Compatible Top Swimmers?

[pirate monkey]

After 5 weeks our tank has cycled! Yesterday we picked up a sailfin plec we had reserved the week before, and also got a medium-sized severum, and 7 silver dollars.

We plan to also have a pair of firemouths and an ebjd, and also maybe we might move our kribs over... (not sure cos it would be nice to stick with the new worlds)

what fish might suit our set up that are more top swimmers? tank is 78g.

Any suggestions are welcome!

 

[shroob]

I think that tanks stocked enough, even overstocked. The plec will get huge and need a larger tank. Once the fish grow there will not be room for much else. I would return the plec and trade it in for a more suitable fish, say a bristlenose plec.

Then that leaves you with a severum and 7 silver dollars (these get big, I recently returned 4 silver dollars to the LFS as I thought my 260 litre tank wasn't big enough for them, they were active and about the size of my hand).

I would just stick to the severum and silver dollars in that tank possibly a smaller growing cichlid but certainly not 2 FM, and a Jack dempsey. Dimensions would be useful as that affects the stocking.

 

[pirate monkey]

My tank is 350 litres, a juwel trigon (a corner tank which is 3ft on each side, and 4ft across the front from corner to corner, but is in fact a bow front and about 2ft tall)

It is plenty big enough for the sail fin - I'm aware of their potential size (he's already 12") and he has enough room, I went on the premise that other people on here are happy to keep them in the same tank that I have, and the sides of the tank are all a foot longer than the sail fin's max possible size.

The silver dollars we've got are ~ 5-6" at the moment.

The severum is ~ 7" from tip to tip.

I'm wondering why you are saying the tank is already overstocked? they have plenty of room - even allowing for growth.

 

[shroob]

My tank is 350 litres, a juwel trigon (a corner tank which is 3ft on each side, and 4ft across the front from corner to corner, but is in fact a bow front and about 2ft tall)

It is plenty big enough for the sail fin - I'm aware of their potential size (he's already 12") and he has enough room, I went on the premise that other people on here are happy to keep them in the same tank that I have, and the sides of the tank are all a foot longer than the sail fin's max possible size.

The silver dollars we've got are ~ 5-6" at the moment.

The severum is ~ 7" from tip to tip.

I'm wondering why you are saying the tank is already overstocked? they have plenty of room - even allowing for growth.

1 foot extra doesn't give much room for it to swim or turn around, even if they arn't the most active fish.

On the issue of overstocking, I was thinking you were on about US gallons, which would give a tank roughly a footprint of 48"x18" (standard US 75 gallon). With this the severum + 7 silver dollars + sailfin plec would have overstocked the tank in my opinion, mainly due to the plec and the active nature of 7 silver dollars. I know I wouldn't put a sailfin plec in that size tank, and I personally think its too small for it, but others will have different opinions its just who you listen to and then judge your actions from there.

Though I still think the proposed stocklist of adding a JD and 2 FM would be overstocking, the current stocklist seems ok (but the plec is still grows too big in my opinion).

 

[pirate monkey]

Thanks for being so concerned, but rest assured I wouldn't get fish that didn't fit in my tank. The plec I have is about 10 years old already (ish) so will be growing slowly and if he started looking cramped I wouldn't hesitate to move him!

In US gallons I think my tank is roughly 100 usg but I guess a lesson to you is don't jump to conclusions...

I have to say IMHO I don't think my tank is over stocked because a couple of times when I've looked in there, I couldn't see any fish! I know they're not all full grown but they're also not small. If I have 9 large fish in 1 tank and can't see any of them I would say that I have provided a good habitat for them and that there is plenty of space for them also.

We have researched very carefully for weeks what fish we wanted to have, and got good advice (from lots of people including those on here) and then after the tank arrived spent 5 weeks cycling, and carefully setting up a south american theme. We wouldn't then be stupid and overstock it and jeopardise weeks of waiting and planning.

Unfortuantely this has gone really off the topic, all I wanted to know was: are there some top swimming fish that could go with the fish I have?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Just unplug the filter and they will all be top swimmers.