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alright im getting a 90 gallon for free woot! im gonna do something this time and not get oscars for once. i want to have a tank somewhere between community and semi-aggressive. i defenatly want to get severums and a clown loach or 2 so ill add around that. i want to stay away from silver dollars, bala sharks, tinfoils and other fish that are scarred easily or hide a lot. i have no preference to what kinda fish are added like that i just want a nice active tank and something differnt.

ofl recommended a leporinus for my o tank and i took his advice and it has become my favorite fish. i have a banded and i think theres another variation of one come to think about it. if anyone has any ideas id greatly appreciate it. im willing to experiment. i got 3 other tanks and my friend has a bunch of tanks if i cant house them. his 400 gallon is mostly filled with all my old fish that started to outgrow my 125.

don't forget that Severums and clown Loach can both reached 12 inches in size. So 90 gallons is not going to go very far. Severums aren't quite as fast-growing as Oscars, and clown Loach are even slower. I should go for one or the other, community or semi-aggressive, if you start putting small community fish in with semi-aggressive fish, you'll probably find they will get eaten. it's really difficult to advise someone what to get because there's so much available.

I absolutely adore clown Loach. I have got four of them , and would certainly like a tank dedicated to them,that's what I would do in your position.do some research on where they come from and try and emulate some rivers in Asia. A little bit of rock, some nice substrate and a few plants, that would make for a stunning tank. and if you have three or four Crown Loach, they will always be on the move,rather than hiding away.

they are extremely slow growing fish. probably no more than an inch a year in their first two or three years. So it's not as if you're going to have massive fish within a year

yeah, not many fish grow as fast as os i know clown loaches grow extremely, extremely slow and ive never kept severums so i don't know how fast they grow.

the idea of having a small school of clowns sounds awesome. since they are bottom feeders id probably fill out the top with community fish.

when i said a tank between community and semi aggressive i didnt mean mixing the two. i want a community-like fish tank with semi agressive fish. the good thing about clowns is you can put anything really with them accept for very agressive fish, especially if they are schooling.

the lfs has clowns about 3.5'' for a very decent price. i really like that idea so im going to be looking around like crazy. i still am leaning towards the severums, i've never had them but they look interesting.

i should have the tank within the week. gotta buy everything accept the filters and cycle it so i have some time to think.

now lets say i do get clowns and 2 severums. when the severums start to outgrow the tank, ill move them out and start over. the clowns will be ok in their for awhile. by the time they start to outgrow their tank id either house them in my 125, give them away, or maybe ill have a bigger tank of my own.

any other ideas?

I always try and advise people to buy fish that they intend on keeping for the lifespan of the fish. What makes me so sad is when I go into the local aquatic centres and see all the Oscars looking like they want someone to take them home. People have obviously bought them not knowing how big they get so they end up in the fish pound. I would say to people "would they buy a dog with the intention of getting rid of it in two or three years time" of course not, most people keep the dog for its whole life, but then again, they know what sort of dog it is.

If I was you, get some fish that you are going to keep for many years. I don't know how old you are but clown loaches can live to a ripe old age,30 years, some people think 50 years or more.

why not just get yourself a couple of Severums. Even though they are quite big, I don't think they are quite built the same way as Oscars, they tend to be a little bit thinner. They are lovely fish, especially if you've got a breeding pair. They are very much like Oscars to be quite honest.

whats the minimum size tank for a pair of severums or 1 severum??

my friend pretty much has a fish store in his basement so i know they would be taken care of where they are going and id also get to visit them. id never give a fish of mine to a lfs.

i have a pair of jack dempseys that im expecting to see eggs very soon with. was also thinking of housing the fry in the new tank. it would be cool to have many small fish in a tank . id never be able to keep all of them no matter what, especally if i get a nice batch...or more...who knows how many waves of babies i'll have. the male is 6 years old and bigger the the max size of a jd most people would say. im not sure of their lifespan but i wouldnt doubt if he's nearing his end even though hes in wonderfull condition.

btw, id say a 90 gallon is the minimum for severums depending on how big they got and how fast, i probably wouldn't keep them there permenatly. and remember its not in your best interest to shoot for the minimum your fish would be noticeably happier in a tank thats bigger then needed to just survive. big fish like big tanks. plecos, if ur planning on getting a bigger tank id recommend convicts to u. u can easily house 4 convicts in a 55 gallon tank. they are extremely easy to breed and fun to watch. not to mention they are found in every pet store and inexpensive. they grown pretty slow and dont get that big