Please Help Me With Stocking My 100 Gallon

[CichlidKing]

Ok first off, Thanks for reading.. Im not really new to fishkeeping but I recently purchased a 100 gallon tank with 20 gallon sump.. I properly set up and cycled the tank and now its time for the fun part, stocking the tank... here is a list of fish I'm interested in.



Firemouth cichlid
Convict cichlid
Uaru cichlid
Red devil cichlid
Green terror cichlid
Jack Dempsey cichlid
Gold severum cichlid
Pictus catfish
Tire track eel
Red tail barracuda
Ghost knife fish or clownknife
Elephant nose
Fahaka puffer
Needle nose gar
Gold datnoid

Obviously I can't put all of these inside the tank but I'm curious.. which would live together passively and what would you choose..

 

[star4]

Stocking cichlids is not an exact science a lot depends on the personality of the fish, some are more aggressive than others. If it helps I have kept together with no problems...
 
Firemouth, convict, severum, pictus
 
convict, severum, jd
 
Urau, severum, black ghost knife

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Black Ghost Knife and Clown Knife need something much bigger than a typical 100 US gal for life, a baby BGK will reach close to 50cm within two years. You can almost certainly count the number of members ever on this forum with a suitable 10x4x4 foot tank on one hand.
 
The bare minimum tank size for any fish should be 6Lx2Lx2L, where L is the adult body length.
 
Where a species is particularly active (eg. Zebra Danios, Tinfoil Barbs, Silver Sharks) or has a relatively rigid body that cannot bend much to change direction (such as the BGK), the above formula needs upscaling to something bigger. 

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum the list you posted gives a good idea of the fish you like! Predatory, oddball and intelligent!
 
It looks like you can have a pretty incredible tank But you need to be clever with it and make some decisions as to which route you want to take with the cichlids, you have a mix of highly aggressive ones on there and much more timid and calm ones.
 
Before I get to the cichlids - Unfortunately I think there are some fish of the list on there that I would skip...
 
Red tail barracuda - this open water predator is a bit too specialist for the mixed tank I think you are wanting. They are also incredibly active so often need huge foot prints in length and width.
Ghost knife fish or clownknife - for the reasons Goat highlighted above
Elephant nose - not a great companion for the Cichlids you have mentioned above
Fahaka puffer - very difficult to get to work in a community tank, they have massive, powerful beaks that do so much damage even if they go to warn a fish. Its chunks of flesh torn out not just nipped fins.
Needle nose gar - might work.... depends on the tank dimensions?
Gold datnoid - too big your looking at an 18-20 inch fish
 
Now I would split the cichlids into 3 groups - agressive, neutral and calm(ish)
 
Aggressive
Convict cichlid
Red devil cichlid
Green terror cichlid
 
Neutral
Firemouth cichlid
Jack Dempsey cichlid
 
Calm
Uaru cichlid
Gold severum cichlid
 
I would choose between either the Aggressive or the Calms and then you can mix in the Neutrals if you want though again they are potentially an other group you could consider.
 
Before I suggest a concise stocking suggestion though I would like to know the dimensions of the tank and also which of the fish on the list do you want the most
 
Wills


 

 

[CichlidKing]

The tank is 48 Length/18 Width/ 25 Height *Inches That Is

I went to the pet store today and purchased

1 Convict
1 Jack Dempsey
1 Jewel Cichlid
1 Firemouth
1 Clown Knife
1 Green Terror

I would like to add either 3 pictus catfish or needle nose gar

Also, im not worried about the tank being dirty because I have a massive overkill of filtration.. let me know your opinions please and thank you

 

[CichlidKing]

This jewel is viscious.. wont stop picking on the other cichlids.. what should I do

 

[Wills]

Honest opinion... youve made a few mistakes... but they are quite substantial...
 
The Clown Knife is going to massivly outgrow the tank, 100 gallons is a big tank but this fish needs even bigger!! The Firemouth, JD and Convict may work together, Jewels are always a nightmare - always... if you can return it, its probably best. The Green Terror may work... but they are really hard to predict as to what will happen long term with then, they could end up the same as the Jewel but much stronger.
 
I would take the Jewel and the Knife back to the store asap (though the jewel is more important to remove immediately) For now try and separate the jewel with some kind of divider, if it small enough try and use a breeding net. If you have a spare heater it may do ok in a bucket overnight if you can get it back to the store tomorrow night.
 
Wills

 

[CichlidKing]

If I got rid of those two fish, would it be alright to add either of these fish?

Needle nose gar
Flowerhorn
(3) pictus catfish

 

[Wills]

Needle nose gar - the tank is not wide enough, they are over a foot long and quite rigid fish so need a lot of turning space. They are very skitish as well.
 
Flowerhorn - will end the same way as the Jewel, very aggressive and a good chance they will want to claim the whole tank for itself....
 
Pictus Catfish - good fish for the tank and to go with the fish you have in there Either a 3 or 4 will do great in there! Go for these Just make sure you get Pim Pictus and not any of the giant species as it will end the same way as the Clown Knife...
 
Wills

 

[CichlidKing]

If I added 3 pictus, would I be able to add an Oscar too without it being labeled overstocked? That is after I get rid of the jewel & clown knife ofcorse. Thank you for your output too wills.. greatly appreciated !

 

[Wills]

I think the Oscar would be pushing it a bit with the other 4 cichlids in there. You would have been better getting the Oscar first. I would look at getting non cichlids in the tank now
 
So if we say the tank is like this (or at least planned to be like this) for now
 
1 Green Terror
1 Convict
1 Jack Dempsey
1 Firemouth
3 Pictus Catfish
 
What other oddballs and non cichlid fish would you like?
 
Wills

 

[AeonMapa]

You might have gone a little overboard in selecting your fish. Like mentioned, the clown knife is going to be too big for your tank. Also the cichlids are a little too much for that tank, but since the convict and the firemouth are a good bit smaller in may work out fine. Jewel cichlids are African and shouldn't be mixed in with your new world fish. I would hold off on adding any other cichlids until you see how your current 4 sort it out amongst themselves. Adding an Oscar or any other similar fish will most likely result in you re-homing or losing one of your fish.
 
how is your tank scaped? do you have lots of hiding places? Your fish will need them.
 
You'll want to look into what dither fish you can get, like raibow fish or silver dollars. You can also maybe get a small pleco species or a Raphael catfish or the 3 pictus.

 

[CichlidKing]

Got rid of clown knife so currently in the tank now is

Firemouth
Green terror
Convict
Jewel
Jack Dempsey

The jewel is still an ass but seems to have calmed down alot

If I got rid of the jewel. What other cichlids would mix well with what I have?

 

[Wills]

None, you need to rehome the Jewel, they are an absolute nightmare and really need to be kept in species tanks.
 
The JD, Convict, Firemouth and Green Terror will really fill up that tank as they grow - if you had gone with more peaceful more gregarious cichlids like South Americans you would have more options.
 
Wills

 

[CichlidKing]

I could probably run this eh?

Oscar
Convict
Jack Dempsey
3 pictus catfish

My firemouth died yesterday somehow, sucked up in the sump and jewel will be gone asap

If I went with lake Malawi cichlids, what would make a nice and beautiful stock with the 100g ?