84 Gallon Tall Stocking Ideas

[Niz]

I won a full setup in a drawing. Originally it was a 90 gallon but the 90 was too wide for the space I had so I opted for a 36" wide tank. Now looking for stocking options for a very tall 84 gallon tank. I have a planted 90 with a random group of community fish, mainly small. Looking to possibly make this tank primarily larger fish or maybe even move my community to this tank. Any ideas would be appreciated. 

Thanks!

[NOLANANO]

I think it would be hard for this to be a permanent tank for any "large" fish because of its footprint but it would look awesome with a ton of cardinal tetra or something like that in the middle, a bunch of hatchet fish at the top, and a bunch of cories at the bottom.

Pearl Gouramis is another option for mostly top water fish.

Shell dwellers is another option for down low.

What do you have in your community tank? If you want like an Oscar or some african cichlids or something like that then maybe you should make the 84 a community tank and use the 90 for the bigger fish.

 

Edit: I'd like to see close up pics of the 2 tanks in the background because they both look nice.

Edited December 1, 2022 by NOLANANO

[DanPlanted]

Plenty of interesting "community" fish out there. Angelfish and other Dwarf cichlids, or even maybe Discus come to mind. I would probably go with angels myself.

 

As another said, gouramis may work too. Although I would certainly disagree with shelldwellers. They stay down the bottom and are typically kept by themselves, meaning you're wasting the majority of the tank.

Edited December 2, 2022 by DanPlanted
spelling

[lefty o]

agree with the above on angels. they would go great in that tall tank.

[EVoyager31]

This would look incredible with a single species tetra tank. Imagine like… a couple hundred neons or cardinals in there with some green plants.. would look SICK

[nabokovfan87]

Looks like two 40 Breeders stacked on one another. I would look at those type of stocking suggestions for this tank.

My biggest issue is going to be plants and trying to get plants tall enough and a light strong enough to reach the substrate.

What this tank does have is height, which does mean if you find a pretty massive piece of wood, lean it or support it on the tank and then you have a pretty unique scape. This also gives you places to glue plants at better heights for the tank height.

I would opt towards a "logfall" style scape with long pieces of ghost wood leaning from the sides down towards the floor. I would have moss on that wood among other plants and let the community fish swim through and around it.

You could also look into a mangrove style scape, biotope type of setup with blackwater even.

[Niz]

On 12/1/2022 at 4:49 PM, NOLANANO said:

I think it would be hard for this to be a permanent tank for any "large" fish because of its footprint but it would look awesome with a ton of cardinal tetra or something like that in the middle, a bunch of hatchet fish at the top, and a bunch of cories at the bottom.

Pearl Gouramis is another option for mostly top water fish.

Shell dwellers is another option for down low.

What do you have in your community tank? If you want like an Oscar or some african cichlids or something like that then maybe you should make the 84 a community tank and use the 90 for the bigger fish.

 

Edit: I'd like to see close up pics of the 2 tanks in the background because they both look nice.

My 90 currently is heavily planted and a community, I could move these fish over to the new 84 but the 90 is finally to a spot where I am happy with it so the plants etc would stay. Pic and stock list below

- 2 Bristlenose (pair)

- 1 Black Angelfish

- Moonlight Goraumi

- Peacock Gudgeon

- 6 Longfin Danios

- 8 Neon Tetras and 1 Green Fire Tetra 

- 5 Ember Tetras

- 2 Kribs (pair)

- Panda Gara

- 3 Panda Corys & 3 Melini Cory's

- 2 Green Corys

- 2 Celebes Rainbows

- 1 Siamese Algae Eater

 

 

[NOLANANO]

Yeah, I wouldn't touch that 90.  It looks great. 

 

As for the shell dweller debate I think that people don't usually put tankmates with Shellies because they usually put them in a 40 breeder or something like that where there isn't enough space. In a tank that tall, I think you could do shellies down low and then a top water fish and there would be enough room for everyone. I do have to add that my opinion is based on theory and not actual practice so take it with a grain of salt.

[NOLANANO]

New Idea: That tank would a sick puffer tank. like a group of south american puffers with a rocky background with anubias and Buce everywhere.

[DiscusLover]

On 12/1/2022 at 12:28 PM, Niz said:

I won a full setup in a drawing. Originally it was a 90 gallon but the 90 was too wide for the space I had so I opted for a 36" wide tank. Now looking for stocking options for a very tall 84 gallon tank. I have a planted 90 with a random group of community fish, mainly small. Looking to possibly make this tank primarily larger fish or maybe even move my community to this tank. Any ideas would be appreciated. 

