65 Gallon tall stocking help!!

[Fishyone2]

What's everyone thoughts on dwarf chichlids? They claim 2.5in is the biggest they get.

 

[Magnum Man]

coincidentally the available turf area of a standard 55 gallon aquarium is 624 square inches, this on a 48 inch long tank... a standard 65 gallon is thicker, giving 648 square inches, even though the tank is only 36 inches long... my experience has been that fish make use of that extra thickness, and added floor space, and don't miss the additional length on a thinner tank

 

[Fishyone2]

coincidentally the available turf area of a standard 55 gallon aquarium is 624 square inches, this on a 48 inch long tank... a standard 65 gallon is thicker, giving 648 square inches, even though the tank is only 36 inches long... my experience has been that fish make use of that extra thickness, and added floor space, and don't miss the additional length on a thinner tank

I think I'm just going to keep to small and see what i can do with it definitely not going to break it down and change to a bigger tank right away lol

 

[CassCats]

It's not "bad", it just takes a little bit of a different approach.

What are you looking for in terms of a cichlid? Color? Behavior? Size?

 

[Fishyone2]

It's not "bad", it just takes a little bit of a different approach.

What are you looking for in terms of a cichlid? Color? Behavior? Size?

I would like something with color but relatively small no bigger than 5in( i know that's asking a lot lol) behavior wise i guess depends on the environment the fish is in? I'm definitely going to do tetras or danios or Molly's haven't decided which ones yet. I just don't want them to mess with the chiclids or vis versa

 

[Magnum Man]

just look at the water parameters preferred for each individual fish... Molly's like hard water, and most of the other fish you have been talking about like soft water... your original water reading is kind of in the middle, so you should have decent luck with most fish... my area is rock hard, and required the addition of an RO filter to even be able to keep most of the fish I like..

 

[Fishyone2]

just look at the water parameters for each individual fish... Molly's like hard water, and most of the other fish you have been talking about like soft water

I'll definitely need to check into that and go based off that. I really didn't think it would be this hard lol

 

[CassCats]

Yeah skip mollies. They need a GH over 250ppm.

Okay so you like color, that's a place to start.

If you mix a little bit of RO water to lower your GH to below 140ppm, you can consider a couple nannacara anomala.

Nannacara anomala (Golden Dwarf Cichlid) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

The males show really nice coloring and they're not a large size thatd be a problem, and you could keep them with tetras up top level.


Another option is laetacara curviceps, you won't have to change your parameters for it, but it may be a little harder to find compared to the species above. But it's a better fit for your water parameters, and again can be kept with tetras up top.

Laetacara curviceps – Dwarf Flag Cichlid (Acara curviceps, Aequidens curviceps) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Just to throw a couple more suggestions out there for you

 

[Fishyone2]

Yeah skip mollies. They need a GH over 250ppm.

Okay so you like color, that's a place to start.

If you mix a little bit of RO water to lower your GH to below 140ppm, you can consider a couple nannacara anomala.

Nannacara anomala (Golden Dwarf Cichlid) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

The males show really nice coloring and they're not a large size thatd be a problem, and you could keep them with tetras up top level.


Another option is laetacara curviceps, you won't have to change your parameters for it, but it may be a little harder to find compared to the species above. But it's a better fit for your water parameters, and again can be kept with tetras up top.

Laetacara curviceps – Dwarf Flag Cichlid (Acara curviceps, Aequidens curviceps) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Just to throw a couple more suggestions out there for you

I do like both of them I'll have to check on availability on them at my LFS. I feel like golden dwarf would be a nice addition with tetras

 

[GaryE]

I think you should ignore the lot of us and look at the fish you like. But go slowly. Hone in on the Latin name.
Why?
Because, for example, silver dollars can be a bunch of different fish marketed under one name, and what I kept under that name could be different that what another person did, and we end up at cross purposes.
Take the time to explore where you would buy. I could list you a bunch of ideal Cichlids, but you might not be able to find them.

There are small Cichlids I love you might look at as awful things. @Magnum Man has those beautiful cupido Cichlids, and I could spend a lifetime wandering through pet stores around here and never see one. And if I did, it might be out of my budget. People here know and like some very good fish, but the aquarium trade bases what it carries on how large a number of babies a Cichlid has and how fast it grows. That's a reason why they focus on GMO and hybrid fish - they get to market fast and can be mass produced. That doesn't always make them very interesting, but they are affordable. They're often pretty nasty.

We all have different views on tank size too. It depends on what we want to see happening in the tank. I breed fish, so I like 2 to 3 inch fish in a 36 inch tank. So we'll bounce you around like a beach ball if we get going - strong opinions and different experiences all around.

