Advice On My Tank

[minnnt]

Frontosa's are stunning. Although slow growing, they can reach a fair old size. I would personally look for 2 Cichlids that grow to a maximum size of 8 or 9 inches, personally i think the 350 with a maximum measurement of just over 4ft would be a little small for a 12"+ fish. When you look at Oscars such as Mattlee's i don't think he would be happy in a tank of your size.

If you're wanting American Cichlids then i would go for a female Electric Blue Jack Dempsey and maybe a male Green Terror. Hoplo's would add a nice decent sized bottom feeder... As for dithers, you could look for some fairly decent sized Columbian Red Fin Tetra's too add a different shape and colour.

 

[Wills]

350 liters is actually 92 gallons so its quite a nice tank

Also the triangular shape is pretty nice for cichlids. I have seen 2 Oscars work out in a tank like this before but I have to admit it is not a brilliant set up.

IMO a Green Terror would be to aggressive to keep with the Hoplos if they are what you are after.

If your dead set on an Oscar in a 90 its a little tough to guess what will work as fish the size of Oscars often decide they would need a 90 to them selves and little else.

Personally I would go for something like a Chocolate Cichlid - similar size as an Oscar nice and robust and round but a much calmer temperament. I would have one of them with a Rotkiel Severum, Blue Acara (or any of the calmer Acaras) maybe a group of something like Cupid Cichlids or Guianacaras and then the Hoplos or Pictus in a group and a school of some kind of larger tetras like Columbians or if you can find them Red Tailed Hemiodus.

Wills

 

[michaelb4348]

350 liters is actually 92 gallons so its quite a nice tank

Also the triangular shape is pretty nice for cichlids. I have seen 2 Oscars work out in a tank like this before but I have to admit it is not a brilliant set up.

IMO a Green Terror would be to aggressive to keep with the Hoplos if they are what you are after.

If your dead set on an Oscar in a 90 its a little tough to guess what will work as fish the size of Oscars often decide they would need a 90 to them selves and little else.

Personally I would go for something like a Chocolate Cichlid - similar size as an Oscar nice and robust and round but a much calmer temperament. I would have one of them with a Rotkiel Severum, Blue Acara (or any of the calmer Acaras) maybe a group of something like Cupid Cichlids or Guianacaras and then the Hoplos or Pictus in a group and a school of some kind of larger tetras like Columbians or if you can find them Red Tailed Hemiodus.

Wills




hi

i like your ideas and the fish you have listed. the chocolate cichlid is really nice and i like the blue acara and the guianacaras but i suppose i cant have all 3 in a tank my size with some bottom feeders and and a school of tetras

 

[fluttermoth]

but i suppose i cant have all 3 in a tank my size with some bottom feeders and and a school of tetras

No! You can't!

We all have to reconcile the things we want to keep with the things we can keep. If you want a big cichlid or two, then have a big cichlid or two, but don't expect to be able to keep catfish and tetras as well; that's a separate tank!

 

[Wills]

but i suppose i cant have all 3 in a tank my size with some bottom feeders and and a school of tetras

No! You can't!

We all have to reconcile the things we want to keep with the things we can keep. If you want a big cichlid or two, then have a big cichlid or two, but don't expect to be able to keep catfish and tetras as well; that's a separate tank!

I have to disagree, Severums, Chocolates and Acara types are all fish that can cohabit with bottom dwelling tank mates such as Hoplos, Flagtail Cats, Pims, Brochis, various loches such as YoYos perhaps and of course a variety of plecos (though I would stay away from commons and the larger ones as it will take a large proportion of a 90g) I have whiptail catfish in with my Severums, Geophagus and Nicaraguan

Since Chocolate Cichlids are primarily surface feeders waiting for bugs to land on the water, if you watch them they always tilt slightly up And Severums are quite vegetarian I would think larger tetras would be fine and if in dobut get Bleeding Hearts as they are just the fastest tetra around Just dont get torpedo shaped tetras like Rummynose or Cardinals etc. A variety of other South American fish would also work, headstanders are always a nice addition to this size tank such as spotted headstanders, maybe marbled but they can be a bit nippy.

