Aps 250L Stocking? Angels/elliotti/others?

[minnnt]

Nice to know! Thanks.

Rainbows are super duper dupery supery cichlids!! They're herbivorous so will nibble on plants. Their colours are excellent. They're pretty placid and can be shy, but with dithers they should be fine.

 

[Mcbenthy]

Nice to know! Thanks.

Rainbows are super duper dupery supery cichlids!! They're herbivorous so will nibble on plants. Their colours are excellent. They're pretty placid and can be shy, but with dithers they should be fine.

how much constitutes nibbling? I'm going to be heavily planting this tank (and I will be buying a camera so I can actually update my journal this time! btw, I've moved house, so the old scape has been through quite an agressive clear out!)

What's their compatability with Angels like? I think I need to see a lot of these fish in the flesh to get a feel for how they'll work in my tank tbh...

 

[minnnt]

They mowed my Vallis like a bowling green. Lol.

My Rainbows were soft as shizzle.

 

[Mcbenthy]

They mowed my Vallis like a bowling green. Lol.

My Rainbows were soft as shizzle.

Haha! That may be my only problem then, as I do quite like my plants and will (hopefully) be using a lot of Anubias as well as a lily in there, which are a lil too expensive to be snacks

I'm asking because I do really like the Angels, so I'm trying to get a feel for how many of what in together will work...

I assume Rainbows fall into the same size range as Apistos and Rams? if so how would:
6 Angels (removed as appropriate)
4/6 Rainbows
2/4 Rams/Apistos (will have a 20G set up in an adjacent room for these to begin with)
15-20 Rummynose
10 Cories (preferably more)
??? Mollies

V. Heavily planted in a triangle scape - lots of dense planting in one corner leading to an open swimming area with some low soft/hardscape trailing off into just sand

It sounds like it may be over-stocked and ambitious with regards to the fish behaving, but I have no experience with these species so I will ask and take advice.

Cheers

 

[minnnt]

2 Rainbows
3 Apistogramma
6 Angels
20 Rummynose Tetras
10 Sterbai Corydoras
3 Honey Gourami
1 L200 hi-fin

That is what I would be looking at. If you end up with too may pairs then the Cories won't have anywhere to go without being seen as intruders to territories of the Cichlids. The Rainbows lay their eggs on flat surfaces and the Apisto's are cave spawners so ensure that is worked into your aquascape.

I would replace the Mollies with Honey Gourami's.

 

[Mcbenthy]

2 Rainbows
3 Apistogramma
6 Angels
20 Rummynose Tetras
10 Sterbai Corydoras
3 Honey Gourami
1 L200 hi-fin

That is what I would be looking at. If you end up with too may pairs then the Cories won't have anywhere to go without being seen as intruders to territories of the Cichlids. The Rainbows lay their eggs on flat surfaces and the Apisto's are cave spawners so ensure that is worked into your aquascape.

I would replace the Mollies with Honey Gourami's.

Sounds good. Why the replacemnt of the mollies with gourami? the scape will have plenty of rocks and wood forming a style of boundary around the scape in order to provide at least 1 cave/sheltered spot per cichlid + a couple spare.

 

[minnnt]

I'm a firm believer of Mollies being kept in hard water that is slightly brackish.

 

[Mcbenthy]

I'm a firm believer of Mollies being kept in hard water that is slightly brackish.

Ahhh, yes... I meant platties... /facepalm.

I just want a surface dwelling, colourful live bearer to a) provide some activity 'up top'; b) a splash of colour (although this will come from the cichlids as well); and c) provide the occasional hunt/live food for the angels and apistos/rams.

 

[minnnt]

Much better!! Where abouts are you?

 

[Mcbenthy]

Much better!! Where abouts are you?

I'm based in Stoke, but have friends from Manchester where I just left, so back there pretty often. I'll probs be looking at sourcing some fishes from the manchester-derby-stoke-birmingham sort of area.

yourself?

 

[minnnt]

Nottinghamshire.

Could probably get you some Rainbow Cichlids F.O.C. mate if you're willing to pick them up? They're only juvies though, around 0.75" atm. I also have a few Apistogramma Cacatuoides 'Double Red' growing on and some black blotch white Platys also growing on, they're currently around 0.5cm.

Depends how quickly you're wanting them and if you want adults or are willing to grow them on.

ALSO... have some Cryptoheros Cutteri growing on too.

 

[Mcbenthy]

Nottinghamshire.

Could probably get you some Rainbow Cichlids F.O.C. mate if you're willing to pick them up? They're only juvies though, around 0.75" atm. I also have a few Apistogramma Cacatuoides 'Double Red' growing on and some black blotch white Platys also growing on, they're currently around 0.5cm.

Depends how quickly you're wanting them and if you want adults or are willing to grow them on.

ALSO... have some Cryptoheros Cutteri growing on too.

That would be awesome! The plan is to get the aquarium ready to go over the next fornight with cuttings from my 20G and some deliveries from TGM, supplimented with a trip to P@H for some tropica odds and sods. I'd rather grow them out tbh, It's my tank for me to enjoy, hopefully it'll be a nice display tank, but my primary enjoyment will be watching it grow into my imagined tank.

Would you suggest getting a few at that size and keeping a bonded pair? Same for the apistos? I'd be happy to pay for them tbh, but roughtly how much would we be talking about?

 

[minnnt]

They're not sexable yet, so a group and see what you get would be best imo. I'm not sure how many Apisto's I have tbh, they hide a lot as they're in the same grow out tank as the Platy and Cutteri. All doing great!

Price would probably be a pound a piece, I'm not out to make a shed load of money from them, just enough to get a bit of food etc.

I breed them as it's what I enjoy doing, if I manage to raise a few then I would rather someone who cares have them have them cheap rather than some numb nut who has no idea buy them for a fiver a piece.

Will get back to you on the Rainbows as they're not mine, lol, but a friend has about 200, so there shouldn't be any issues really.

 

[Mcbenthy]

They're not sexable yet, so a group and see what you get would be best imo. I'm not sure how many Apisto's I have tbh, they hide a lot as they're in the same grow out tank as the Platy and Cutteri. All doing great!

Price would probably be a pound a piece, I'm not out to make a shed load of money from them, just enough to get a bit of food etc.

I breed them as it's what I enjoy doing, if I manage to raise a few then I would rather someone who cares have them have them cheap rather than some numb nut who has no idea buy them for a fiver a piece.

Will get back to you on the Rainbows as they're not mine, lol, but a friend has about 200, so there shouldn't be any issues really.

Well, that would be lovely!

The current plan is to get the plants this week (payday tomorrow). I've decided to give the 1,2... Grow! in vitro cultures a go due to a) price and b) science! I've drawn up the scape on a scrap of paper with some ideas as to what will go where, just need to source the hardscape, which will probs be this weekend when I go home.

Tbf, if you are needing to shift them sooner, I have the 20G running where I could happily house some for the few weeks before the 250L gets running... *ponders* - not to mention that there is a chance the apistos would stay in there as a pair...

 

[minnnt]

No rush at all mate. They're happy where they are for now. From a quick observation in there, i can only see 2 Apisto's, but there may be more. There was about a dozen i think. Plenty of Platys though.

Just a thought, would you consider some Cryptoheros Cutteri? If so i have a few available.


Female Cutteri by David Raynham, on Flickr

What kind of hardscape are you looking for?