75 gallon SA cichlid stocking advice

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Stefan3289

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Hello all,

I made a post a few days ago but go no replies so Iā€™ll try my luck again.

So currently I have a 75g (284L) tank that Iā€™ve had for about 3 years now and was wondering if I would be able to add any new additions and what some suggestions would be.


Stock
1 synodontis (6ā€)
1 Red spotted severum (5ā€)
1 Electric blue acara (5ā€)
5 PB convict parrots (.5ā€ -2ā€)
5 rainbow fish (4 boesemani, 1 blue) (2-3ā€)

Water parameters as of today (cleaned tank 5 days ago as I clean on weekends)
Ammonia: 0-.05
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
Ph: 7.4-7.6
GH: 160ppm

I run a 70-110g Aquaclear filter with dual air pumps and dual submerged heaters, so temperature doesnā€™t fluctuate and the water has good aeration and some movement . I do weekly 40% water changes syphoning all the gravel well. The tank is non planted as of now.

Iā€™d be happy to hear everyoneā€™s thoughts
 
Hi sorry I missed your other thread but this sounds like an interesting one!

So first thing I want to ask is what test kit are you using as even a low reading of ammonia should be cause for concern? Also curious that you don't have any nitrates as with big fish like cichlids it's quite normal to have a reading before a water change at least, especially in an unplanted tank.

In terms of the fish, just want to look at the hardness first. 160ppm I think is about 8.9Gh so a good option for the cichlids you have already but perhaps a bit too soft for the rainbow fish? And depending on the species potentially the Synodontis? If its a Eupterus (or hybrid of it) should be ok though (love a Featherfin!) Actually just spotted your avatar and it is!

The one fish you have that throws me are the Polar Parrots. I never know how to treat Parrot Cichlids in a tank as they are so unpredictable, not my cup of tea to be honest... But potentially you have 5 5inch+ cichlids in there plus a big Severum species and the EBA so 7 and you don't have a community built around them to encourage natural behaviour.

On balance I'm not sure I'd add anything to this tank as when all your fish are adults in 12-18 months time the smallest fish in the tank will be 5 inches and you have 13 big fish in a 75 gallon with half of them cichlids.

Just by comparison if I was stocking it at an earlier stage I'd have gone for something like

1 Red Spot Severum
1 Electric Blue Acara
4-5 Small Geophagus, Pyrophalceus, Pindare, Winemilleri would all be options
10 Red Tail Hemiodus or Annostomus Ternetzi
10 Emerald Brochis, or maybe a smaller group of Spotted Pictus Catfish
2-3 Whiptail Catfish - Red Lizards are nice

Wills
 
It isn't an SA tank, as an aside. Synodontis are African, parrots are from test tubes crossed with a North American species and rainbows are Australasian. All that aside, I would not add. The parrot hybrids will grow - not like a blood parrot, but still to a chunky 4-5 inch fish. In a year or two, you would be rehoming fish, or doing endless water changes.

Wills posted at the same time as me. In my old collections of 75s, I had 2 winemilleri in one, as they get an easy 16cm plus. That is a big fish for a 75, or at least mine were.
 
It isn't an SA tank, as an aside. Synodontis are African, parrots are from test tubes crossed with a North American species and rainbows are Australasian. All that aside, I would not add. The parrot hybrids will grow - not like a blood parrot, but still to a chunky 4-5 inch fish. In a year or two, you would be rehoming fish, or doing endless water changes.

Wills posted at the same time as me. In my old collections of 75s, I had 2 winemilleri in one, as they get an easy 16cm plus. That is a big fish for a 75, or at least mine were.
I had a group of Winemilleri in my 6x2x18 that got to the same sort of size but I thought that the deeper footprint of a 75 (assuming 20-24 inches) would suit them ok? They are certainly at the bigger size of the 'smaller' Geos though.
 
Hi sorry I missed your other thread but this sounds like an interesting one!

So first thing I want to ask is what test kit are you using as even a low reading of ammonia should be cause for concern? Also curious that you don't have any nitrates as with big fish like cichlids it's quite normal to have a reading before a water change at least, especially in an unplanted tank.

