Leopard Bushfish And Stocking 72 Gal

[Jenste]

Set up - 72 Gallon bow.  Sand Substrate, moderate low tech planting. (mostly swords and red lily), some rocky areas and driftwood.  Two Fluval 405 canister filters for filtration. Overall the tank has been set up 4+ years, stocking has shifted in that time frame.
Right now the stocking is:  3 Leopard Bushfish (still fairly young), 4 Bolivian Rams, 1 Bristlenose Plec, 2 Honey Gouramis, 6 adult guppies and various fry, and 9 Neons.

I am stuck - I want a centerpiece type fish and am leaning towards a trio of Pearl Gouramis (1M:2F) ....

The guppies and neons I am not really attached too....if anything the guppy entertain the Bushfish. (and yes...by entertain I mean that the fry are food but not their staple). Right now the neons are safe but in the future....

The Neons and Guppies are probably going to be moved to the 26 Gallon I have standing by but have yet been unsure as what I want to do with it...

For the 72....any other stocking suggestions?   I think Cherry barbs (to replace the neons/guppies) will eventually be snack size for  the Bushfish...I am not sure tiger barbs would fit in well..
 
 

 

[Wills]

I would move the Gourami, Guppies and the Neon over to the 26 sooner than later (if there is space) the Leopard Bush Fishes mouths are a fantastic size, they are one of those fish that you would not believe how far it stretches. They are ambush predators so their jaw structure is designed to open as wide as possible as fast as possible.
 
As far as the future of the tank, you want a calm barb to go in with them maybe Panda Barbs would be nice? Avoid Danios and Barbs with boisterous or skittish natures. Some kind of Synodontis would be quite nice in there to get a bit of an African/ Asian predator tank in there. Congo Tetras might work as well and they look fantastic!
 
Nobodyofthegoat has a fantastic amount of knowlegdge on these kind of fish hopefully he will pop into the thread and advise
 
Wills

 

[Jenste]

Thanks.  Right now the honey gouramis are the same size or larger than the bushfish.  I hadn't originally thought of moving them to the 26 also but now I am considering it....would help the tank feel "fuller" also than it would have with just neons and guppies. 

Just had a peak at the Congo Tetras....got to admit they are very appealing!  Great colors.  but at about $10 each...a decent shoal will set me back easily over $100...it will be something to seriously think over. 
 
Any input on the Pearl Gouramis?
A Senegal Bichir ?

 

[Wills]

I would leave the upper levels of the tank to the Bushfish, too many  Anabantoids can cause issues and adult Bushfish are larger than you imagine. So maybe pass on the Pearls, its the reason I suggested moving the Dwarfs as well, not because they are at risk of being eaten but just for peace in the tank.
 
Congos are worth it, a school of about 8 would work nicely 3 males 5 females maybe?
 
I think the Bichir could be a good contender, there was an amazing tank on here ages ago that had a similar stocking.... Ill try and find it
 
Wills

 

[Jenste]

Came home yesterday with a Senegal Bichir - spent most of the afternoon reading up about them and found a LFS that had a few in stock.   Picked up a young one, about 4" long at the moment. 
 
Fed very well on bloodworms today. 

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Even if your bushfish are ~5cm (still babies, my 4-year olds are ~12cm SL) they can still extend their mouth to vacuum in ~1cm body fish (my ones can "yawn" to ~2cm or perhaps a fraction more), those Neons and Guppies are in real danger in the very near future.
 
But now things are far more serious with your 4" bichir purchase and you need to act pronto, in fact you might even wake later today to missing Guppies/Neons. I raise one of the lesser known livebearer goodeids (Ilyodon xantusi) on a very small scale to the likes of livebearer fanatics like fish48 and helterskelter on here, supplying a couple of shops with youngsters every now and again. One time, there was a miscommunication between the shop manager and one of his staff, which meant a ~10cm Bichir (saddled, P. endlicheri I think) was not moved from the planned tank for the Ilyodon youngsters... A 4cm Ilyodon was eaten within seconds of introduction.
 
Your 72g is not likely to be suitable for a Sengal Bichir for life, many bichir species need at least a 150cm (5-foot) long, Polypterus delhezi are a bit more managable at ~30cm or so adult size and could just about live in a 4-foot tank for life.
 
Finding fish for African oddball tanks is a little tricky: They need to be deep enough bodied to not become "live lunch," not too active to spook bushfish, not "vultures/pigs" at meal time, not nippy/aggressive. Congo Tetras are usually a good option and if you look around they don't have to be expensive (someone I know bought some ~2cm babies for £2 each and they grew well over ~6-months to a size safe for his African predators). Another oddball option could be Empire Gudgeon, I had my two with the bushfish until a "tank juggle" last year.
In my 6-foot African oddball tank with the bushfish, I have a trio of Distichodus altus and a much larger/mature Distichodus fasciolatus, with an African Butterfly Fish at the surface and an African Knife Fish also midwater. Down the bottom, there are various synos (notata; budgetti; schoutedini; trio of brichardi); 4 Euchilichthys spp.;a male Blockhead Cichlid (Steatocranus); an increasingly worrying ~15cm Ornate Chrysichthys (massive predatory mouth) and an ever-growing Giraffe Catfish (from a skinny 5cm to a bulky ~28cm in 18 months!!!).