Photo: Goldfishes are the mascot of Ornamental Fishes.

So you have decided you want a freshwater monster fish tank. You wanted something that is beyond the ascetic purposes of Ornamental Fishes yet pack with something more aggressive, more wild. 

This is one of the reasons why i chosen the above photo of an Asian Arowana to represent this page. Asian Arowana (thou declining in the wild, now are heavily farm bred their genetic makeup are preserved to still represents their ancestors that dated back prehistorically) is one of the most sought after monster fish in any monster fish tank. These fishes are highly prestigious in most cultures and in their own right. Their behavior (or any Asian Arowana keepers can tell you) shows they know they are the boss. They prefer food that is live and would not eat most food that has dropped to the tank bottom or chewed on by other tank mates or even unfresh! They patrol the top part of the tank and are highly interactive with their owners (Click: See the dragon dance).

Tank Size

Monster fish are monster fish. It means they get big. Some, real big. Now i will come from a general view that most monster fish to reach a good 2 feet long. I am not an advocate for textbook information (Click: About Me). I do not believe in criticizing a fellow fishkeeper's fish tank size. I would rather advise him or her on their filtration system than their fish tank size. This is because most textbook information likes comparing fishes' size in captivity to size in the wild. The fact is we are keeping them in captivity and not in the wild. Akin to the idea of comparing apples to oranges. Who wouldn't want a huge tank? But many of us are limited by our circumstances or even our cultures, geographical limitations. I will end my take on tank sizes with this, tank sizes is like the analogy of having kids. Poor or rich people have kids. The poor might not have the big house for his kids like the rich people do. But they make up for it by giving them good upbringing (water quality). I know many people whose into eugenics might have different say but (on my defense), does this so means poor people shouldn't have children?

Ok, tank size. The bare minimum for monster fishes is that the width of your tank must be at least the same size to the fish you are planning to keep in it's adult size. This is so they would be able to turn in the tank. A rough gauge would be the bare minimum for monster fish tank is a good 4x2x2 fish tank. That is 4 feet in length, 2 feet in width and 2 feet in height. That is around 120 gallons or 450 litres of water. 

Extra tips: Many people overlook this part of fish keeping, especially important for someone having a large tank (bigger than a 3 footer tank). It is making sure you have a good cushion underneath your tank. Styrofoams are usually used or insulation sponge could be used too. The reason is with that amount of weight the tank holds, your tank could easily crack! No tables or tanks are made perfectly even. You have to factor in temperature changes which results in warps which will even make uneven your tables or stand. This could put extra unnecessary weight on parts of your tank risking the integrity of your tank. I have a friend whose 2 feet tank (comparably small compared to monster fish tanks) cracked when his wooded table warped that resulted in a swimming pool with a live lung fish wobbling around. So please, have a good cushion under your tank at all cost. This is for sure one of the most important issue in tank safety.

Tank Decoration

Filtration

Filtration is the heart of every working Aquarium. Period! There is a saying in Chinese, "take care of your water and your water will take care of your fish". This is the golden words passed down from hobbyist after hobbyist from experience. I totally agree with this but i will take it another step forward to say, filtration is what takes care of your water.

The purpose of filtration some people prefers doing water changes very often or they have free ground water. It is perfectly fine to run on minimal or none filtration if a fishkeeper do very frequent water changes. This is what we call the old school way of fishkeeping. The purpose of filtration is to provide a healthy environment for your fish and reduce the number of human intervention. To even reduce the time needed for our maintenance. Any long time fishkeeper can tell you when the passion fades or when something more important in life comes along, maintenance of aquarium could become a chore rather than an enjoyable chance to bond with your wet pets. So, an efficient and well set-up filtration is a key to letting your tank run by itself while at times your passion fades. You do not need to tear the whole thing down when your fish starts bellying up from your lack of attention from time to time. Your fish will simply still be around when your passion is reignited. This is so important so that we can preserver in our hobby and fishes that gets released back into the wild or flushed down the toilet when we get busy.

*a well set-up filtration will literally run by itself creating a healthy environment for your fishes with minimal human intervention*

So what kind of filtration will i need?

Among the many types of filtration available (Click: Types of Aquarium Filters) only two types suffice.

The Overhead Filters or Sumps this two kind of filters are the only filters that you are able to loads lots of filter medias (Click: Filter Medias). Along side filter medias, these are the only filters you are able to improve on your mechanical filtration or even chemical filtration that these monsters need. Many of the these monsters produce poos that are larger that other Ornamental Fish such as Neon Tetras. You will need room to pack medias/material and high flow rate to clean up their biological wastes.


Click Here for detailed explanation of both types of filtration and their setting up.

Flowrate refers to the strength of your filtration (or water pump) that is able to run water over per hour. My personal experience dictates that at least 6 times of your tank water should be the minimum for monster tanks. I myself likes to go for 10 times if my equipment choice factoring in budget and size could allows me to. This means for example, if your tank is like mine, a 4x2x2 size tank equaling to 450 litres of water, a water pump of at least 2700 L/H is needed. Looking at my setup on the picture above you can see i am using a TOM 800 water pump which is pushing 3000-3500 L/H which is more than 6 times for my tank per hour.

The reason wise is with a higher flowrate, your water gets run through the system more and it gets cleaned up faster. There were some debates among hobbyist on whether lower flow rate bettered biological filtration while higher flow rate bettered mechanical filter. However the amount of water might pass through your filtration system faster but it still gets run through again having more contact with your medias. So i guess it balances out.

Another thing you have to take note is whether the type of fish you are planning to keep or are already keeping prefers fast circulated water. Some species (like what i'm keeping, Mahseers) like fast flowing water. Thus a high flow rate and occasional wave from the wave maker keeps them happy. While some species (like the Red Tail Catfish) would hide under my wave maker to escape from the high water flow circulated around my tank.

Cycling Your Tank

Feeding

Photo: Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!