New Stocking

[tr0p1cal]

Hi i got a 4x2x2 tank atm with discus a few other fish and lots of plants with a co2 kit running on it. Im now looking to get something more active with abit more of a personality, the discus look great but just dont do much else.

so im not to sure what i can and cant mix, ive had a lok at alt of fish ill put down what i want and like then if sumone with experience can help me pick a balanced group that would be great.


so i like

Convicts
Firemouth
Electric Blue Jack Dempsey
Perhaps a severum
salvini

my lfs had sum jurupari in but now just has one, perhaps sum of these of a different type of geophagus.im ideally after fish that max about 8 ideally i dont wanna go bigger.

ive noticed sum setups have angel fish for the top area? is there anything else?

any help would be great, thanks.

 

[markandhisfish]

are you going to be moving the discus on and starting the stocking again from scratch?

 

[tr0p1cal]

yes mark, im gonna remove all my current stock so will be starting from scratch.

forgot to mention i got an fx5 running on it and a tetratec 1200.

 

[markandhisfish]

loads of possible options then . same size tank ive got , a nice size to work with. will you be keeping it planted? if so id avoid severums as they will destroy your plants , also geophagus as being eartheaters will probably unintentionally uproot plants while sifting the substrate. salvinis are notoriously evil so you would have to choose tankmates with great care , convicts are generally not too bad unless spawning , during which time they can be pretty hard too.

youre doing exactly the same as i did recently , i got bored of discus for the exact same reason , so i think the switch will be good for you .

angels would work well they look great in planted setups , quite good characters too , mine always used to follow me from 1 end of the tank to the other .
there are literally tons of mid sized cichlids suited to your tank

firemouths
sajica
T. elliotti
blue acara
rams

just to name a few .

 

[tr0p1cal]

yer ive read all of your post recently mark, my friend has an oscar which hes had for about 6 months now hes grown so much. My main concern is just the number balance of each fish really. id defo want the convicts and firemouth. do you think an EBJD is gonna be to agrresive? the blue acara sounds good. Do u think appistos are gonna be to small i had sum aggazzizisisisiisisisisisi ( cant remember the spelling ) they were amazing. i guess its the if it can fit in its mouth it will eat it scenario.

 

[markandhisfish]

if youre gonna go for convicts you may be better of with a single specemin rather than a pair , thus avoiding any issues when they spawn , cant really give much advice about ebjd its not a fish i know too much about , they are supposed to be a bit more mellow than regular jds , altho i would of thought appistos would be at risk of being lunch when the ebjd got big enough .

 

[Verminator89]

From my personal experience with Jack Dempseys they arent overly aggressive at all. Only the usual fights when a pair spawn, other than that i've found their temperament to be fantastic.

As for the difference between the regular jacks and the electric blue strain there is a marked difference IME. The regular jacks being slightly more aggressive. I currently have an 8" male EBJD and he is the biggest softy going. I don't have to worry about him eating smaller fish. I've kept him with rummynose-tetras, corys, danios and japonica shrimp. All with no issues. So an appisto isnt an issue, providing you get a jack without the aggressive temperament. As much as you research what will mix, you never quite know with cichlids. You could end up with the fish in his batch of fry that was the class bully

My dempseys are quite reclusive tbh, spending alot of their time at the back of the tank in amongst the plants. Only during feeding and occasional times do they swim out and about. Having said that i've seen Lesleys (Star4's) jack in person and he is in with 5 or 6 Texas cichlids and swims around happy as larry.

One thing i'd note about the EBJD is its health overall, or more so its immune system. In the first 6 months of an EBJD's life they are extremely fragile. I lost my female unexpectedly one day, and i've heard many many stories of others exactly the same. No idea why, they are just fragile fish at a young age more so than many expect. Something to think about.



I really life the idea of a tank with a pair of Dempseys in, maybe a severum of sorts with a group of firemouths/ellioti swimming around. Alternatively i think appistos would work great as a smaller cichlid you could have a few more of in a tank this size Acaras would also work well i suppose. I've just got a group of 3 rotkeil severums and have instantly become a massive fan!

A good looking dempsey is a wonder to behold, an ugly dempsey can be unsightly (coming from a dempsey fanatic!) lol.


Hope this helps,
James

 

[hamfist]

Hi i got a 4x2x2 tank atm with discus a few other fish and lots of plants with a co2 kit running on it. Im now looking to get something more active with abit more of a personality, the discus look great but just dont do much else.

so im not to sure what i can and cant mix, ive had a lok at alt of fish ill put down what i want and like then if sumone with experience can help me pick a balanced group that would be great.


so i like

Convicts
Firemouth
Electric Blue Jack Dempsey
Perhaps a severum
salvini

my lfs had sum jurupari in but now just has one, perhaps sum of these of a different type of geophagus.im ideally after fish that max about 8 ideally i dont wanna go bigger.

ive noticed sum setups have angel fish for the top area? is there anything else?

any help would be great, thanks.

In a 4x2x2, 1 x convict, 1 x firemouth, 1 x salvini, 1 x severum & 1 x EBJD should work fine.

First piece of advice ..... dont's ever get a pair of potentially breed ing cichlids in a community tank. The potential chaos is not something to look forward to.

2nd piece of advice ... add all of your fish within the same same day or two if you possibly can. Once any cichlid has got comfortable within it's own territory within a tank, you can have a hell of a time introducing new fish. Adding them all together almost eliminates this, although there are always potential issues between individual cichlids within any tank.

I would also advise that you forget about having a planted tank because it will so restrict you as to appropriate species from that point onwards.

As for the geos .... they will actually be Satanoperca leucosticta (google these), and are outstanding cichlid community fish. Much, much better than any of the "true" geophagus species, which are genrally much more aggressive. They grow very slowly so I wouldn't worry too much about them outgrowing your tank for the moment. Get a pair though, at least, as they are naturally a shoaling fish.
Angels might well also work OK for you as an upper layer fish.

Obviously I am not advising you to get all these fish for your tank, but they are fish to consider for your community.