What Combo Can I Have?

[o0Faraz0o]

Hey guys ill be getting a 55-90 gallon tank by the end of the year and I wanted to have the amazon theme or biotype what ever its called.

I would like to have the following fish:

6x cory's
1x BN pleco
3x Angels
1x Convict

is this a possible mix?

Cause I really like convicts and I have heard they are much less aggressive when kept singly.

Oh and all these fish except the Cory's will be purchased young and risen in the tank.

 

[Corleone]

They may be less aggressive when they aren't kept singly, but it also hurts less when you only get hit by one car.

I'd suggest keyhole cichlids. Similar body shape to convicts, though a bit smaller, and exceedingly peaceful. If you want a bit bigger, festivum or severum perhaps.

If you have your heart set on convicts, plan the tank around one - tankmates should be durable, robust fish.

 

[o0Faraz0o]

Hmmm I looked up keyhole and festivum sound and look great but what I found was

Keyhole pH should not be lower than 6.8 and both fish require medium to high Water hardness

and from my research an amazonian biotype tank is best to have soft water with a pH of 6-6.5 so I dunno is their a way to get around this?

 

[jayjay]

Convicts are Central American cichlids, not from the Amazon (South America) So the keyholes which are from the Amazon, would be a better choice for a biotope tank.

 

[ox5477]

Plus, many of these fish are raised on breeding farms, not from the wild, so depending on what the water stats of the farm were (whether the breeder cared to adjust water to natural conditions or just used out of city supply water stats... the fish may have lived their whole life in a high er pH then what is natural, but is what they are used to.... the biggest thing with pH is that is shouldn't change very fast..... change can occur, but it needs to happen slowely over a long timeframe to allow the fishes body to adjust

Ox

 

[o0Faraz0o]

So is it okay for me to like but the driftwood into the set up and then but the fish or would I have to put the fish and then later put driftwood to soften and lower the pH?

 

[jayjay]

Bogwood is more likely to soften water, I find it seems to release more tannins. It doesn't matter when you put it in, now and the fish will adjust to it when added to the tank or later when they will still have to adjust to it, though wood releases tannins slowly so it wouldn't affect the fish.