I have 4 little scarlet badis in a 20 gallon with a checkerboard cichlid and some dwarf cories. the checkerboard is pretty laid back and I have never seen him bother the scarlets but he is quite a bit larger than them. they have recently started hanging out in the top corners of the tank - could be too much flow, not enough plants, not enough hiding places? they have all been together for about 2 months. I just worry that the little guys are stressed out. One died recently.

Hi catwoman ,

I don't keep either , but I do keep Cockatoo cichlids [Apistogramma cacatuiodes], they grow a little larger than Checkerboards [crenicara filametosa ] .That may be an old name .

I also keep B. Badis Badis , they grow almost 2 times the size of Scarlets of which I had one male for a couple of months R.I.P.[ current to fast , I think ]

With these [ your ] fish I think the Ph should be no more than neutral down to 6.4 , maybe 6.7 as a good medium , temp high 70's -80 degrees , and the water on the soft side .

[ live] Plants will make fish look better IMO/E .

I think you have it right , water flow could have something to do with it[ what do you use ?] , as could not having a good number or retreats , caves , rocks , plants for them to relax around .

A few of the members here will say the more hiding places you have , the more you'll see them , from my experience this is true .

I use both 3" and 1 and a 1/2" red clay flower pots in my tank [ I think 15 pots in all ].

Also 3 coconut shell halfs , and rocks stacked making even more crevaces , and a few plants as well [ the easier to keep types ] .

My fish get along very well .

This post has been edited by lucky62: Apr 12 2005, 06:55 PM

Thanks. I've been busy and just read your reply. I think it may be flow. I use an Ecco 2231 canister with the regular outflow. It creates a lot of flow in a 20g. i tried to turn it down some. I added another little cave for them. I do see them more but they occasionally hang out in the top corner still. I need to find a spary bar. That would help I think. Maybe a sponge on the intake will help slow things down a bit too.

Maybe you could defuse the flow a little for the time being by aiming it at something like a rock or the side of the tank .

This post has been edited by lucky62: Apr 19 2005, 03:50 AM