# Monster fish keepers



## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Why are all the tanks so damn boring?

Ooooh a ten thousand gallon tank. Lets overstock it with Arrowanas!


----------



## clownbarb1 (Jul 11, 2010)

i agree if i had a tank that size would put turtles or shool of tinfoil barb in it and at least decorate it


----------



## kell_boy (May 30, 2010)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Why are all the tanks so damn boring?
> 
> Ooooh a ten thousand gallon tank. Lets overstock it with Arrowanas!


what do you mean by boring? lack of plants etc? Ive not kept arrowanas but i would one day love too, they amaze me, I like appreciating an animal for its ability in the wild, arrowanas are amazing, the way they can jump 6 feet out of the water and catch a bug resting on a branch is awesome.

Some people like tanks with lots of plants and a nice naturalistic look, personally Id like to do both in one tank, its not possible in most cases, these bigger fish just uproot everything, even oscars will wreck a nice looking tank!


----------



## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Tiled floors, no decor etc etc. Add a fake rock background, some nice driftwood at least..

I love Arrowanas, but not in a tank consisting of water + Arrowana.


----------



## kell_boy (May 30, 2010)

They keep it that way as its easier to clean, personally I hate ANY tank that lacks substrate though, again, they do it so they can probably spot uneaten food/waste alot faster so they can get it out.

Its also for more swimming space as they get huge.

flip side of the coin though is that a lack of substrate and decor can seriously stress some fish out.

My fahaka puffer has lots of fake plants and bogwood and a tube, as he grows some of this will have to go to make swimming room for him but will keep as much as poss in there for him to keep it interesting.


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

i hate them too.

you get it a lot in tanks with rays. they put no decor in to maxamise the floor space.

personally, if i'd just spent £1000+ on the fish, i think i'd bother to pay £50 to get a ledge built in halfway up the tank to put some pretty plants in


----------



## kell_boy (May 30, 2010)

If we speak strictly arrowanas for second (the point made about rays is true, id have sand at the bottom) 

I just thought of another reason for having nothing on the floor of the tank, arrowanas can develop something called drop eye, this is where one or both eyes sort of drop down and look as i they are always looking down, it doesnt give the animal problems other then looking odd and seriously decreasing its money value,

Its unknown what causes drop eye, some believe water quality, others think mentioned above, having an empty tank would stop them from looking down, this is why arrowanas are always fed floating food as it encourages to look for food up which is where most of their diet comes from, be it insects and mammals falling into water or sitting on branches.


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

drop eye is true, too. 

but i'd rather have an aro with drop eye in an amazing looking tank than an aro with "normal" eyes in a glass box.


----------



## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

my tanks are not huge just now altho have some larger ones on order i like to have larger pebbles and stuff on one side and plain on the other so they have a choice (most of my fish are pacu or oscars ) and i find they dont realy move stuff about much


----------



## Pearson Design (Jan 21, 2010)

i wouldnt say big fish setups are boring, at all.
it depends. if you have a big enough tank for the fish in question then you should also allow for room to make it look nice to you, and also feel safe and secure to the animal

you wouldnt put a black tip reef shark in an ocean tunnel with nothing in it would you? nope, youd have nice caves, arches and shipwrecks lol.

you wouldnt keep a moray eel in a bare tank either would you? they need hiding places and tunnels to retreat to if they feel threatened etc.

same applies for arrowana, they should be provided an adequate sized home with plenty of scaping and plants etc to simulate the natural habitat as much as possible.

its like some zoos ive been to, they make it so the public can see the animals all the time, yet forget to think about what the animal needs to feel safe and "at home" in its enclosure


----------



## kell_boy (May 30, 2010)

I agree with all of you, Ive always made my tanks look nice, I only have fake plants now because of my current tank inhabitant but its better then him tering him lots of real plants,

But the real shame with arrowana its all about value, and their "prized" specimen, if they think it will stop drop eye, they will do it, because all they care about is how it looks and how much its worth. Not all owners ofc, just some of them.


----------



## Postcard (Aug 29, 2010)

To buck the trend, I think if you're going to spend an inordinate amount of money on some big fish for a very large tank then it should be about the animals and not some gubbins kicking about the bottom of the tank.


----------



## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

annabel said:


> To buck the trend, I think if you're going to spend an inordinate amount of money on some big fish for a very large tank then it should be about the animals and not some gubbins kicking about the bottom of the tank.


Animal care always come first so yeah, much better to have a plain tank where the animal is happy and healthy. But, a good looking tank doesn't have to come at the expense of the animal.

The tanks I'm referring to seem to be stuffed with large fish.

Just pulled these of google.











This second tank is cool, all that's added is a few rocks and some substrate. Makes such a difference over a bare tank.


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

that first tank... eeeek!


----------



## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

It would be pretty awesome to see a 100g + tank stocked with small fish and planted out for a change


----------



## s6t6nic6l (May 15, 2010)

Esfa said:


> that first tank... eeeek!


not only that, but that is serious over-crowding. terrible fish-keeping there, no matter what they'll say about filtration installed.


----------



## boisterous_billy (Oct 12, 2010)

Monsterfishkeepers lmao says it all really.

I was a member but hey what a clicky forum and nearly every tank is over stocked so i had seen enough.


----------



## Pearson Design (Jan 21, 2010)

rum&coke said:


> It would be pretty awesome to see a 100g + tank stocked with small fish and planted out for a change



i went to colchester zoo recently and they have quite a large fishy section. some of their huge tanks are freshwater and full of teeny neons and other small fish. it was cool to see, mainly because having over 50 neons and the same amount of other similar sized fish, they all actually shoaled together properly in groups 
something id not seen in that scale in a tank before


----------



## Pearson Design (Jan 21, 2010)

boisterous_billy said:


> Monsterfishkeepers lmao says it all really.
> 
> I was a member but hey what a clicky forum and nearly every tank is over stocked so i had seen enough.



oh my god!
check this out!
YouTube - Arapaimag 52k fish video 1
amazing!! theres a whole article about it on that monster fish site, i just had a quick curious look lol


----------



## boisterous_billy (Oct 12, 2010)

Pearson Design said:


> oh my god!
> check this out!
> YouTube - Arapaimag 52k fish video 1
> amazing!! theres a whole article about it on that monster fish site, i just had a quick curious look lol


Ive seen this build on MFK its something els.

Its under the house he used a JCB to dig it out.

Bloody size of them pacus..:gasp:


----------



## Postcard (Aug 29, 2010)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Animal care always come first so yeah, much better to have a plain tank where the animal is happy and healthy. But, a good looking tank doesn't have to come at the expense of the animal.
> 
> The tanks I'm referring to seem to be stuffed with large fish.
> 
> ...


I think the main difference is the blue background tbh - I'n always a fan of blue - but I do love the 'tastefulness' of the decor. 

Also, I sound absolutely dense but only just realised you were on about a site rather than just big tanks in general! 

Best big tank I've seen would be be a 10' or so tank in cupar garden centre with a massive catfish in it and lots of bogwood, very nice aesthetic balance.


----------



## Blurboy (Feb 9, 2007)

A friend of mine had a fish house and in his largest tank, an 8x3x3 was a huge shoal of Tetra's with Discus and various other Amazonian fish and it looked stunning. He kept some stunning large catfish too in some other big tanks.


----------