If anything in South American Cichlid tank and often in Central American tanks schooling fish are somewhat essential (in Central American tanks livebearers are often used) as they act as whats called "Dither fish" which are smaller fish that stay up higher in the water which tells the larger fish (though not large enough to properly be predator to them) that the water is safe and in many cases with these kind of cichlids the lack of these fish cause stress to the larger ones and cause them to hide. The catfish are an inevitability in any waters and as such fish just tend to ignore them.


Though Chocolates are pretty large they are as gentile as anything, I said a Rotkiel as they stay generally smaller than common Greens and Golds again to lighten the bio load (compensating for the big choc) and an Acara type would finish off a nice trio. Or you could do the Choc and a group of the Guianacara or Cupids that I mentioned or you could do the Rotkiel with a group of them and maybe one other medium sized cichlids?

Hope thats helped
Wills

 

[michaelb4348]

but i suppose i cant have all 3 in a tank my size with some bottom feeders and and a school of tetras

No! You can't!

We all have to reconcile the things we want to keep with the things we can keep. If you want a big cichlid or two, then have a big cichlid or two, but don't expect to be able to keep catfish and tetras as well; that's a separate tank!

I have to disagree, Severums, Chocolates and Acara types are all fish that can cohabit with bottom dwelling tank mates such as Hoplos, Flagtail Cats, Pims, Brochis, various loches such as YoYos perhaps and of course a variety of plecos (though I would stay away from commons and the larger ones as it will take a large proportion of a 90g) I have whiptail catfish in with my Severums, Geophagus and Nicaraguan

Since Chocolate Cichlids are primarily surface feeders waiting for bugs to land on the water, if you watch them they always tilt slightly up And Severums are quite vegetarian I would think larger tetras would be fine and if in dobut get Bleeding Hearts as they are just the fastest tetra around Just dont get torpedo shaped tetras like Rummynose or Cardinals etc. A variety of other South American fish would also work, headstanders are always a nice addition to this size tank such as spotted headstanders, maybe marbled but they can be a bit nippy.

If anything in South American Cichlid tank and often in Central American tanks schooling fish are somewhat essential (in Central American tanks livebearers are often used) as they act as whats called "Dither fish" which are smaller fish that stay up higher in the water which tells the larger fish (though not large enough to properly be predator to them) that the water is safe and in many cases with these kind of cichlids the lack of these fish cause stress to the larger ones and cause them to hide. The catfish are an inevitability in any waters and as such fish just tend to ignore them.


Though Chocolates are pretty large they are as gentile as anything, I said a Rotkiel as they stay generally smaller than common Greens and Golds again to lighten the bio load (compensating for the big choc) and an Acara type would finish off a nice trio. Or you could do the Choc and a group of the Guianacara or Cupids that I mentioned or you could do the Rotkiel with a group of them and maybe one other medium sized cichlids?

Hope thats helped
Wills

Hi

I was thinking of having this tell me if this will work.

x1 chocolate

x2 blue acara

x2 guianacara


or

x1 chocolate

x2-3 of blue acara or guianacara which ever would be better i will get a a chocolate and build around that but want to buy them all small

 

[kizno1]

Hi

I was thinking of having this tell me if this will work.

x1 chocolate

x2 blue acara

x2 guianacara

or

x1 chocolate

x2-3 of blue acara or guianacara which ever would be better i will get a a chocolate and build around that but want to buy them all small

Personally i would stick to 1 of each and go for

1 Chocolate cichlid
1 Blue acara
1 Guianacara
8 Lemon tetra
6 Hoplo catfish or Pictus

 

[Wills]

It would work better as something like

1x Chocolate
1x Rotkiel Severum
1x Blue Acara

or

1x Chocolate
4/5x Guianacara (which ever species you can find) or 4/5x Cupid Cichlids


Then plus the dithers and bottom dwellers for each set up.

