# Masters Monster Madness



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

First off i have to say that im new here and i absolutely love this site.

I recently purchased a 225 gallon tank plus the stand, canopy, 2 rena xp3 canister filters, and an eheim jager 300 watt heater as a package deal from petland on fraser highway in langley. Mike from petland has been great! Even gave me a free delivery once i had paid the tank off completely!









Isn't she gorgeous? But i digress, this post is about my new aquarium. There it is, still in petland langley right before mike delivered it to me for free.









Finally at home!









It took an hour and a half to fill this sucker up!

After i filled it up completely i cleaned out the fluval 306 in the new tank to seed the new filters and then left it overnight.


----------



## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Great tank! Though I see that back wall does have more space available... 

Good luck with the new setup. Always the most exciting part of the process for me.


----------



## Immus21 (Jun 14, 2010)

Please tell me you're going to put about 20 Discus in this tank?!?! Lol Beautiful setup! I've been dreaming of one just like it for years now... What are you planning on stocking it with?


----------



## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Nice tank! I'm definitely curious what you're going to stock it with.. My vote goes to African Cichlids lol


----------



## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

I looked at that tank before it was sold and damn near bought it...although I was more interested in the stand than the tank cause I already have a 230 to use. I say you should stock it with 1000 rummynose tetras and put it together like the one in this link called Reciprocity...really nice looking tank!
Aquatic Hardscape, New Aquascaping Videos, Products & more!


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

The next morning i put clarence the clarias in the tank. 







Hes a 2 foot long male clarias batrachus "walking catfish" whom i promptly renamed carlos. Thanks to johnnybravo for the wonderful fish!







The next day i put in a wonderful piece of driftwood from "skinny" thank you i love it! Plus my 1 year old clarias female ive named ms. Piggy.

The day after that i added a 3' led light with a lunar setting, my 6" endlechiri bicher, a convict cichlid pair, and a jewel cichlid pair. 








A couple days after that i bought another piece of driftwood from "adz1" thank you! I love it.


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Immus21 said:


> Please tell me you're going to put about 20 Discus in this tank?!?! Lol Beautiful setup! I've been dreaming of one just like it for years now... What are you planning on stocking it with?


Thanks! Haha, no discus. They are beautiful fish though.

My current stock list is -
2 walking catfish
4 convict cichlids
1 rainbow shark
10 jewel cichlids
3 Raphael catfish
2 common sail fin Plecos
1 endlechiri Bichir
1 Senegal Bichir
2 black tiger Oscar cichlids (Thanks "Jinsen")
1 tire track eel

I have one clown knife fish and one black ghost knife I'm planning on putting in the tank as soon as they grow a little more.


----------



## fishobsessed (Jan 1, 2013)

I walked past that tank so many times and imagines what I'd put in it. Thanks for sharing the pictures.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Looks great. Should consider putting a background on such a beautiful setup though.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Looking good, keep us updated as it progresses


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Looks great. Should consider putting a background on such a beautiful setup though.


Ive commissioned my girlfriend to paint a canvas the size of the tank that im going to hang behind it. Ive decided on this because its easy to paint over should i change my mind, and not permanent on the glass.


----------



## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

I have a roll of 32" high tropical lake background scenery if you want to go that route. Originally planned to use it on my tank but painted it black instead! I will let you have it for the low low price of $8.00.


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Clownloachlover said:


> I have a roll of 32" high tropical lake background scenery if you want to go that route. Originally planned to use it on my tank but painted it black instead! I will let you have it for the low low price of $8.00.


How long is it? My ank is 6' long, 2' deep, and 3' high.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I like the painted canvas in the back idea. But a nice piece of plain colour aquarium background would be nice too.


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Carlos the 2' clarias catfish decided he has a better decorating eye than i do so he changed the setup slightly.


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Whenever the clarias' surface for air, they do about a 30 second dance before settling on a cuddle spot. 
Is anyone familiar with the breeding habits of the clarias batrachus? I know my female is only just too young, but they seem to have paired up.


----------



## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

nice tank it could use my arow though


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

dino said:


> nice tank it could use my arow though


Are you selling one? What kind? How big? Pictures?


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Master wilkins said:


> Are you selling one? What kind? How big? Pictures?


http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/fres...y-entire-collection-my-230-video-added-35384/


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

2wheelsx2 that arrow is gorgeous, but im more looking for one that can grow with my other fish


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

That's dino's fish you were asking about.


