55 gallon/200 litre

[Oli]

So I think I’m finally down to one of 2 options for my tank. It’s a 4ft 200 litre. I’ve finally got a big piece of driftwood and rocks, and it will have a few plants (Java fern, some background planted plants) and I’m thinking about going….

- 5/6 electric blue Acaras
-10+ Cherry barbs/tetra school
- a few plecos (new to me)

Or…

-5/6 angelfish
-10+ Cherry barbs/tetra school
-a few plecos

….if anyone can provide advice on the best cichlid to go for. (Not wanting to breed.) Will be buying as juveniles so which are least likely to have problems with pairing off, aggression with others etc. Ideally just want to keep the group long term.

-I love Cherry barbs but if there a better schooling fish that won’t be eaten and look as bright together…

-I’ve never had/loved fish that stay on the bottom but have read things like plecos can be beneficial

Would you recommend anything else for a 55 gallon, thanks guys!

 

[Guyb93]

6 eba in a 200l will more than likely end bad , iv had good success is breeding eba and I also started with 6 by the end I had 3 the breeding pair and there son , even then the son took some abuse and this is in a 5ft 500l , I would get 6 until I achieved a pair once achieved move the other 4 out , they aren’t shoaling fish and they will show you that once breeding starts I know you don’t want to breed but they will

 

[Oli]

EBA’s deep down are my favourite. I’ve read so many different opinions varying from…

-buy young and they will grow up fine
-buy young and when they pair off, get rid of the rest
-buy only females
-buy only males
-buy 2 females, 3 males

Obviously sexing is hard at a young age…any advice?

 

[Oli]

I want a group of big fish who will last for my tank. I’ve heard the same about angels regarding pairing. Can you recommend anything that will be around 5-7” that will be happy in the long run?

 

[Guyb93]

EBA’s deep down are my favourite. I’ve read so many different opinions varying from…

-buy young and they will grow up fine
-buy young and when they pair off, get rid of the rest
-buy only females
-buy only males
-buy 2 females, 3 males

Obviously sexing is hard at a young age…any advice?

If you never achieve the pair they will find a hierarchy as juveniles as keep that as adults without any real aggression but from my experience they are smart fish a pair will target individuals normally of the same group my male didn’t bother with other females but destroyed other males my female destroyed everything lol guess she was just a typical mom , for breeding I would by in twos a few weeks apart as soon as you identify a male and female in the tank add no more give them time to pair ... they might not pair tho iv had a female cross breed with a green terror rather than breed with a male in the same tank .. don’t know why , maybe her only chance at breeding

 

[Guyb93]

I want a group of big fish who will last for my tank. I’ve heard the same about angels regarding pairing. Can you recommend anything that will be around 5-7” that will be happy in the long run?

I would go for eba ... I’m biased, I love them but Id have one as a centrepiece if I’m not looking to breed , maybe along with some keyhole cichlids , not as big as you would like maxing around 4inches but iv saw them run from a hungry pleco ,
I think when mixing cichlids you must have a clear tank boss leave nothing to chance or have a back up tank waiting I did neither of these things to start with and had some UFC style prison tank lol with help from members on here it’s a lot more calm no a days

 

[Oli]

So how would you go about buying. Like I say, I would like 4/5 EBA’s as my main fish. Obviously LFS’s won’t be that knowledgeable on sex and will just sell me whatever I want? I am after a big school of tetras and then soms big EBA’s. I will probably buy a big school first and then go for them? How many would you get and how many would you aim to keep long term? Is a group of 4/5 sustainable?

 

[Oli]

I would go for eba ... I’m biased, I love them but Id have one as a centrepiece if I’m not looking to breed , maybe along with some keyhole cichlids , not as big as you would like maxing around 4inches but iv saw them run from a hungry pleco ,
I think when mixing cichlids you must have a clear tank boss leave nothing to chance or have a back up tank waiting I did neither of these things to start with and had some UFC style prison tank lol with help from members on here it’s a lot more calm no a days

I do want a planted tank and therefore not a normal cichlid tank. Ideally I want a few big colourful schools. If I could cardinal tetras, but I know they will quickly become food, so some different tetras. I have read EBA’s can work in a planted tank

 

[Guyb93]

So how would you go about buying. Like I say, I would like 4/5 EBA’s as my main fish. Obviously LFS’s won’t be that knowledgeable on sex and will just sell me whatever I want? I am after a big school of tetras and then soms big EBA’s. I will probably buy a big school first and then go for them? How many would you get and how many would you aim to keep long term? Is a group of 4/5 sustainable?