Thanks!

I would put a south american mix of angelfish, some bottom dwellers(rams, apistos,corydoras),some tetras would also look great. Im against discus because yes it is a tall tank, but also discus like some swim space, a longer tank, something like a 55 gallon.

Edited December 2, 2022 by DiscusLover

[Niz]

On 12/2/2022 at 2:19 PM, NOLANANO said:

New Idea: That tank would a sick puffer tank. like a group of south american puffers with a rocky background with anubias and Buce everywhere.

I love this idea, my LFS just got some in 😎

[Jurrian Hering]

On 12/2/2022 at 10:30 AM, NOLANANO said:

Yeah, I wouldn't touch that 90.  It looks great. 

 

As for the shell dweller debate I think that people don't usually put tankmates with Shellies because they usually put them in a 40 breeder or something like that where there isn't enough space. In a tank that tall, I think you could do shellies down low and then a top water fish and there would be enough room for everyone. I do have to add that my opinion is based on theory and not actual practice so take it with a grain of salt.

Could do Shellies down below with a big school of Cyprichromis Leptosoma in the top half. Both are tanganyika fish that imo go great together in a big tank!

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

Fill it with branches and have a big school of green neon tetras. Get some apistos to hang out near the bottom. Add leaf litter and have a big pothos with its roots in there.

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

If you really want big fish than switching your community tank to the 84g is the best bet, although I agree with @NOLANANO that I wouldn’t touch the 90 because it looks great and if your happy with it now you’ll probably be disappointed if you switch things over. Plus a lot of the common larger fish species are going to destroy those plants.

The tank may work long term for a “wet pet” tank where you just have one fish in it.

Other than that my first thoughts are Angels like a lot of people have said, they like height in their tanks and would use up that space well. Through I’m some bottom dwellers like rams and a schooling fish and you have an attractive set up, albeit a little similar to your 90. Some Amazon swords and val will also fill that space nicely. Headstanders may be cool, I’ve never kept them and don’t know much about them, but I’m wondering if the height may bring out their “head standing” behavior more.

Personally my first thought is a paladarium set up, the dimensions of that tank would work really well for something like this, but that depends on the work you want to put into it and if your even interested in anything above water.

[Niz]

On 12/3/2022 at 5:48 PM, Jurrian Hering said:

Could do Shellies down below with a big school of Cyprichromis Leptosoma in the top half. Both are tanganyika fish that imo go great together in a big tank!

My neighbor gave me about 100+lbs of holey rock. I have been researching Lake Tanganyika for the past few days and heality leaning toward a Lake Tanganyika community tank. Shellies on the bottom, build up rock piles on each side of the tank for Julidochromis for one side, Chalinochromis for the other, 1-2 Xenotilapia Ochrogenys or Enantiopus for the bottom and either Cyprichromis, Neolamprologus  or Cyathopharynx for free swimmers at the top. 

Sandy bottom with shells, rock formations up both sides, Jungle val growing up the middle as a divider of the rocks. 3-4" of sand, rocks are about 21" tall so that would put the top of the rocks about 24" off the bottom at the peak and leave 6" from the top of the tank for free swimmers. 

[NOLANANO]

MD fish tanks did a tanganyika tank a year or two ago with pretty much that same mix of fish.  His tank was larger(I think) but you could use that to get some ideas. In a later video he talks about what worked and what didn’t for that tank. 

[Jurrian Hering]

On 12/7/2022 at 5:25 AM, Niz said:

My neighbor gave me about 100+lbs of holey rock. I have been researching Lake Tanganyika for the past few days and heality leaning toward a Lake Tanganyika community tank. Shellies on the bottom, build up rock piles on each side of the tank for Julidochromis for one side, Chalinochromis for the other, 1-2 Xenotilapia Ochrogenys or Enantiopus for the bottom and either Cyprichromis, Neolamprologus  or Cyathopharynx for free swimmers at the top. 

Sandy bottom with shells, rock formations up both sides, Jungle val growing up the middle as a divider of the rocks. 3-4" of sand, rocks are about 21" tall so that would put the top of the rocks about 24" off the bottom at the peak and leave 6" from the top of the tank for free swimmers. 