So see what you can find that you like. There really isn't a rush. Always look at its maximum adult size. How big it is when you buy it doesn't matter. Cheaper Cichlids often grow large. I never look at gallons for them, but figure the front glass of the tank should be 6 to 10 times the length of the body,full grown. They need to be able to move. But that's a personal rule since fish behaviour fascinates me. You'll find your own comfort zone, as all the skilled fishkeepers here have.

If you find a fish you like, look it up and read about it on a quality site like Seriously Fish and then have more questions, bouncing possibilities off us'll work a lot better.

 

[Fishyone2]

I think you should ignore the lot of us and look at the fish you like. But go slowly. Hone in on the Latin name.
Why?
Because, for example, silver dollars can be a bunch of different fish marketed under one name, and what I kept under that name could be different that what another person did, and we end up at cross purposes.
Take the time to explore where you would buy. I could list you a bunch of ideal Cichlids, but you might not be able to find them.

There are small Cichlids I love you might look at as awful things. @Magnum Man has those beautiful cupido Cichlids, and I could spend a lifetime wandering through pet stores around here and never see one. And if I did, it might be out of my budget. People here know and like some very good fish, but the aquarium trade bases what it carries on how large a number of babies a Cichlid has and how fast it grows. That's a reason why they focus on GMO and hybrid fish - they get to market fast and can be mass produced. That doesn't always make them very interesting, but they are affordable. They're often pretty nasty.

We all have different views on tank size too. It depends on what we want to see happening in the tank. I breed fish, so I like 2 to 3 inch fish in a 36 inch tank. So we'll bounce you around like a beach ball if we get going - strong opinions and different experiences all around.

So see what you can find that you like. There really isn't a rush. Always look at its maximum adult size. How big it is when you buy it doesn't matter. Cheaper Cichlids often grow large. I never look at gallons for them, but figure the front glass of the tank should be 6 to 10 times the length of the body,full grown. They need to be able to move. But that's a personal rule since fish behaviour fascinates me. You'll find your own comfort zone, as all the skilled fishkeepers here have.

If you find a fish you like, look it up and read about it on a quality site like Seriously Fish and then have more questions, bouncing possibilities off us'll work a lot better.

I appreciate your information makes me feel better about stocking it and I'll work the Latin names I can hardly pronounce half of them

 

[GaryE]

You don't need to say Latin names. It's a dead language. But what you'll find is the quality of information increases when you search with them. A lot of trade names, in English, are used for a bunch of different fish, and they can lead you to wrong info.
Plus people who post online and never use the international scientific name are often too lazy to look it up. That affects them as quality sources.
Finally, Latin is equally awful for everyone. No one has Latin as a first language. But we can all use it for the names of fish, so you get a wider range of expertise, from all over the world. Trade names can be regional.

 

[Magnum Man]

@GaryE ... you talking about me???

"Plus people who post online and never use the international scientific name are often too lazy to look it up. That affects them as quality sources."

I hate using them... but my new spread sheets for what I'm keeping all have the scientific names listed, just so I get in the habit of seeing them...

 

[GaryE]

@GaryE ... you talking about me???

"Plus people who post online and never use the international scientific name are often too lazy to look it up. That affects them as quality sources."

I hate using them... but my new spread sheets for what I'm keeping all have the scientific names listed, just so I get in the habit of seeing them...

nah, I'm thinking about youtubers or site makers who are often very inexperienced but over confident. When I've searched with trade names, I have often found a pile of really poor quality sites in comparison to what you see with the scientific name. It doesn't mean the latter are more scientific, but it often does.

Just that little bit of extra when you write an article matters...

 

[Innesfan]

A lot of trade names, in English, are used for a bunch of different fish, and they can lead you to wrong info.
Plus people who post online and never use the international scientific name are often too lazy to look it up. That affects them as quality sources.
Finally, Latin is equally awful for everyone. No one has Latin as a first language. But we can all use it for the names of fish, so you get a wider range of expertise, from all over the world. Trade names can be regional.

Amen to all of this. Trade names, aka 'common' or 'popular names, tend to be neither. When the hobby was younger there was a larger percentage of truly commonly used popular names--neons, Jack Dempsey, glowlights, black mollies, etc--but with the explosion in the number of species available to us, many a supplier attempts to slap a trade name on a species that has none, and in most cases said supplier is the only one using the moniker. Dan's is especially culpable in this regard.

I actually like the Latin names. (And it is something else for which I'm grateful to Innes: his book taught me how to pronounce them when I was a ten-year-old.) Not only are they the key that unlocks the best information about the fish but they supply information unto themselves. Btw, they are not only Latin. Some are hybrids of Latin and Greek, as in Nannostomus. Nanno, from the Greek, 'nano' = small, and 'stomus' from the Latin= mouth. See? We've already learned something about the fish.