In terms of the fish, just want to look at the hardness first. 160ppm I think is about 8.9Gh so a good option for the cichlids you have already but perhaps a bit too soft for the rainbow fish? And depending on the species potentially the Synodontis? If its a Eupterus (or hybrid of it) should be ok though (love a Featherfin!) Actually just spotted your avatar and it is!

The one fish you have that throws me are the Polar Parrots. I never know how to treat Parrot Cichlids in a tank as they are so unpredictable, not my cup of tea to be honest... But potentially you have 5 5inch+ cichlids in there plus a big Severum species and the EBA so 7 and you don't have a community built around them to encourage natural behaviour.

On balance I'm not sure I'd add anything to this tank as when all your fish are adults in 12-18 months time the smallest fish in the tank will be 5 inches and you have 13 big fish in a 75 gallon with half of them cichlids.

Just by comparison if I was stocking it at an earlier stage I'd have gone for something like

1 Red Spot Severum
1 Electric Blue Acara
4-5 Small Geophagus, Pyrophalceus, Pindare, Winemilleri would all be options
10 Red Tail Hemiodus or Annostomus Ternetzi
10 Emerald Brochis, or maybe a smaller group of Spotted Pictus Catfish
2-3 Whiptail Catfish - Red Lizards are nice

Wills
Thank you for your input! Iā€™m not sure I never see any nitrate changes in either of my two tanks, both of which I use an API freshwater master kit. As for the rainbow fish, I was told theyā€™d be ok in moderately soft water which is what I have. I donā€™t remember the exact number I believe it was around 160 ppm/ 9 GH.
I personally love the PB hybrids. I havenā€™t seen many people have them and I love their colors and they are very active. I have a lot of hiding and large fake plants that break up view the tank so they donā€™t get aggressive much and also have 5 of them to divert targeting one. Iā€™ve read that they get to 3.5ā€. The only two Iā€™ve seen in a store said they were full grown and weā€™re about 3.5ā€.
Before I had the PB and rainbows, I tried to have a large group of blue and EBA acaras but it did not work for me.
From what I know, Iā€™d then have 5 3.5ā€, 6 4-5ā€, one 6ā€ as my syno (I think he is full grown around 5ā€ Ihave had him for about 10 year) and then my severum around 8ā€.
They all get along very well sometimes the EBA and severum might get a little angry at each other but otherwise everyone is peaceful.
 
It isn't an SA tank, as an aside. Synodontis are African, parrots are from test tubes crossed with a North American species and rainbows are Australasian. All that aside, I would not add. The parrot hybrids will grow - not like a blood parrot, but still to a chunky 4-5 inch fish. In a year or two, you would be rehoming fish, or doing endless water changes.

Wills posted at the same time as me. In my old collections of 75s, I had 2 winemilleri in one, as they get an easy 16cm plus. That is a big fish for a 75, or at least mine were.
Yeah I donā€™t really know what to call it. I had more SA cichlids in there but it didnā€™t end up working out so I returned and tried new fish quite a few times.
My catfish is full grown and EBA appear to be full grown at 5ā€, and Iā€™ve seen that the PBs get to 3.5ā€ around full grown. Iā€™ve had them for almost a year and they havenā€™t grown much from those sizes I put, so I donā€™t see them going above 4 at the most.
 
I had a group of Winemilleri in my 6x2x18 that got to the same sort of size but I thought that the deeper footprint of a 75 (assuming 20-24 inches) would suit them ok? They are certainly at the bigger size of the 'smaller' Geos though.
Before I had the rainbow fish and PB, I attempted to buy two geos (I donā€™t recall the exact species) but they appeared to get bullied by my acaras I had at the timequite a bit so I ended up returning them out of worry. Iā€™ve tried from rainbow cichlids, to larger gouramis, to geos, to blue/EBAs but there was always some issue in the tank so this combo is finally the one that worked. I do wish I had a Winemilleri geo they look amazing.
 
Hello

Can you post a picture of the tank and of the hybrids please?
 
Hello

Can you post a picture of the tan and the hybrids please? What are the dimensions?
 
Hereā€™s a picture of the tank and then the smallest and biggest PB in the tank. Sorry itā€™s blurry they donā€™t like to stand still.
The tank dimensions are 48ā€ by 18ā€ by 20ā€
 

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