Convince Me Not To Give Up

[Faythee]

I's my planted 30 gallon. I wanted to do somthing different so I have attempted a female Betta sorority. Well it's not working out. They are very aggressive with each other. I think I may just return them all this weekend.

I am very happy with my Severum tank. But this one.....at only 30 gallons, I am limited as to what I can do with it. I do not care for mollies, guppies, etc. I like to have fish with personality and ones I can tell apart and name them. So, to you other cichlid lovers out there.....What would you do ?

I even considered maybe somthing oddball....but with this size I have no clue. Even if it is just one single fish it will be better than a bunch of them kicking each others A**

I would tear it down....but my hubby built the stand and everything and I just hate to be a quitter

 

[Ace Of Spades]

I's my planted 30 gallon. I wanted to do somthing different so I have attempted a female Betta sorority. Well it's not working out. They are very aggressive with each other. I think I may just return them all this weekend.

I am very happy with my Severum tank. But this one.....at only 30 gallons, I am limited as to what I can do with it. I do not care for mollies, guppies, etc. I like to have fish with personality and ones I can tell apart and name them. So, to you other cichlid lovers out there.....What would you do ?

I even considered maybe somthing oddball....but with this size I have no clue. Even if it is just one single fish it will be better than a bunch of them kicking each others A**

I would tear it down....but my hubby built the stand and everything and I just hate to be a quitter

Beosmani Rainbow fish xD?
Apisto's?
Rams?

 

[Faythee]

I already have Rainbows with my Sevs.

Did consider Rams but seems they are sensitive and die easily from what I've seen of peoples posts. Also you can only keep one pair right ? If they don't pair up......do they fight ?

Not sure what Apistos are....will go look them up.

I should mention too.....slightly high PH tank.

 

[Colin_T]

as mentioned rainbowfish, but they don't have to be boesemani. there are dozens of species. Check out the following link for some info and pics on rainbows.

<a href="http/members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Melano.htm" target="_blank">http/members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Melano.htm</a>

perhaps a pair of Apistogrammas. Maybe Apistogramma agassizi, cacatuoides, trifasciatum, nijsseni.
a pr of firemouth cichlids, sajica or spilurum cichlids
a group of Cyrichromis leptosoma or Paracyprichromis nigripinnis
some shell dwelling dwarf cichlids from the African rift lakes. Julidochromis sp perhaps.
orange chromides
purple spotted gudgeons (Mogurnda sp) or desert gobies (Chlamidogobius eremius)
A group of dwarf loaches like Botia sidthimunki, or a group of corydoras
Licorice, chocolate or sparkling gouramis
splashing tetras or swordtail characins
a pr of freshwater African Butterflyfish, hatchetfish

edited coz just saw alkaline water.
the only Apistogrammas I would keep in alkaline water are the cacatuoides. The shell dwellers and Julidochromis come from hard alkaline water.
ignore the licorice and chocolate gouramis, they are soft acid water fishes.

How alkaline is the PH?

 

[Tobigara]

If i were in your shoes, i'd go for a pair of sajicas. i've been on a sajica kick for a while now since i don't have the room for them. Look at them

same male but older

 

[CentricOregon]

what about a pair of eartheaters? or a malawi setup?

 

[invader]

what about a pair of eartheaters?

That's what I was going to suggest. I would go with a pair of Geophagus steindachneri and breed them. They look awesome when they are full grown and are mouth brooders, which pretty interesting to witness.

 

[peter22UK]

What about a pair of Convict Cichlids, or maybe two of the same sex so that you dont end up with millions of unsellables!

 

[shroob]

If you don't like fish that can be aggressive then cichlids might not be the fish for you. Granted there is a wide range in their aggression levels and there are some that can be called peaceful, look for dwarf cichlids that's already been suggested.

It depends on how much aggression you can tollerate, in getting a pair there will probably be some aggression, but you may choose to ride this out. If however you cannot tollerate any aggression what so ever, then it may be best having a single cichlid.

 

[CentricOregon]

what about a pair of eartheaters?

That's what I was going to suggest. I would go with a pair of Geophagus steindachneri and breed them. They look awesome when they are full grown and are mouth brooders, which pretty interesting to witness.

i'm presuming thats them in the pics, they do look very nice, i've got jurapai at the moment a think, it was called a daemon in the shop but searched around and i think there rightful name is jurapai or something. if you could get some eartheaters i would there def worth having.malawis are also mouth brooders, my yellow labs bred unexpectidly and i ended up with 12 babys, was cool to watch

 

[rchambers]

If you like Rams, what about Bolivians? They like hard high PH water and are much hardier than German Rams. I have four in my 260 litre tank and none have paired off. Sometimes they swim together and sometimes they defend their own little turf but even then its only the odd warning rather than proper aggression. My favourite fish!

 

[Faythee]

Great ideas you all. Thank you very much. I will research more but first need to find someone to take these Bettas off my hands

One good thing is I finally found a Bristlenose yesterday and now my tank is algae free and he has a fat 'lil belly. Good fishy. First thing that's gone well with this tank so far !

 

[LosC519]

Apistogramma Cacatuoides are some of the most beautiful and hardier dwarf cichlids.

 

[stang1]

What's your PH Faythee?

 

[Faythee]

My ph is testing at 7.6, however this is the highest this test kit goes. I am going to get a high range test tommorrow to be sure. My big tank is a steady 7.0 and I can't figure out why there is a difference Only thing I can think of is the sand substrate or because the tank is not as mature as my big one.

When I look at this tank, I picture a pretty Angel with the wood and live plants. It is 30 x 12 x 18 inches, so maybe a possibility for one Angel with a school of colorful dithers ?

I'm thinking this may be the route as I do not want to do any breeding. What do you all think ?

Here is the tank. The plants are taller now and I have ordered a moss ball, foreground plants, and some floating plants. I know a family owned store here that has some healthy Angels that are acclimated to our city high ph water.