# Stocking a 265 gallon aquarium???



## crazyfishman (Apr 4, 2010)

Im not a newb when it comes to keeping fish so I have the filtration, lighting, heating, aquascaping and other stuff down.

The tank is 84x24x30 and has a sump which holds around 45 to 50 gallons of water powered by two 1200gph pumps and two huge biowheels for the beneficial bacteria. Dont try to change my mind on the biowheels. *** used them on all my tanks with great success.

The substrate will be sandy and the middle section cleared out for digging and such. Each end of the aquarium will be filled with rocks, driftwood, and silk plants for looks of course and cover for smaller fishes. There may be one or two medium sized pieces of driftwood in the center.

What I dont know is which type of fish I can keep with what. For some strange reason I like green severums so I would like to start with them.

How many severum could I keep? I would like two but not sure if they would fight or not. What other fish could go in with them and how many fully grown.

I really like larger fish so looking at fish that get as large as the severum. Wouldnt mind some slightly smaller fish though in the 6-8 inch range if they could be done in a group or something.

Give me your ideas please! I am all about research so just give me a starting point so I can begin researching fish and their requirements. Sorry for the long post. Didnt know what info was needed. If I left anything out that you need to know let me know. Thanks!


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## spxsk (Mar 29, 2006)

See my signature for what I keep in virtually the same tank. My only differences are:
I am 31" high to your 30" so no difference really. but otherwise exact same dimensions
I am only sand substrate and driftwood no silk or real plants anymore and I am only using River Stones as rock work in the sand, no piles of rocks.
I use a canister in conjunction with my sump
I have an inline heater for maintaining the heat
I would suggest looking into a UV filter as well.

I would suggest you have a good cleanup crew for left over food on the bottom. Getting to the bottom of tanks as deep as ours is not simple. I would also suggest putting a valve inline from your sump return to facilitate water changes. It has made all the difference in the world for me as far as water changes goes, and would seriously look into a Carbon Bottle to replace the water during changes. I can change 100 Gallons of water in about 15 minutes with these two items.

Definitely go with the Sevs. I have kept Rotkeils, and Reds, and Golds and loved them all. I currently have the pair you see in my Avatar breeding in a 90 Gallon. They did live in the 270 and loved it! If you are going with the sand bottom, Geophagus work well to turn the sand over and avoid gas buildup in my experience. Just make sure you get real sand sifters, many Geos do not do it enough. Ping me anytime you want to chat up my experience with this tank.

Stoked for you!


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## crazyfishman (Apr 4, 2010)

I will put the Leporacanthicus Galaxias and Acarichthys Heckelii on my list for consideration. I like the looks of those...especially the Leporacanthicus Galaxias! Must find out how big it gets first.


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## crazyfishman (Apr 4, 2010)

Could not find the edit button so posting again. I used the edit once and now it is gone!

Here is what I am thinking so far:

2- Rotkeil Severum
3- Satanoperca Jurupari
5- Geophagus Sp. Orange Head
1- Leporacanthicus Galaxias

From what I have read the eartheaters and the galaxias will mainly stay at the bottom of the tank. The sevs should inhabit the middle.

Is there room for more fish and if so what can be kept that will swim in the middle and upper sections of the tank. I would like more fish in that area.

Would also like a 3-5 clown loaches to clean up the messes but dont know if they would work with these other fish. I like the clown loaches because they get big.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

crazyfishman said:


> Would also like a 3-5 clown loaches to clean up the messes but dont know if they would work with these other fish. I like the clown loaches because they get big.


Hey *crazyfishman*, clown loaches make a good clean up crew, scooting around the tank with thier dust pans and brooms.

The eartheaters and pleco are your clean up crew. Between them, there won't be too much room left for bottom dwellers. There aren't many upper water dwelling cichlids, festivums being the main exception.


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## Isis24 (Dec 10, 2008)

crazyfishman,

Your tank sounds really exciting. A 265 gallon is a dream for a lot of us!!! Your stocking is similar to what I have in my 125. I keep 1 rotkeil sev, 6 orange heads, and 4 Satanoperca leucosticta. I'll have to get those numbers down though, because they fish are growing.

