Tank Space Opening Up

[Binge]

So I currently have 5 african ciclids in my 75 gallon with jack dempsy, bichir,bristlenose pleco, and blood parrot. Those 5 africans will be moving in a couple of weeks since they are reaching maturity and becoming aggressive. The move is essentially freeing up half the tank as far as fish/gallon ratio goes. So I am open to suggestions as to what I should add to this tank to fill it out. The bichir dempsy and parrot all get along extreamely well they even share the biggest cave in the tank, dempsy and parrot side by side and bichir curled on the sand under them. I was considering another parrot and maybe another dempsy but dont know if that is the direction I want to go

 

[saz326]

what are their sexes?

INtorducing another fish even of the types that already get along bay go pete tong if a love triangle is sparked.

 

[holidayinn]

Always trial and error with mixing cichlids, especially if its an establised set up with mature fish. You can try but have a backup plan if it doesnt go to plan...Personally, I would try a different SA/CA cichlid of a similar temperament, to avoid pairing and conspecific aggression.

 

[Binge]

Okie ty for the advice. Ill do a lil more research on breeds and use ifferent ones. I am not sure the sex on them I will try and get pics of them this evening.

 

[hamfist]

Personally, I would not add any more cichlids to what you have. Too much chance of turning the tank into a war zone.

Maybe add a small shoal of rainbow fish. Boesmanis are very nice !

 

[Binge]

Would bosamanis be big enough to not be a snack for my bicir?

 

[KittyKat]

Melanotaenia boesemani are one of the larger species, so if the other person is correct in that rainbows are compatible, then they are suitable. I recommend that rainbows are kept in groups of 10+ per species, as with all schooling fish, and as a mix of males and females.

 

[johnboy!]

I've seen Bosemani 6" long, 10 6" fish are certainly too much, Danios would make more sense, fast fish so i doubt the bichir would be able to catch them, and they stay small (unless you get giant danios) so you could have a group of 15

 

[KittyKat]

Yes, M. boesemani should be treated as 6" fish as they definitely can reach that size with the right care. Giant danios are also nice fish (all two species of them), as are zebra danios.. but I'm not sure how compatible those are. Even fast fish sometimes have a rest, and both are shallow bodied species, so more likely to be eaten, if caught.

 

[Binge]

Well the africans are in thier new rocky home(got my LFS to take the lobster babys in the 55 early !) and my 75g is up about 7 plants I will post some pics soon. I will look up the mentioned species and see if they seem viable to me as somthing my family would enjoy watching. I dont know if the danios are a good idea though my dempsy wouldm likely eat them when he is a touch larger.



I looked up the bosamis not sure if they are the route I want to go or not. The tank is now rather heavily planted with lotsa lavastone caves in it if that helps any on making suggestions. I saw a green terror today I thaught was pretty but another big ciclid may cause issues. I also saw a Polyeptorus Dehlzi today that realy caught my eye Because of how dark he was.

2 tanks with space and cant decide which way to jump rofl.

 

[johnboy!]

Delhzi can reach around a foot, and a bit more... not the biggest Bichir but still a decent sized fish, very attractive also! Which species of Bichir is yours?

You could always try a larger barb species? Spanner barb? something around the 4" mark would be ideal IMO

 

[Binge]

My current bicir is a senegalus. In had not considered barbs at all I was under the impression they were fin nippers. I could be wrong though. They are pretty fish though would not mind doing barbs we have considered them for other tanks before. I will look into them more.

 

[KittyKat]

In had not considered barbs at all I was under the impression they were fin nippers.

Not if you keep them in a decent group (10+). The only schooling/shoaling species I have ever heard of being fin nippers in large groups (they were in a group of 30) is Puntius denisonii, which apparently get worse with numbers. Even tiger barbs are usually quite placid once there's a group of them. The fin-nipper reputation comes for the most part from people who keep 1-5 individuals per species.

 

[Binge]

Hmm cant get away with that many of the spanner barbs found things that say they reach 7 inches. 10x7=70 so I do not have room for that. I will probly do a dehlzi for part of it taht will leave me around 35-40 inches worth of fish space. The tank is over filtered but I still try to stick to the 1 inch per gallon rule.