So, what to do with the “not Cupids”

[Magnum Man]

For any that don’t know, I ordered 4 Cupid Cichlids on line, and the seller sent me 4 healthy medium/ large growing earth eaters… the tank is a 45 gallon tall, and there is not enough real estate for them, and they are fighting constantly… not damaging fins, and not fighting anyone else…
I could probably get by with one in that tank, but the constant stress has caused me to lose the couple dwarf Cichlids, competing for the same space…

Mrs, suggested I move them into the Bichir tank, which is pretty insightful, I don’t have sand in that tank, but do have a very fine river gravel, with all rounded edges… it’s a 55 gallon, with more real estate than the 45 gallon tall, where they are currently… other options, would be give them away, or set up another tank… I see I can get 60 gallon breeders pretty cheaply right now… the bichir tank has one medium sized bichir, 4 medium sized silver dollars, and one medium sized common pleco… if I thought I could get by, adding 3 to that tank, that might be the best temporary solution???

Thoughts???

 

[Colin_T]

stick them in the birchir tank, grow them up, identify the species and breed them.

 

[GaryE]

As they grow, they will be the nicest fish you have. The seller was really wrong to send them. You refund a customer - you don't substitute a fish that is larger and needs a special set up without it being ordered. I would have demanded a refund. But you were new to the species, and he got you.

A fish that large but that interesting would push me to add a new tank. That's where the seller really created an expensive problem! A 60 breeder is small for them, but you are a good tank maintenance person, and if you stay on top of it, it would work. I have never paid attention to bichirs to know if that would work as a combination, but the tank is already very overstocked and small.

I love reading your posts. You have a great eye for what is going on. But you scare me. You are getting a lot of fish for not a lot of tank space, and crowded systems crash. You and I have the same "I've got to see that" problem when it comes to purchasing, and as you keep adding, nature subtracts. You're soon going to need a fishroom with large tanks and central plumbing...

 

[Magnum Man]

I don’t have anything profound to post this morning, with my caffeine… but was sitting here thinking, that I’m truly blessed with the diversity, and special fish I already have, but was wishing I could double the size of each of these tanks I’m watching each morning… if my African tank, a 45 gallon tall, which is 36 inches long, was the same dimensions, but twice as long, how much more interesting that would be… being 6 feet wide, and 24 inches tall…

My Asian tank is a standard 55 gallon, and is working well right now, but a group of red tailed reticulated Hillstream’s just became available, which is high on my want list… I like my Tin Foil barbs, but they are a lot of bioload… it would be nice to have another tank to move them to, as I just didn’t realize the diversity and shear variety of Hillstream’s, when I got into them…
I saw some listings for 5 foot long 100 gallon tanks, and was already dreaming about a double stack rack for a pair of them, to move the Tin Foils, into one, and the Earth Eaters into the other ( ideal temperatures are different enough, that they couldn’t share a tank )… and yes, that would be expensive, but probably not beyond me, once winter comes… but the house is pretty full already, and the only place I could see adding them, is far away from the plumbing needed…

Fish room… Gary says… and in a separate shed… don’t you be tempting me… Mrs already thinks I’ve gone a bit too far down this “rabbit hole” and doesn’t like that she doesn’t get to regularly see the fish that are only visible in the work area behind the tanks… having to go outside to see them would be worse…

In reality, I guess I could see leaving one Geo in the current tank, and try moving 3 into the Bichir tank… last year, I had the Bichir n the Duckweed growing tank, outside, in the Tilapia set up, but this year, time is getting away from me, and he’s getting bigger, so it might not be worth moving him outside for 3-4 months???

 

[GaryE]

We all have different ways of doing things. What works for me is going small - I point my snout at the diversity of tiny fishes because then, I have room for them. But my taste isn't for all, and you like big fish (and you cannot lie).

If I had converted my complete garage to a fish room, rather than dividing it, I would probably have added big tanks gradually, and would have a lot of Geophagus and Satanoperca. I had budget considerations and didn't go that route. It doesn't mean they don't tempt me. Whatever goes on in our heads, fish people who have caught on to the diversity bug want to see.

The whole trip last summer was based on a serious scientist and world expert who wanted to observe the behaviour of fish he had scientifically described and named. He wanted to watch them as living things, and not as cut flowers on a stem of the tangled tree of life. So we went to get them. There is so much to actually see with fish. We start out looking for colours and shapes, but it can grow if we let it.

I've never liked cars, trucks, boats, golf, shoes, or the other things I was supposed to want. A warm house, good company and lots of interesting fish are what I seek. The fishroom was a logical step. A relative has retired and wants a sports car, a convertible that he could only drive for part of the year, and everyone thinks that's cool. I have a fishroom at under 20% of the cost, year round, and I'm apparently weird. Such is life.

 

[Colin_T]

I've never liked cars, trucks, boats, golf, shoes, or the other things I was supposed to want. A warm house, good company and lots of interesting fish are what I seek. The fishroom was a logical step. A relative has retired and wants a sports car, a convertible that he could only drive for part of the year, and everyone thinks that's cool. I have a fishroom at under 20% of the cost, year round, and I'm apparently weird. Such is life.

LOL, welcome to the weird club
I live in Australia and Aussie males are meant to watch football, drink beer and treat women as second class objects. I watched football when I was a kid because my best friend played on Sunday morning and we would go and watch him but after that I had no real interest in the game. I don't drink alcohol and I grew up in a house full of females and no male role model, so as far as I'm concerned, women get treated the same as men (at least in my world but not necessarily the rest of the world). Everyone used to call me weird because I didn't watch footy or drink beer. They made me feel worse when I said I prefer to keep fish and birds over dogs and cats, and I didn't smoke weed or drive a car, but I used to cycle everywhere. If I wore glasses and played the cello, I would have been the weirdest thing in my country.

 

[GaryE]

We're veering off a lot, but if we get ourselves into a situation where we can indulge ourselves a little, it is interesting to see what people choose. My neighbour buys motorized things - he has 2 cars, a top of the line ATV and a pretty powerful snowmobile. He cuts his grass religiously, I think because he loves driving his ride on mower.
He looks askance at my little plastic greenhouse, and at the fishroom windows.
No one is right or wrong - we just don't quite get each other. If society takes a Mad Max direction, he's way ahead of me!
I find aquarium people much more inclined to fret about what they spend than males with traditional interests. It seems cool to buy a car for fun, and uncool to buy an aquarium. If it doesn't hurt your family finances or get you into debt, I say enjoy. Life is short.