Why only 5 Orange heads? I think 6 would be even better. You definitely have the space. Nobody has mentioned anything about the jurupari, but I they're a social cichlid, just like the geos. Can anyone with experience comment on keeping just 3? I know my leucosticta mingle with the orange heads, and they're active and seem happy, but what do i know!?

I agree with DFF about the eartheaters being enough of a clean up crew. Orange heads sift all day long, and if there's a morsel of food in the sand, they'll find it.


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## crazyfishman (Apr 4, 2010)

Isis24 said:


> Why only 5 Orange heads? I think 6 would be even better. You definitely have the space. Nobody has mentioned anything about the jurupari, but I they're a social cichlid, just like the geos. Can anyone with experience comment on keeping just 3? I know my leucosticta mingle with the orange heads, and they're active and seem happy, but what do i know!?


I like your idea of putting more Orange Heads. Here is a revised list:

3- Rotkeil Severum 
4- Satanoperca Jurupari 
7- Geophagus Sp. Orange Head 
1- Leporacanthicus Galaxias

I only have a few of the Satanoperca Jurupari listed because they get 10 inches in the aquarium. The Sevs get 12 inches and the Leporacanthicus Galaxias gets 10 inches. The Orange Heads are smaller at 5-6 inches so I can see doing a group of 7.

This is alot of big fish even for a 265 gallon. The Sevs may cause a problem if they start making babies from what *** read so far but still would like to hear from other people who have kept them in their community SA tanks.

Now i need to read about fishless cycling. I will have to mailorder these fish as no one in my area carries any of them. I need to cycle it well enough to hold the bioload of 15 fish being dropped in at once.


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## Isis24 (Dec 10, 2008)

I have experience with keeping 2 severum in a 6' tank. The bottom line is that you'll never know how they'll act until you try, because different severums have different personalities.

My 2 severums were a pair and even then, they can be super rough with each other. My male rotkeil severum beat the female up and I believe she died of internal infection or stress from his beatings. Even though he chased her and picked at her constantly, the injuries didn't seem that serious. So if you do try multiple sevs, watch them carefully.

I think your stock list may be a bit too much for the footprint of the tank. You do have a lot of really large cichlids. When I said you had room for more orange heads, i was kind of assuming that you might not keep the juruparis. All of the eartheaters do grow really slowly, so you'd be ok for a year or two. It might be a bit much after that though. All I can say for sure is that my 10 eartheaters are peaceful in my 125 gallon. I don't expect that to last for too much longer though.

Anyway, your tank sounds wonderful and I hope others can provide a bit more advice. And once you get it set up, we need pics! There's nothing more I enjoy than seeing pictures


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## emsquared19 (Jun 3, 2010)

*spxsk*
Hey, I noticed you were talking about quick water changes in a large tank...I am about to buy a 265 gallon tank and was wondering if you could provide more detail on how to set up a quick water change system...thank you!


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## spxsk (Mar 29, 2006)

My tank has two Bulkheads in the floor of the tank. One is for the intake for the canister I use Eheim 2260, and the other is for the return. The intake has a PVC "t" plumbed into it and the bottom of the "t" leads to a ball valve and a hose is setup on the other side. I run the hose directly out to the garden outside. This way, i also never turn off the Eheim, the two just share the intake in the tank, and it drains water by gravity only. The refill is done through a carbon bottle run straight from a sink behind the tank in the garage. Here are some pictures.

















You can also see that I run a sump in conjunction with my canister through two corner overflows and two corner returns. There is an inline heater between the main return line out of the sump before the "T" that splits the return to the two sides of the tank.

hope that helps


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## emsquared19 (Jun 3, 2010)

Ok, thank you! Would I be able to work this system without the overflow boxes? It's a straight freshwater tank...? Thanks


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## spxsk (Mar 29, 2006)

I think so. You could work with hang over overflows too. So this tank is just a glass box?


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## emsquared19 (Jun 3, 2010)

Yea, just glass, no overflows or anything


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## spxsk (Mar 29, 2006)

Well, then canister will work for mechanical. If you are going to do a set up like I have for Water Changes, then you are going to need to get the tank drilled or drill it yourself. I have no experience with drilling tanks. Sorry


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