Odds are the group would fail just because of percentages, you will end up will a pair but a pair is still two

I do want a planted tank and therefore not a normal cichlid tank. Ideally I want a few big colourful schools. If I could cardinal tetras, but I know they will quickly become food, so some different tetras. I have read EBA’s can work in a planted tank

iv never had eba eat plants and by lord iv tried with plants , I kept a group of Colombian tetra with mine and did great , I’d add the eba first though gives you a better judgement on what sized tetra you can buy , you wouldn’t want to get a nice group of tetra for a eba to come and eat a few lol it happens

 

[Oli]

So there’s no way to have group of them long term? Even if I were able to sex them? Say 1 males 3 females? I’ve read that buying a group from young, no matter the set and distracting them with hiding places, tetra schools etc. Could work???

 

[Guyb93]

So there’s no way to have group of them long term? Even if I were able to sex them? Say 1 males 3 females? I’ve read that buying a group from young, no matter the set and distracting them with hiding places, tetra schools etc. Could work???

I would say you need all males or all females the distractions don’t work in my opinion they would ignore the tetra eating there eggs just to beat down the other eba , I would get my group and find the pair I’d then get rid of the rest of the group and re buy them as much smaller juveniles half the size of the pair , as long as they show no intentions towards the brooding pair it could work but I’m just guessing , honestly my breeding pair were so defensive they laid and raised in a tank with an Oscar who would of murdered them easy but 2vs1 in a protection rage they will not back down

 

[Oli]

Okay, so what is the plan when I go to buy them? They will be juveniles regardless. Am I buying a group and monitoring them, or am I trying to buy the same sex if possible? If my long term goal is 5 EBA’s as my centrepiece fish, how would you go about it

 

[Guyb93]

Okay, so what is the plan when I go to buy them? They will be juveniles regardless. Am I buying a group and monitoring them, or am I trying to buy the same sex if possible? If my long term goal is 5 EBA’s as my centrepiece fish, how would you go about it

I’d buy all 5 at once from the same shop odds are they willing be all from the same breeder and iv found fish who a siblings and always shared a tank are a little more tolerable, I’d wait then until they are sexable and decide from there or possibly wait until I saw breeding behaviour as they could not pair up and just live as make and female which would be the easiest option .. as long as you can avoid breeding they will be ok I didn’t see any aggression from mine until breeding

 

[Oli]

This is the problem I’ve seemed to come across with any “big” fish, especially cichlids. Eventually 2 will pair up, and I will have to get rid of the rest??? Is this always the case, or is there a way I can have a tank with a “group” of EBA’s long term. Or do I need to be prepared to end up with only a pair?

 

[Guyb93]

This is the problem I’ve seemed to come across with any “big” fish, especially cichlids. Eventually 2 will pair up, and I will have to get rid of the rest??? Is this always the case, or is there a way I can have a tank with a “group” of EBA’s long term. Or do I need to be prepared to end up with only a pair?

A breeding pair will cause stress in your tank but only while breeding , mine were ever 14 days , I didn’t move all mine out straight away I was convinced I could keep them and it would work out , I could of kept them never any real damage but when you have 20 fish in half a tank and two in the other half of the tank it gets tedious No divider needed they just knew not to go over there , but all fish and all tanks work out differently you could have some success in keeping a breeding pair in a community but I’d doubt it , angles you would a little better luck and they do group up better than acara who have no shoaling at all really they do all prefer there own space . All I can suggest is do it , see what happens , they aren’t damage dealers so a bad display of aggression will be a lost scale nothing major , mine lip locked a lot was just annoying