Recommendations to improve my 125 gallon bichir tank

[Ryodraco]

For a few years now I've had a tank with a few medium-sized bichirs (a foot or less, though one newer one may reach a foot and a half eventually), and a now full grown featherfin catfish. I love them but the featherfin almost never leaves the large collection of fake floating plants during the day, and the bichirs, while more visible, are not exactly out and about most of the time (which is their nature of course). Moreover, aside from the bichirs occassional patrols, the half of the tank without the fake plants is pretty much always empty.

So in short I would like suggestions/advice for some mid or upper level swimmers to add to the tank, something that I could be pretty guaranteed to see much of the day.

I've looked at topics like http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/threads/im-new-i-have-questions-too.66974/ and seen a lot of suggestions but I hope to narrow them down further and looking into each one is a bit overwhelming, plus many of them I've looked into are turning out to be bottom dwellers. Not to mention matching my water parameters.

Some possibilities I've considered are bala sharks or Denison's barbs. However, I fear a group of bala sharks may be too large and active to be comfortable in 125 gallons. Denison's barbs are beautiful, if expensive, and of a more fitting size. However, I think my water stays too warm (in summer my room temperature often stays around 79 degrees even with the air conditioning (admittedly I don't run it as hard as I could). Further, the amount of water movement they like may be more than I can provide with my duo of power filters (and too much water movement may bother the bichirs).

My tank size/decor and water parameters are as follows:

Substrate: Red, sand-like
Size: 125 gallons, 22"L x 72.5"W x 23.375"H
Décor: A bunch of floating fake plants covering much of one upper half of the tank, various fake wood hides made for fish or aquatic turtles.
Water: PH: 7.5, KH: 80, GH: 120
Temperature: Around 80 degrees Fahrenheit
Filters: Two Fluval 110 power filters

Many thanks for any advice.

 

[Rbishop]

Can you get us a full tank shot to help with ideas?

 

[Tifftastic]

I'm not sure what kind of Polys you have, but with my Senegal the Denison's barbs would have become snacks. If your guys are over a foot, I'd say they likely would do the same. . . Knowing how pricey those guys can be, I wouldn't want to try it if I were you.

In a 125 gallon you could do a group of Pictus (Pimelodus pictus) as they stay under 5 inches, but are very active and their spines should deter the Polys from trying to make a meal of them. Silver dollars are also usually good matches with Polys as they have a lot of height to avoid being a snack.

Post #25 in this link has the most complete list of suggested tank mates I have ever seen. She even breaks it up by size of Poly and species groups of dithers.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...s-an-introduction-and-primer-3-0.65770/page-3

 

[Ryodraco]

Pictus would certainly be active, but given how they tend to hunt for food on the bottom of the tank I'd worry they would be so active they would bother the bichirs and also eat all their food. Hence ones that tend to stay higher in the water (and perhaps not hunt by smell) would be better.

The bichir species currently in there are a adult Delhezi (about eleven inches), a subadult albino Senegal, and a young Endlicheri (captive bred so it won't likely exceed sixteen inches according to my research, compared to wild caught ones which may reach two feet). I had a group of ropefish but they have passed away over the years so now only one is left.

That list is certainly helpful, its just that so many of the options are bottom dwellers, too big for the tank (I love gars but no species seems small enough for 125 gallons) or are secretive/nocturnal.

I can't seem to find an edit option for my earlier post, so here are some pics of the tank. Sorry if they are too blurry, I'm not good at this.

 

[rufioman]

EDIT: my bad. Forgot the bichir!

 

[rufioman]

Oh, my bad. I didn't see the bichir part (how the heck did I miss that?!).

No roselines....your bichir will eat them, eventually, once the bichir reach adequate size. They are mad ambush hunters and will go after anything they think can fit in their gullets, haha.

 

[Ryodraco]

I'm increasingly thinking a school of five or six silver dollars might fit best. They get big enough while still being a good size for my tank, are active, stay higher in the water and won't likely be too interested in the bichir's food (I know they will eat meaty foods but from what I've read they don't go for food on the bottom too much).

Thing is I have no experience with herbivorous fish that don't rely on algae wafers. What is a brand that might be recommended for providing their main diet?

Still open to other suggestions of course.

 

[Tifftastic]

Because of years of being raised in tanks they can do well on a variety of food options. However, I always kept a few different foods on hand and rotated them through when I was taking care of my parent's silver dollars: algae wafers (broke into smallish pieces), hikari seaweed extreme pellets, a spirulina flake (can't remember the brand anymore), and a basic tropical pellet (I think it was NLS brand). I mixed them all together into one jar and was able to convince my parents to feed them that over goldfish food (jeesh). I also gave spirulina brine shrimp and shelled peas once a week. This is also how I took care of the ones in the store that I worked at as well, broke all sorts of policies doing it, but I kept some of the best lookin' fish in a PS ever.