Rebuilding My Tank :)

[Wills]

So after the loosing Lilly the other week, I have made some changes to the tank. I rehomed my "Giant" Tetragonupterous Tetras and my L095/L152. The Tetras were just too big and I didnt have enough of them to properly act as dither fish for my other fish and because I couldnt get any more of them due to them being so rare I took them back to the shop I got them from (Wharf) in the hopes that someone else will add them to their school.
 
The L095/L152 is a fish I have not really mentioned on the forum before as I have been quite set on rehoming for a long time. I got it from Pier Aquatics about 18 months ago as a small L095, plan was to grow it on. However it got to 8 inches and never coloured up just stayed black so I knew it was an L152 or one of the plainer relatives. It was pretty disappointing to have the wrong fish and then that mixed with how shy they were and the amount of poop I knew it had to go... and this was just the trigger. 
 
So thats the negatives, the positives are I have got 2 more whiptail catfish, Rineloricaria sp. so nice and small, they were labeled as Lancelota but they are really black so not sure if they are or not need to do some research. I got them from a new shop called Lincs Fish, its a really nice guy with a good set up near his house, he is getting really nice, rare stuff   And then today I have just got 18 Black Phantom Tetras to hopefully act as dithers for the other fish I got these from MA @ Brigg.
 
Long term plans for the tank are to add a Heros sp. Rio Inirida and also a small group of Geophagus Tapajos - probably 4. It will end up being quite a heavy stock for a 135 gallon but before the end of next year I should have a 180 gallon so quite happy with this, especially as the Heros and Geos will be young when I get them
 
Just thought I would give a bit of an update on the tank
Wills

 

[Liam2368]

Excited to see the tank with the new additions bud, as always your decisions are throughly thought about so I know it will end up looking really nice.

 

[star4]

Sounds like a good plan especially the Heros, will need pics

 

[Wills]

Thanks guys - slight change in plan.... unfortunately 4 tetras have disapeared by this morning, had a good look through but I have a feeling my threadfin or the agenisous may have taken them in the night... the tetras looked surprisingly small in my tank compared to in the shop, in the shop they looked massive...
 
So I have 14 of them left now, I have now added a school of 10 Bleeding Heart Tetras that are larger but I am hoping that in the bigger school of 24 and with bigger specimens around it should deter predetation. The Bleeding Hearts are looking amazing in the tank and they have not been in that long yet!
 
I have also decided that I am going to hold off on the Geos for now, maybe when I get the 180 then I can do it but right now I think adding in just the Heros is the right thing to do Maybe I will get a few more non cichlids, maybe some more whiptails....
 
Wills

 

[star4]

Fewer fish the better if you are planning an upgrade. You have to remember they all have to be caught and housed while the new tank is set up, unless you are leaving that one running while the new tank goes in.

 

[Wills]

Yeah, it would just be a straight swap, lower the water pull the tank forward, slide the new one in. I imagine the process of moving 2 6 foot tanks around will involve a lot of swearing!
 
Wills

 

[Wills]

Gahhhh Ive just noticed one of the new bleeding hearts is actually a bentosi tetra!!! Thats going to be fun getting him out of there then!
 
Wills

 

[Ninjouzata]

Exciting! Good luck catching that tetra

 

[star4]

At least you have a little room to work, when I get sorted with my bigger tanks I am going to have to empty a 300l tank and move it about 6", fill that, move the fish from the 400l to the spare 400l and move the tv, empty tank out to get the new one in and hope we have enough room to get it between the other 300l tank under the window lol. Then repeat for the other side of the room.
 
Are all tetra present and correct this morning?

 

[Wills]

The Tetras are down to 8 now gutted I really thought they would have been ok. Its just going to be impossible to catch them without stripping the whole tank down and stressing all the other fish out...
 
I think now my stock will look like
 
1x Spotted Severum -  Heros sp.Inirida
1x Threadfin Acara - Acarichthys Heckelii
1x Laetacara Thayeri
5x Cupid Cichlids - Biotodoma sp.Santarem
8x Lipstick Headstanders - Annostomus Ternetzi
20x Tetras - mix of Bentosi, Bleeding Heart and Black Phantoms - need to asses what to do in a few weeks...
6x Flagtail Catfish - Dianema Urostriatum
4x Whiptail Catfish - 1x Sturisoma, 1xLoricaria, 2x Rhinloricara
 
What do you guys think? Too much or do you think I could add some geos?
Wills

 

[bonzo]

Aint been around for a long long time but a word of caution on the Heros sp.Inirida as we have had a single male and then a breeding pair and out of all the severum we have kept the Inirida has to be the most aggressive, the single male was a nitemare fighting with any fish we housed him with and the pair were every bit as bad and when they spawned they killed all round them they made Notatus look like pussy cats.
After saying that they really are stunning sevs.
 
Hope your all well.

 

[Wills]

Woweee!! Thankyou so much for the info, I've been trying to find as much info as possible but there is very little out there.
 
I have seen that there are two species that get called Heros sp.Inirida - a Severus type and a Notatus type, which was it you had? Any other info, pics etc
 
I remember you had a lot of Severums, which would you say are the most chilled out? I have been thinking of sourcing a true 8 bar Rotkiel as I think they can be a bit calmer. Though I also like the regular Notatus... so yeah any suggestions?
 
Unfortunately due to when my order is going to be placed I think the Inirida I was hoping for are going to have sold out but just waiting on news on that front.
 
Wills

 

[bonzo]

Out of all the sevs we've had the Rotkeil would have been the most easy going with the Inirida being the biggest pain. The breeding pair were so nasty that i ended up putting them in with a young 7 inch male black belt and they held their own in that tank untill we had a suitable tank for them.
When we were sourcing the Inirida we got a few young fish that just turned out to be bad Notatus before we got what we wanted.
 
I was'nt aware of there being two species getting the Inirida name but the ones we had would have been Notatus type.
I'll try find pics of them but not sure if we've still got them as most of our fishy pics are deleted due to us loosing interest in the fish (to much water changing with no time to do it)

 

[Wills]

Hmmm maybe I will see what I can find then! If they are up there with a black belt I think I might worry about my Cupids.... hum
 
Pics would be really cool! From what I know (mainly because Liam2368 told me) there is a Severus strain called Inirida which is possibly a line bred strain rather than a wild one and also the Notatus one, I have seen some forum posts around the web that would suggest that both exist and no one really knows why the Severus is called Inirida as its not thought to come from the inrida. From what I have seen though they are giants of the Severus types with them hitting the size you would expect from a Efasciatus
 
I was actually thinking of not doing a severum and getting the Geophagus instead... so maybe thats something to explore
 
Wills

 

[bonzo]

Notatus type Inirida have 8 bars like true Rotkeil. Looking pretty much like a pastel shaded Notatus with a pinky hue if that makes sence.
 
Your cupids would never be seen with the Iniridea we had they would of constantly been in hiding.
 
IMO a tank with a pair of Rotkeil and Geo Tapajos is hard to beat, and your Cupids would be able to live in peace with them.