180g SA Cichlid Stocking Idea

[Varacanth]

I'm currently in the planning phase for a 180g (6x2x2) and was wondering if I could get some input for this stocking idea?

1 Chocolate Cichlid
1 Blue Acara
7 Red Head Tapajos Geophagus
7 Keyhole Cichlid
7 Festivum

I'm trying to keep this tank fairly peaceful while also having fish occupy different levels of the tank. I'm thinking the festivums will fill the upper half while the geos will stick to the bottom, and the keyholes occupying the bottom to mid section. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Wills]

Hi this sounds like a good project Great sized tank but that is still too many cichlids, I can see what you are trying to achieve though.

The top three rows are probably good to go, the Chocolate, Blue Acara, Red Heads. But I think the numbers of the Keyholes and Festivums will cause issues. Neither are particularly gregarious, the keyholes are peaceful enough to exist together but not naturally social like Geophagus species. Festivums have a reputation of being good in a group but I've never met anyone who has kept them that agrees, myself included. The Chocolate will likely spend most of their time in the upper levels of the tank through the day, mine used to stay in the top third through the day then retreat to a cave on a night, quite funny to watch as he did it every night.

For me I'd leave the Keyholes out, they are the smallest fish and being so timid I think the bigger fish would scare them. You could look at 1-2 Festivums but I think 9 good sized cichlids with the Choc, Acara and Red Heads would be a great combination.

You also need to think about the community you build around them, having dither fish will help break up aggression and give the fish confidence to be out in the open more. I like to keep things a bit biotopesc if possible so I'd be looking at things like medium sized Characins like big disk tetras like Bleeding Heart Tetras or Columbian Tetras. Other good characins are things like Hemiodus, the Red Tailed ones are great! Headstanders are an other good shout with marbled and Ternetzi being the best IMO. Catfish wise have a look at Brochis, Flagtails and Hoplos for a good group, Pictus could be an option but might be too zippy for some of the cichlids. Any of the L number plecos would be nice, a big fancy one like an L25 or an L95, or something a bit cheaper like an L14 or L190 would be nice too. Whiptail Catfish are a favourite of mine Sturisoma are always a classic but Lamonicthys and Planiloricaria are incredible fish!

Wills

 

[Varacanth]

Hi this sounds like a good project Great sized tank but that is still too many cichlids, I can see what you are trying to achieve though.

The top three rows are probably good to go, the Chocolate, Blue Acara, Red Heads. But I think the numbers of the Keyholes and Festivums will cause issues. Neither are particularly gregarious, the keyholes are peaceful enough to exist together but not naturally social like Geophagus species. Festivums have a reputation of being good in a group but I've never met anyone who has kept them that agrees, myself included. The Chocolate will likely spend most of their time in the upper levels of the tank through the day, mine used to stay in the top third through the day then retreat to a cave on a night, quite funny to watch as he did it every night.

For me I'd leave the Keyholes out, they are the smallest fish and being so timid I think the bigger fish would scare them. You could look at 1-2 Festivums but I think 9 good sized cichlids with the Choc, Acara and Red Heads would be a great combination.

You also need to think about the community you build around them, having dither fish will help break up aggression and give the fish confidence to be out in the open more. I like to keep things a bit biotopesc if possible so I'd be looking at things like medium sized Characins like big disk tetras like Bleeding Heart Tetras or Columbian Tetras. Other good characins are things like Hemiodus, the Red Tailed ones are great! Headstanders are an other good shout with marbled and Ternetzi being the best IMO. Catfish wise have a look at Brochis, Flagtails and Hoplos for a good group, Pictus could be an option but might be too zippy for some of the cichlids. Any of the L number plecos would be nice, a big fancy one like an L25 or an L95, or something a bit cheaper like an L14 or L190 would be nice too. Whiptail Catfish are a favourite of mine Sturisoma are always a classic but Lamonicthys and Planiloricaria are incredible fish!

Wills

The chocolate, acara and geos were the only definites on the list so I don't mind dropping the festivums and keyholes if they don't work.

I did look into adding some dithers, with Colombians being the main contender but I was concerned that they might nip the fins of the cichlids or that the chocolate would eventually grow big enough to snack on them.

I also quite like the idea of adding some emerald brochis to mix in with the geos but again I'm concerned that they may become a snack for the chocolate.

 

[Guyb93]

I want your tank ahaha iv recently put two oscars in my 125g 5x2x2 and I won’t lie iv lost two Colombian tetra and had to remove the other 14 before I lose them all , the Oscar is 7 inches in size and I know chocolate cichlid aren’t as predatory but still grow 10” , I have bad luck with tetra and large cichlids I know people have managed it but I have no such luck , iv even lost silver dollars to an Oscar before

 

[robmcd]

Drop the keyholes, but keep the festivum. If you get 7, you will no doubt end up with a pair or 2, which isn't an issue for the other cichlids, but the male of the pair will bully any other festivum mercilessly. Just be prepared to rehome or separate a few out of the 7 eventually. They are awesome fish IMO and will spawn really easily.