That sounds like a dream tank for me personally! The val is a good idea to break the tank up the only thing is it will be difficult to get it to really take root in the sand with the shellies digging. could maybe plant the val in its pot and give it a while to get established before adding the shellies to give yourself the best chance at it staying put. I would personally instead of val (similar to the MD video i linked below) add a bunch of anubius, large swords, and or some java fern instead. However, there are a million ways to do it and if you do val (or even if you dont) make sure to keep this thread updated with the progress I'd love to see it!

On 12/7/2022 at 7:31 AM, NOLANANO said:

MD fish tanks did a tanganyika tank a year or two ago with pretty much that same mix of fish.  His tank was larger(I think) but you could use that to get some ideas. In a later video he talks about what worked and what didn’t for that tank. 

 

[NOLANANO]

I didn't realize he did another one at Matt's shop. This one looks better executed than his first try.

[Niz]

On 12/7/2022 at 3:35 PM, Jurrian Hering said:

That sounds like a dream tank for me personally! The val is a good idea to break the tank up the only thing is it will be difficult to get it to really take root in the sand with the shellies digging. could maybe plant the val in its pot and give it a while to get established before adding the shellies to give yourself the best chance at it staying put. I would personally instead of val (similar to the MD video i linked below) add a bunch of anubius, large swords, and or some java fern instead. However, there are a million ways to do it and if you do val (or even if you dont) make sure to keep this thread updated with the progress I'd love to see it!

 

I have two large swords in my 90, I could pull one of those out and replant another smaller one in the 90. I am not set on Val, just thought with a 30" tall tank the Val would be able to grow to the top. Also thought of the shellies digging it which is why the hard scape I have the piece from the left side sticking out. Plan is to try to plant it behind that and hopefully it will stay in place. My LFS is really excited about this too, they said they would keep an eye out for the fish I am looking for and could bring some in early as well. Will definitely keep you updated. Plan is to get the hard scape done by Christmas and set the tank up at the end of January. I am traveling for work on and off for the first three weeks of Jan so I don't want to be gone and have any issues. Earlier this week I put the the biomedia for the FX4 sitting in bags in the bottom of my 90 to get the bacteria jump started plus some in the filters. If all goes well I will be instant cycled and with everything going mid Feb. 

[Jurrian Hering]

On 12/7/2022 at 8:30 PM, Niz said:

I have two large swords in my 90, I could pull one of those out and replant another smaller one in the 90. I am not set on Val, just thought with a 30" tall tank the Val would be able to grow to the top. Also thought of the shellies digging it which is why the hard scape I have the piece from the left side sticking out. Plan is to try to plant it behind that and hopefully it will stay in place. My LFS is really excited about this too, they said they would keep an eye out for the fish I am looking for and could bring some in early as well. Will definitely keep you updated. Plan is to get the hard scape done by Christmas and set the tank up at the end of January. I am traveling for work on and off for the first three weeks of Jan so I don't want to be gone and have any issues. Earlier this week I put the the biomedia for the FX4 sitting in bags in the bottom of my 90 to get the bacteria jump started plus some in the filters. If all goes well I will be instant cycled and with everything going mid Feb. 

Sounds awesome! looking forward to seeing updates.

[Niz]

Went with the Tanganyika community. Pics below!  Fish are hiding a bit but are starting to finally come out. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Nice! Can’t wait to watch this mature!

What did you stock it with? I’ve never played with African Cichlids as my water is the exact opposite of what they want, lol. Looks like maybe Frontosa? I assume some kind of Shellies with the escargot shells? Some kind of jewel cichlid in that last pic? Sorry, total newb to the African Cichlid game. 

Edited December 24, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[Patrick_G]

Beautiful tank! Have you considered some Cyprichromis for the upper parts of the tank? 

[Niz]

On 12/24/2022 at 12:10 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Nice! Can’t wait to watch this mature!

What did you stock it with? I’ve never played with African Cichlids as my water is the exact opposite of what they want, lol. Looks like maybe Frontosa? I assume some kind of Shellies with the escargot shells? Some kind of jewel cichlid in that last pic? Sorry, total newb to the African Cichlid game. 

Neolamprologus Brevis x3, Julidochromis Dickfeldi x2 (think one is a Regini), Frontosa, Pearl Clavus, and Random Leptosoma that has ZERO color. My LFS gave him to me. He has been in the tank since may and shown no color so far. 

 

On 12/24/2022 at 1:14 AM, Patrick_G said:

Beautiful tank! Have you considered some Cyprichromis for the upper parts of the tank? 

Yes, I plan to add more in later. My LFS gave me one with ZERO color (mentioned above) Want to let the bottom and rock dwellers get established to hopefully push the Cyp's to the top of the tank. 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Niz