Guianacaras have to be kept as a group as like their larger cousins the Geophagus they are a nightmare when kept as pairs or trios and singletons can be trouble for other species. Guianacaras and Cupids are naturally gregarious though it appears for different reasons, Cupids use the groups for confidence, security and somewhat of a hierachy where as Guianacaras use it as a sign of dominance, hierachy, probably a bit to do with breeding rights and a little for confidence. I have found that groups of 4 works quite well though I think this tank could take 5 of them.

In the first set up I would stick with singletons and males if you can for 2 reasons - males wont lay eggs by them selves, females will. And males generally speaking have better colours on them. I say stick to singletons as breeding pairs can cause havoc in a tank and in my experience pairs are pretty unpredictable, some are find and will stake out a rock and thats it others want more than half the tank and some awkward couples want a full tank to them selves.

I would probably air on the side of Cupids over Guianacaras just because they are less troublesome in general and perhaps a little more common to find. But as you said buy them quite young, though no smaller than 2 inches and they will grow up together pretty nicely I would also add the chocolate last out of all the fish you get as they will grow the largest and even a months head start could be quite the difference in size between them and a younger severum for example.


Wills

 

[michaelb4348]

Hi

I was thinking of having this tell me if this will work.

x1 chocolate

x2 blue acara

x2 guianacara

or

x1 chocolate

x2-3 of blue acara or guianacara which ever would be better i will get a a chocolate and build around that but want to buy them all small

Personally i would stick to 1 of each and go for

1 Chocolate cichlid
1 Blue acara
1 Guianacara
8 Lemon tetra
6 Hoplo catfish or Pictus

would this be suitable for the size of the tank then and do the chocolates come in different colours?

could i have a royal plec and and couple of catfish i just want small bottom feeders / catfish or similar i know im a massive pain but i want to get it right.

 

[kizno1]

Hi

I was thinking of having this tell me if this will work.

x1 chocolate

x2 blue acara

x2 guianacara

or

x1 chocolate

x2-3 of blue acara or guianacara which ever would be better i will get a a chocolate and build around that but want to buy them all small

Personally i would stick to 1 of each and go for

1 Chocolate cichlid
1 Blue acara
1 Guianacara
8 Lemon tetra
6 Hoplo catfish or Pictus

would this be suitable for the size of the tank then and do the chocolates come in different colours?

could i have a royal plec and and couple of catfish i just want small bottom feeders / catfish or similar i know im a massive pain but i want to get it right.

Wills last post is right i was forgetting the Guianacara need to be in groups. Chocolates do vary in colour a lot but theres not like different strains you just have to see how they turn out. There are 2 different types of Chocolte cichlids though Hypselecara temporalis and Hypselecara coryphaenoides, Temporalis being the more common one of the 2 but i personally prefer the Coryphaenoides.
Aslong as you didnt have to many cichlids of the bottom i dont see why a Royal and 4 Hoplo catfish wouldnt work but Royal do make massive amounts of waste so make sure you have a good filter on there.

 

[england]

Chocolate cichlids are the chameleons of cichlids,,,lol, they change as there mood dictates, most cichlids will change alittle there colour depending on moods, stripes may appear and dissapear, but choccys are great cichlid to keep, mine is very placid, my sister is taking care of him now,

 

[michaelb4348]

hi guys thanks for all the advice

well in the end i got 2 oscars after all that they were in the shop and i wanted them. i know the size may be pushing it with 2 as adults but thats a while away yet. i also got a pleco not sure of the name now its dark with yellow spots and grows to around 30cm.
the only thing is one of the oscars is slighty bigger and the smaller one seems to be having a bit of a peck at the bigger one a bit not all the time just now and again should i worry about them being compatible??

 

[housty29]

i like rainbow fish myself, some will grow 2 a gud size an have the colours 2 catch ur eye but u got wot u wer lookin, they will take a long time 2 grow so maybe ul get a bigger tank wen they do lol