10 replies to this topic

[norby678]

First off, I'd like to say I'm a novice, so please feel free to educate me if I'm totally off base on things. I've found the information on this forum to be incredibly helpful and hope to get some of your collective expertise directed my way.

I'm planning to build a 300+ gallon aquarium in January to house a mirror carp a friend gave me out of a pond he was filling in. The carp is currently about 9 inches long and is getting pretty cramped in his 55 gallon home.

I've read that carp do best when housed with other carp so I'm looking for a source for more.

The tank I'm building will be 7 ft long by 3 ft tall by 22 inches wide. I'd like to make it wider, but don't have the space in my bedroom.

I really want to make the large tank into a multi species community with several native species. Yeah, i know carp aren't native, but I'd like their tank-mates to be. I'm interested in bullhead catfish in particular. I love the way they look and that they stay a manageable size. I've also read that they can be personable like carp I'm also interested in redhorse suckers & buffalo fish.

I want to use a soil and gravel or sand substrate and add live plants. I know the carp and Catfish will dig them up & possibly eat them but don't mind replanting them often. I also don't mind if the fish disturb the substrate and cloud up the water sometimes. I'm hoping to give them as close to a natural habitat as i can in the space available and to encourage them to persue their natural behaviors as much as possible.

If a tank with the mentioned dimensions is totally unsuited to housing my carp & some native buddies please let me know. If it would be particularly good at something else please say so! I want him to be happy and for the task to excel at whatever i do with it! If i have to build a different one in the basement for the carp i will!

After moving the carp over to the new tank I'm thinking of breeding fathead minnows & possibly fresh water shrimp of some kind in the 55 gallon to serve as live feed. I also find fatheads and shrimp interesting in their own right.

I'm fascinated by the idea of setting up a system with plants, invertebrates, aquatic insects & fish that can be mostly self sustaining. I'd love to see fish & inverts foraging for food rather than waiting around for me all day. Short of a pond, i don't think i could make something self sustaining for big fish like carp and Catfish, but I'd love to learn about possibly building something like this for small fish like minnows or something.

I don't expect you guys to spoon feed me the info, just point me toward it!





Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

[loopsnj64]

I really want to make the large tank into a multi species community with several native species. Yeah, i know carp aren't native, but I'd like their tank-mates to be. I'm interested in bullhead catfish in particular. I love the way they look and that they stay a manageable size. I've also read that they can be personable like carp I'm also interested in redhorse suckers & buffalo fish.
 

 

Yeah Suckers and Bullhead would work, just use your 55 gallon as a "growout tank" for them so that when they are big enough, they can be put with the carp. also catch those species as juveniles. Bowfin Might work, but i have doubts. Golden shiners would definitely work if they are big enough.

 

 

I'm fascinated by the idea of setting up a system with plants, invertebrates, aquatic insects & fish that can be mostly self sustaining. I'd love to see fish & inverts foraging for food rather than waiting around for me all day. Short of a pond, i don't think i could make something self sustaining for big fish like carp and Catfish, but I'd love to learn about possibly building something like this for small fish like minnows or something.
 

 

Don't expect that to work with carp being present, that kind of thing is easier to manage with a smaller tank and fewer fish. Try that with your 55 gallon.

[Evan P]

I strongly admire your desire to create a self sustaining tank, but it is very difficult, and totally impossible with a carp. If I were you, I'd call it a loss with the carp and start over with some minnows. A 300 gallon with some Starhead Topminnows, Least Killies, a slack water darter of some kind, like Iowa, Mud, or Brown Darters, and a Pteronotropis species in low stocking densities could make for a beautiful, somewhat self sustaining ecosystem, especially if it were paired with a large sump/refugium. Also, I would make your tank shorter. Dropping it down to 24" in height would greatly decrease the pressure of the seams and overall cost without having any impact on usable area for the fish, as few fish will really use all of that vertical space.

[NotCousteau]

Great planning and research on your part coming here and thinking things through. I think a carp would severely limit what you could do with that tank, and would not make for a great display. Yeahson421 has some great suggestions. I think a big tank like that would look really great as a native community tank with plants, darters, minnows, etc. If you wanted a community of bigger fish, sunfish would be a good option.

 

Good luck.

[norby678]

Thanks guys!

After more research and looking into info from here, I decided that what the carp needs is a pond where he can reach full size and have a decent possibility of reaching his full life span. So I'm now looking into building an Indoor 3000+ gallon pond in my basement for him & other compatible non natives.

However my keen interest in our native species is still strong, so I'm thinking about using his 55 gallon for a small native tank once he's moved out. I really like Catfish, but to me it seems bullheads would be miserable in 55 gallons of water. Perhaps a madtom or two with something they can get along with but not eat?

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

[Matt DeLaVega]

I would continue to look at bullheads.

[Evan P]

For a 55 gallon, madtoms would probably be a good choice. If you want to be able to keep some other minnows, shiners, and darters, Ozark, Brindled, Elegant, and Mountain Madtoms all seem to be pretty good tank mates. Otherwise, a tank with some large shiners and minnows, maybe Crescent or Striped Shiners, a Cyprinella species, Bluehead Chubs, something along those lines could probably do pretty well with a Stonecat or one of the other larger Madtoms.

[Matt DeLaVega]

So two different posts, Which is the plan? Aquaponics or big fish tank? What are you doing?

[strat guy]

I read your other post before this one...

 

If your tank is only 22" wide, I would suggest finding a different home for the carp. Carp are swimmers, and that's not really enough room for them to turn around and circle all day. If you were planning on doing a completely empty tank, no gravel or ornaments, then maybe it would work.

[loopsnj64]

Thanks guys!

After more research and looking into info from here, I decided that what the carp needs is a pond where he can reach full size and have a decent possibility of reaching his full life span. So I'm now looking into building an Indoor 3000+ gallon pond in my basement for him & other compatible non natives.

However my keen interest in our native species is still strong, so I'm thinking about using his 55 gallon for a small native tank once he's moved out. I really like Catfish, but to me it seems bullheads would be miserable in 55 gallons of water. Perhaps a madtom or two with something they can get along with but not eat?

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

 

Oh yes madtoms are great with decent sized fish (suckers, shiners or really anything larger then their mouths) if they are adjusted to eating flake food, their chance of eating fish decreases.

[Fisher88]

Update