 

[Varacanth]

I want your tank ahaha iv recently put two oscars in my 125g 5x2x2 and I won’t lie iv lost two Colombian tetra and had to remove the other 14 before I lose them all , the Oscar is 7 inches in size and I know chocolate cichlid aren’t as predatory but still grow 10” , I have bad luck with tetra and large cichlids I know people have managed it but I have no such luck , iv even lost silver dollars to an Oscar before

This is why I went with the chocolate over Oscars. I like Oscars but you seem far more limited on what you can keep with them compared to chocolates.

 

[Guyb93]

This is why I went with the chocolate over Oscars. I like Oscars but you seem far more limited on what you can keep with them compared to chocolates.

I get what you mean but it’s still a 10inch cichlid , I’m curious to see how it plays out with tetras because I know I’d get the stupid one that eats everything, I always get the stupid fish that eats everything ahahah

 

[Varacanth]

So I've had a bit of a think and this is the new stocking plan:
1 Chocolate Cichlid
1 Blue Acara
7 Red Head Tapajos
7 Red Tail Hemiodus
3 Hoplo Catfish

Debating on also adding a good number of Colombians too, but not sure if that would overstock the tank?

 

[Wills]

I get what people are saying about the Choc and the smaller fish but Chocs are super slow growing in comparison to Oscars. One of the issues people have with Oscars is they get added with other babies and then out grow them and eat them.

Chocs are predatory when I had mine he did eat quite a few schools I tried him with but never touched the headstanders. But I think if you got larger growing schooling species as discussed and got them early on in the tank, ideally at a good size then added a juvenile choc down the line things should balance out.

In terms of your plan above I think it looks good but I'd go a bit further and do a bigger group of the Hemiodus thinking 10-12 and more Hoplos 5-6.

Wills

 

[GaryE]

I've seen chocs breed. Stunning. Vicious. 180 gallons? It's not to be shared....I love the fish, and it amazes me. But forget about company.

I would reduce the number of red heads. They need very clean water, and any slip will start neuromast pitting.

I'm easy to ignore, but in a 180, I would consider:
1 blue acara,
4 red heads
10 Hemiodus
20 Corydoras OR half a dozen Brochis.

Hoplos get big, and I don't find a crowded looking tank pleasing to the eye. It's like a bus station terminal. Hemiodus are elegant, but hard to find here. You'd have red heads for size, an acara to mostly hide from the red heads, Hemiodus gracilis for shape and activity, and Corys because, well, Corys.

I doubt a lone chocolate will ever go into full colour.

 

[Varacanth]

So I think I may change things up a bit. I came across this video on youtube:

I really like the look of the larger fish on the bottom with the large schools of tetra swimming above so I'm thinking about the following:

1 Blue Acara
7 Red Head Tapajos
5 Hoplos
10-15 Colombian Tetras
10-15 Buenos Aires Tetras

I would love to have the hemiodus instead of one of the tetra species but after a bit of googling it seems they are quite rare unfortunately.

 

[AquaBarb]

So I think I may change things up a bit. I came across this video on youtube:

I really like the look of the larger fish on the bottom with the large schools of tetra swimming above so I'm thinking about the following:

1 Blue Acara
7 Red Head Tapajos
5 Hoplos
10-15 Colombian Tetras
10-15 Buenos Aires Tetras

I would love to have the hemiodus instead of one of the tetra species but after a bit of googling it seems they are quite rare unfortunately.

Very nice set up that im setting up something very similar atm.

 

[Wills]

I was just going to tag @AquaBarb lol.

Looks good but one thing to consider is if you are not getting the Chocolate you have more tetra options open to you and you could get smaller species that wont be a problem at all with the Acara and Geos. And being smaller you could get bigger schools, have you seen George Farmers latest videos where he gets Blueberry Tetras and Bentosi? They could be a really cool combination in this tank too or something like Lemons or Flames could be a cool option.

If you want to track down rare fish, being in the midlands how far away are you from a store called Wharf Aquatics? Stocking a big tank like this is worth a bit of travel if possible so could be worth thinking about a trip there as it is amazing

Wills

 

[Varacanth]

Very nice set up that im setting up something very similar atm.

Nice, what are your plans?

I was just going to tag @AquaBarb lol.

Looks good but one thing to consider is if you are not getting the Chocolate you have more tetra options open to you and you could get smaller species that wont be a problem at all with the Acara and Geos. And being smaller you could get bigger schools, have you seen George Farmers latest videos where he gets Blueberry Tetras and Bentosi? They could be a really cool combination in this tank too or something like Lemons or Flames could be a cool option.

If you want to track down rare fish, being in the midlands how far away are you from a store called Wharf Aquatics? Stocking a big tank like this is worth a bit of travel if possible so could be worth thinking about a trip there as it is amazing

Wills

Wharf is about an hours drive from me so it's a possibility.

Those blueberry tetras are nice would the acara not prey upon them though, considering they're only 1 1/2 inches? I've been considering some purple emperor tetras so if those are safe from predation I'll probably swap out the buenos for them.

 

[AquaBarb]

Nice, what are your plans?

Pretty much the same as yours lol only i have some severums

I aquired the Red Head Tapajos yesterday, ive already got the hoplos and Colombian Tetras what will more than likely come over from my other tank and i will be adding an electric blue acara at some point.