Size question..

[Scott Davis]

I have been planning on using 4 tanks that are apx 250 gallons each for the fish, but I have come across a tank that is 1500 gallon and if I cut a nice opening in the top would result a a apx 1000 tank.. which is the better way to go?  Witch leads to other questions.. Is it wise or can you raise different species in the same tank? (trout with others)  Also what about fish to bed area in the tanks?

Thanks

Scott

[Leo White Bear]

Scott-

  IMHO it is always best to go with the smaller tanks for bio-diversity.  If you use the larger tank and a disease breaks out with the fish, you must shut down the total system and sanitize the FT and GBs.  In using the smaller tanks and seperate the fish water into their own grow beds you have control over any disease that may break out.  y shutting down the tanks that are affected you still have the rest of the system growing. 

  Asfor raising fish species together, you must first learn their diet requirements, water temperature for optimum growth potential and water quality.  Trout need cooler and cleaner water than talipia.  Catfish and brown bullheades can grow in the same water quality/tempreature.  Research the type of fish you intend to grow and group them accordingly, you'll be happier and your fish will grow and thrive with less stress.

[Robert Rowe]

@Scott - The large tank is a big help in keeping water temperature more stable, especially if you insulate it. On the other hand as others have commented if you let illness creep in, your whole system is apt to get infected. I have a 1400 gallon system with two FT's and 6/ea  4'x4'  grow beds with a 200 gallon sump and so far I am happy with it except I would like a bigger sump.

[TCLynx]

It also depends on what you want to do with your system.

A 1000 gallon tank can be nice but think about harvesting.  If you have multiple species in one tank, you may find it difficult to selectively harvest the faster species without beating up the slower lunkers.  (like if you have bluegill and catfish int he same tank, the bluegill are swift and hard to catch while the catfish can be quite damaged by swinging nets around at them too much.)

Having multiple smaller tanks can allow you to do staggered stocking in a single system or you could have multiple separate systems.  Only drawback is that IBC tanks can be a bit on the small side for some types of fish.

Remember that no matter how big your fish tank is, you should only stock as many fish as your grow beds will support when the fish are full grown.  So if you only have 60 cubic feet of media bed, you should only stock about 60 fish that will grow to 1 lb each.  Don't be lured into a 1000 gallon tank if you will not have enough filtration for it because it will be hard for your to resist putting more fish in.