choice.....


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

i definetely agree with a max of 2. even with two, there is no guarantee they will get along. i had two in my 75 that did not get along and i had to give one away.

if you go with sevs, i would reccomend getting 6 or 8 as babys and hopefully getting a pair to keep. you wont be able to keep any cichlid tankmates (imo) but at least the centerpiece will be in place.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

A pair of Sevs probably won't allow tanmkmates in a 90 gal... but two females probably would...


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