New tank set up stocking ideas

Wills said:

That sounds like an interesting mix - how do the three get on? I'm working on a plan for a similar sounding tank around 300 litres with 2-3 Centrals - I want female Nic, Salvini and EBJD. Plan is to have some hard water Synos like Polli or Cuckoos with some rainbow fish and maybe some swordtails or platys.

Would defer to your experience on mixing things with the Salvini though as I've heard mixed results?

Wills

Click to expand...

bigroof said:

These 3 cichlids use to live in 170L before. I bought them all as juveniles. The salvini is a female and shes the boss. The other 2 knows it. They established the hirachy at a young age so no problems so far.

Your mix sounds interesting. The female nics are beautiful. Electric blue jacks are beautiful but they have a lot of health issues and no way near as hardy as the original JD.

Im going to my local fish store tomorrow and i want to stay central American. Im thinking maybe 2 to 3 rainbow cichlids, a fire mouth and maybe a green terror eve though they are more south than central American. I might even copy your idea and find a female nicaruguan cichlid to go with the above combo.

Click to expand...

Wills said:

That sounds a bit heavy to me and I'd be a bit wary of adding cichlids to an established hierachy. When I had cichlids in the past I pushed it a bit too far on more than one occasion and came to regret it.

I think the Firemouth could be ok, I'm not sure on the Rainbows they are quite a 'soft' cichlid so would depend on how the Salvini was with them and I would personally avoid the Green Terror, so many members here have tried GT's in mixed tanks and it never works out, it might work for a bit but then something gets killed or beaten up and I just dont think its worth the risk. GTs are a wet pet for me.

Have you thought about some non-cichlid tank mates?

Wills

Click to expand...

bigroof said:

Yes you maybe right on the green terror. What do you suggest if i was not to put cichlids in there.

Click to expand...

Wills said:

I think I've mentioned to a few people I'm planning a tank like this so have a bit of a mental list I'm guessing from what I've seen of other London members you have hard water (probably nasty nitrate levels too) which is the same as me (though different part of the UK).

I've tried to work out a Central American biotope in the past but its quite hard as not many other central american fish are imported ever, they dont have much diversity in terms of small to medium fish a few species of tetra but again hard to find so time to look at other parts of the world with similar water.

Rainbow fish are a good candidate, big tough and fast. Loads of colour choices and a couple of different shapes and sizes around. Bosmani, Turquoise and Reds are amazing fish and pretty common really but there are rarer species like Parva, Kamaka, Picta and more that are equally stunning. Just take a bit of time to mature and never look their best in the shops.

Synodontis catfish from the Rift Lakes are good candidates too, I like the white and black ones but there are some great patterned ones. Golden Wonder Killifish could be a good choice, get a decent size and again loads of colour, surface dweller too so out of the way of the cichlids.

Livebearers are worth a shout too - I used to turn my nose up because of how common they are but their colours these days are amazing. I had a group of Mexican Mollies in my cichlid tank and the male was stunning but even the line bred coloured Platys and Swordtails look amazing now I love the Kohaku Swords and Red Wagtail Platys.

There are some other species too that would work - lots of barbs would fit the bill but I'd probably pick a school of rainbows over them as they are more colourful.

Wills

Click to expand...

bigroof said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I went to the fish store and nothing caught my eye today and their stock was very low. I will look online and order some rainbows.

Click to expand...

Wills said:

Never sure where in London you are but if I get chance when I am down I always go to Aquatic Design Centre on Great Portland Street or Wholesale Tropicals in Bethnall Green - I got my favourite ever fish (female Nic) from Aquatis Design Centre, knew I was looking at a special fish and couldnt leave her so got her boxed up and brought her home on the train lol. Both great shops IMO - Wholesale is really good for cichlids too.

Wills

Click to expand...