What to do with my 150g

[Warhawk]

So want to ask here for some feed back on what to do next with my 150g tank. 

Quick back story the tank has been setup for 6+ years with Lace catfish and big Texas cichlid. The Texas has passed and the LFS is interested in the lace catfish so think it is time to revamp the setup into some thing different. 

• Idea #1 
• Break down the tank give it a full clean change the gravel to sand drop in some large drift wood and pick up two Oscars 2"-3" long and let them live there for the next 10+ years. Even with regular water changes and vacuuming the gravel there is still a lot of fish poo still in the bottom of that tank. So if I do Oscars I will want to strip it all out and start off fresh (keeping the cycled filters)
• Idea #2
• That gravel could be a gold mine for plants at this point. I could drop in some 2-3 Amazon swords and some Dwarf sagittaria along the front of the tank in the gravel. They should grow like mad for a long time. I will have to add root tabs at some point but that wouldn't be too hard to maintain.  With live plants I can't do the oscars so thinking moving my Lyretail yellow mollies and maybe add some swordtails. That is a huge tank for livebearers but seeing 75-100 of these guys swimming around all the live plants would be awesome.

 

So what do you think Oscars or Mollies with plants?

 

[Nick L]

I mean I'm a planted tank guy. So id say that. I think it looks really cool and I also think it will be alot less work overall. You should be able to throw tetras and stuff like that in with the live bearers too. Thats a big tank and could support alot of fish but if you are a big fish person then by all means. As long as you are happy with it thats all that matters at the end of the day

[FrozenFins]

Those are two great options. Heres what I'm thinking

-The Livebearer tank is a great idea. The mollies, swordtails, add guppies, tetras, danios, and clown loaches (it is  a 150 gal so you could put like maybe 17 clown loaches for a few years. And then you will have to upgrade them or give them away because they will get too big. But they can be super active.) This tank would have lots of action and it would look great.

[Will Billy]

I personally am a nano fish guy. I love my little pretties, but when it comes to big fish, oscars have a big personality. I mean come on, whats not to like about an oscar. Those big sappy googely eyes staring at ya. The way they come up to you like a puppy wether you been gone for 5 minutes, or 5 hours “hey dad where you been. Come notice me. “And dont even get me started on the colors and patterns or this post would never end. Not to mention you can train them to do simple tricks like eating straight out of your hand and even pet them. On the other hand like i stated, i am a nano fish kinda guy (not to be mistaken for nano tank). There is something magical about a large tank teeming with life. Watching schools of harlequin rasboras and neons darting this way and that, snails creeping around and shrimp zipping around spaztastically, while cute cory doras and hill stream loaches scuttle underneath. It’s such a magical realm with a lot of eye candy in every direction you go. Top it off with a single beta as your centerpiece fish and sit back and enjoy a living work of art. Both options are great, and you have a lot of potential either way to have a wonderful experience. Keep us posted on what you do and share pictures for us ( if not me) to live vicariously through your tank redo. Either way you go i am excited for you, and im sure you will have a lot of fun. 

[Warhawk]

I'm leaning toward the live bearer tank, because I have keep oscars in the past and while I enjoy them maybe it is time for something different. 

If I do this I don't want to mix live bearers that will cross breed so no guppy with molly. That was why I was thinking molly and swordtails. With a tank that large I could drop a pair of apistogramma or kribs which would do great too as long as they take over the bottom. 

Thought about corys for the bottom "cleaners" but with the gravel some cherry shrimp would be a good idea. But any of the fish above will eat those unless I can give them a nice head start.

I'm really thinking this is the best idea plus if it all fails I could move all the fish to 20g or 40g tanks where the oscars can't go there once grown.

 

 

[FrozenFins]

1 hour ago, Warhawk said:

I'm leaning toward the live bearer tank, because I have keep oscars in the past and while I enjoy them maybe it is time for something different. 

If I do this I don't want to mix live bearers that will cross breed so no guppy with molly. That was why I was thinking molly and swordtails. With a tank that large I could drop a pair of apistogramma or kribs which would do great too as long as they take over the bottom. 

Thought about corys for the bottom "cleaners" but with the gravel some cherry shrimp would be a good idea. But any of the fish above will eat those unless I can give them a nice head start.

I'm really thinking this is the best idea plus if it all fails I could move all the fish to 20g or 40g tanks where the oscars can't go there once grown.

 

 

The corydoras, the kribensis or the apisto will eat the shrimp. You could do amano shrimp because they are bigger.

Corydoras would look great too.

[Warhawk]

I was thinking if I got enough hiding places and got them fully going they would make it but yeah after thinking about it more I think your right they won't survive more than a few weeks.  So time to rethink that idea.

My tap water is 7.5ph so getting it lower for apistos is possible but could be a lot of work. I know they will do okay at 7.5 but closer to 7.0 would make them happier. 

I will need to check the gravel that is in the tank but as long as it isn't sharp edge rock the corydoras should be fine. If the gravel would work they might be a good idea.

[JettsPapa]

I'm a big cory fan, but based on my limited experience mixing them with mollys I wouldn't recommend it.  The mollys would follow the corys around, and as soon as one of them found food it would get chased away so the molly could eat it.  The mollys had to go.  You may be more fond of them than I was.