6 Foot Mainly Cichlid Tank

[Boxer_Gaz]

Ive posted a similar thread in the tropical discussion and thought it may be better suited here.

What do people think of this stocking list for a 6' x 2' x 2' tank?

1 x Gold Severum
1 x Blue Acara
1 x Firemouth
1 x RTB Shark
1 x Common Albino Pleco (or a pair of Albino BN Plecos?)
10 x Sterbai Cory
10 x Black Skirt, Penguin or Serpae Tetra

Is this overstocked? Filtration will be 2 x Extenal Eheims.

Gaz

 

[Westwood]

I would possibly up the amount of Corys as there is so much floor space they will love it!

Westwood

 

[Wills]

Id call it a bit light to be fair Dont get Serpae Tetras though due to how nippy they can be - Penguins can also be problematic so wouldnt be my first choice and depending on who you ask Skirts are sometimes nippy as well but over all not that bad.

A Common Plec would do well in your tank but just be prepared for the poop, I would be tempted by some smaller species of plec, possibly Bristlenoses but loads of options.

Cichlid wise - ideal tank for the Gold Sev and the others will work well along side it - you could possibly even go for a pair of FM or BA? Though again you have the footprint for more cichlids than that....

My only thing is - this tank must be a hefty investment, I know from experience that this size tank is never cheap and being really blunt but do you not find the stock list so far a little bland? There are so many exciting fish for this kind of tank - though by no means if you like these fish because at the end of the day they are all very nice but just a question for you to think about perhaps?

Wills

 

[Boxer_Gaz]

Thanks Westwood I will bare that in mind 16-20 Corys would look awesome

Wills - thanks for the informative response. I see what you are saying about spending £600-£800 on a tank setup to put fairly bland species in. However to me, being quite a novice (kept fish for over 10 years but only every community types) the prospect of owning a severum, blue Acara, loads of Corys is heaven. Lol.

What would you recommend to have a school of for mid-top? Maybe silver dollars?

What other cichlid could I have? Jack dempsey? Salvini?

Wouldn't mind a breeding pair of Bristlenose instead of the common Pleco. Or a pair of any other smallish Pleco that would keep on top of algae.

Gaz

 

[Wills]

Thats good then They are really nice fish but I just wanted to make sure you were getting them because you wanted them rather than they seemed like the kind of fish for this tank.

One swap I would consider though is the Severum, there are some reports of the big Golds and Greens eating or trying to eat Cories so maybe either consider just the bigger species of Cories or even their larger cousins like Brochis or Hoplos. Or go for the smaller species of Severums like Rotkiel or the Mouth Brooders who have smaller mouths and could be a safer option.

Wills

 

[Boxer_Gaz]

I do really like the rotkiel so that wouldn't be a problem.

The only other thing I had in mind was swapping Corys for a large shoal of clown loach.

How would these fair with the cichlids?

 

[Wills]

Clowns would work, none of the cichlids planned are overly aggressive

Wills

 

[Boxer_Gaz]

Would you have a school of clowns and corys or would this be too much with a couple of plecos aswell?

 

[onidrase]

Would you have a school of clowns and corys or would this be too much with a couple of plecos aswell?

Xo for a smaller species of pleco ratxer txan a common if you do.

My black skirt tetras nip at eacx otxer, but txey dont xo after otxer fisx. Txeyre ratxer lazy little txinxs. Txey make xood space fillers txouxx, witx txe loose scxoolinx. You could definitely xo for more txan 10 in a 6 foot tank.

 

[karin]

That is a huge tank. You could do a lot more than what you have listed. I would look around at other possible stockings before you commit. There is a lot of information on line. I have a 4x2x2 with a red sev, rotkeil and a chocolate cichid, a satanoperca and a threadfin, 5 cupid cichlids, a school of congo tetras, and a bn pleco. Just to give you an idea. But you could do some really cool cichlid species, some of the bigger guys, some are not as aggressive as others. You should also look into some of the eartheaters like the geophagus altifrons. You have huge possibility. I would do tons of research. Check out you tube searching 200g cichlid tanks.

Good luck!

 

[Boxer_Gaz]

Again this is nowhere near a complete list, but I'm thinking along the lines of...

1 x Severum
1 x Blue Acara
1 x Electric Blue Jack Dempsey
1 x Firemouth
1 x Salvini

10 x Clown Loach
1 x Pair BN Plecos
1 x Queen Arabesque

Would the loaches and Plecos be safe with the cichlids I've listed?

Would a school of tiger barbs or other barbs get wiped out by the EBJD or Severum?

Oh and not forgetting my RTB

 

[moochy13]

i think BN plecs will get lost in there, id go for something a bit more hefty. depends what you want to spend on one i guess. ive got a rusty plec, and its awesome to look at. mine isnt full grown, but planet catfish lists them at about 11-12" fully grown. not as big or clumsy as a full grown common, but big enough for it to look awesome and not get lost in the tank. also i think much better colours than a common or BN, which are mostly dull brown, although i see you would get albino, to be honest even less my cup of tea whatever floats your boat though.

if it were me, theres no way i could have a big tank like that and only put 2 little BN plecs in it, what a waste !! so many plecs are unsuitable for most tanks because of their size, make the most of having a big tank !

how about some hopolo cats, great fish. great to watch, very friendly, mine come to the top of the tank when i feed them. tetra wise ive got a big soft spot for buenos aires tetra. ive only got 6 but they shoal brilliantly even in a small number. the shimmer from the silver body is awesome when they catch the light. i love 'em.

 

[mattlee]

Gaz i would leave the salvini out mate. they are very aggressive fish,m beautifull but nasty bits of kit!!!!!

ive always wanted a severum tank but just with golds and red spotted species. plenty of wood, dark substrate and a group of dither fish. maybe add another firemouth or even 2 more. they are stunning fish.

do plenty of research and you will discover many great looking fish and i guarentee you will change your mind 50 times per day! get the fish at a small size so they can grow up together instead of chucking big fish in together as this can be a recipe for disaster.....

keep us posted

 

[Boxer_Gaz]

Thanks moochy. I will. Check out them catfish. That rusty Pleco is lovely.

Thanks Matt. Out of interest what dither fish would you have a group of in a severum tank?

 

[mattlee]

i would probably go for a large group of larger/deep bodied tetra.

ive recently sold a group of adult colombian tetra that were kept as dither fish in with my ornatum cichlids. they did very well and were able to take a bit of nipping etc. severums would be no where near as aggressive as the ornatum so i could see the tetras doing well. grow the severum up with the tetra for a better chance of success.

another choice could be a larger barb of somekind. i have kept arulius barbs in with a huge oscar that worked very well., if these couldnt be sourced as they are quite hard to find at a decent size then filament barbs would be a great choice. these do get a bit bigger and would look stunning in a decent sized group of about 10.

alot of people use silver dollars as dithers/target fish but these will get pretty big and in my eyes fill the tank too much if a good group was added. this also applies to tinfoil barbs, they get very very big and will cram the tank.

it really is a guessing game if the cichlids will be small fish eaters/killers or just accept them and get on. my oscar would accept small fish that werent cichlids but kill anything of a decent size i put in with him. he was however in a tank on his own for a while which i feel contributed to his anger with larger fish.

something like-

6 severums (of the same species)
30 large colombian tetras
15 brochis corys
1 or 2 nice plecs (6-10 inch max)

would look awesome in my eyes. what i have found is that a mix of different fish sounds great on paper but doesnt look right for some reason to me. groups of same species look far better.