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Oh... Haha! Ok, nevermind. Gorgeous fish though. Would totally want it if i had a tank full of adults


----------



## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

my vote fill it with morey eels and cat sharks


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

scott tang said:


> my vote fill it with morey eels and cat sharks


Haha! I have another tank with a gymnothorax tile, dragon goby, and both types of monos. Love my moray, but since i moved to my new house in the beginning of february i havent seen him eat. Any advice would be helpful


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

I tried adding my 7" clown knife in last night to see what would happen... Apparently the other fish dont like him so much... So hes back in the 55 gallon with my black ghost knife. Ive decided to make that tank a knife fish tank until they outgrow it. Lots of plants and driftwood. I might be adding another tank to this journal.


----------



## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

Did I read that right,the 225 is going salty?


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

dabandit1 said:


> Did I read that right,the 225 is going salty?


No, maybe in the future some time, but for now all I have is a 30 gallon brackish


----------



## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

Master wilkins said:


> No, maybe in the future some time, but for now all I have is a 30 gallon brackish


 I was hoping I could live vicariously through you lol


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

UPDATE!!!

My oldest pair of jewel cichlids have bred! And it looks like there are around 500 fertilized eggs! 







Heres the male guarding the entrance to their "cave", the female you can see inside fanning the eggs attached to one of the flat rocks in there


----------



## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Great looking tank. Fish must be loving the space though the size of the fish makes the tank already looks small. 

Thanks for posting up pictures. Always enjoy looking of other pictures of tank setups.

Sent from my mobile phone


----------



## kim86 (Sep 5, 2012)

Nice to see the WCF in your tank, lots more space than the tank you had it in, in our store


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Immediately after the cichlids bred I realized that I didn't want them in my tank. I got rid of ALL the cichlids (except for the oscars of course) and replaced them with my Clown knife, Black Ghost knife, and Farlowella pleco. All these pictures are from a month ago.





























It's been about a month since I made the change in the tank mates and I as well as the fish absolutely love the change. Those Jewel Cichlids were bullies. The Oscars have grown (as Oscars do), I also put in two Zebra Nerite snails and two Gold Apple snails. I will post some pictures of the current setup soon


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

kim86 said:


> Nice to see the WCF in your tank, lots more space than the tank you had it in, in our store


Totally! Thanks again for letting me keep it there until I got the tank setup. You guys at Petland Poco helped me out so much by doing that.


----------



## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

one thing about the farlowella, it might post a problem in your tank. Your walking catfish might eat it. Your Oscar might try to eat it. Your bichirs might try to bite it. It is not a good environment in there for it. It might not look small enough to be eaten, but it is long and skinny. Other fish might want to swallow and got too long of a fish and choke and it might cause both fish to die... It might happen.


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Yeah I know its a possibility, but so far nobody even gives it a second glance. But if I start to see some aggression it will give me the perfect opportunity to convince my better half that another tank is a superb idea!


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)




----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Well I have some unfortunate news... I went away on vacation for a little bit and entrusted the care of my tank to my girlfriend... I came back to everything dead except for the Lungfish, one Oscar, and both plecos...

A heartbreaking return...

So recently I've been deciding on what to do with it now. The Clown knife was my favorite fish, and have decided to get another one, but the ones at IPU in burnaby unfortunately don't look too healthy and they're too big if I'm going to restock the tank with juvies to grow out.

I got rid of the remaining oscar, kept the plecos, and moved the Lungfish to it's own tank in another room.

I then talked to my buddy Kurtis about ordering in some new fish and decided upon a Silver Arowana, a Lima Shovelnose Catfish, a Fire Eel, a Bichir Delhezi, and of course a Clown Knife fish. All of them were on his order list on thursday except the Clown Knife fish and came promptly the next day (yesterday). They're so small in my big tank!!! It's like trying to find Waldo looking for them! All of them are 3-4" long and eating like champs already!

I feel like I need another type of large catfish, I loved my Clarias catfish, but they're super hard to find. Any suggestions on what I can get? Something that I can get small to grow up with the rest.

I'll post some pictures soon.


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Here they are! Not even out of their bags yet, aren't they cute?


----------



## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Awesome

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Niger cat?


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

charles said:


> Niger cat?


Hey now thats a good idea! Though I heard today from a friend that Lima Shovelnose catfish socialize quite well together in groups. Maybe I should get one more to have a pair, or should I get more than that if I'm going that route?


----------



## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

Any other large catfish fans out there? What can I put in there? 

So far my options are multiple Lima Shovelnose cats, or a Niger cat.


----------

