Guianacara Sphenozona - And General Stocking

Wills

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Well Ive decided to change my stock around a lot, the tank is just doing what me and my partner wanted the limits the fish I have chosen are getting a bit in the way now and I cant afford to keep "risking" small fish with a certain someone in my tank. So what I want to try and do is center my tank around my nic and get a group of small-mid sized cichlids maybe a big school, cories and my plecs. So now Star has offered to give my A.Diadema a good home Im looking to start working out what to do.

Ive found these Guianacara sphenozona and quite interested in getting a group of 4. From what I have learned so far, they are quite gregarious hence why I want a group. Are a bit like eartheaters so need sand and get from 4-4.5 inches, they can be a bit confrontational but its usually just flaring and they come from Guyana (spelling) In big tanks people keep them in groups of about 8-12 but I have seen success reports of 4 in 55-75g tanks. Not seen them mixed with nics but have seen them in with pushy type earth eaters like G.Bras and Threadfin Acaras, so should think a female nic wont be too much of a threat to them.

Any other info would be greatly appreciated.

Also learnt that they can be a nightmare to pin down as to whic exact species they are (the photo Ive seen looks like it might not be Guianacara sphenozona but a different Guianacara but they have similar care) So yeah my current plan is to get something like -

1 Female nic
4 Guianacara sphenozona
1 L124
2 L135

then some schooling types and maybe cories - pictus just arnt for me and the headstanders take up a lot of stocking for their activity levels which is a shame but in the right tank they would be good :) considering going for the smaller spotted headstanders though.

Wills
 
Update ** I have rung up and reserved 4 of them. Ive been reading a bit more and got an ID guide and based on the photo of them I have seen it looks like they are actually guianacara stergiosi rather than sphenozona placements of the spots on the lateral line and black marking on the dorsal fin. Pretty happy though as there is a chance they get orange gills which would look awesome:)

Wills
 
(ahh well will, may not be able to help on this one but i goo goo the Guianacara sphenozona and erm wow! will look great. (thought they were keyholes at first haha) but yer looks good. if they are anything like most geophagus you should be safe as all mine do is a bit of flaring the odd chase here and there. i wish i had the guts to do what your doing!
 
lol guts? they do look a bit like keyholes lol hadn't realized.

This is a pic of one of the ones Im getting (hope it works)
http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/popup_lg.php?mypic=120602.jpg
 
haha well you know swapping your whole tank around. thought about it...... put it back on the shelf. very nice a bit like keyholes but nicer (Y) so hows the hunt for new homes for the current stock? will you add these with your current stock or wait for the current ones to be moved on then get them?
 
Star4 is taking my pictus and A.Diadema in about 4 weeks so that just leaves the headstanders and the pike but they can stay for now and if the pike gets problematic I will be able to take him back to LFS a lot of people want them so he will get a decent home from him Im sure :)

The store has said they wont post for a few weeks till the weather pics up so the plan is to try and sort out the pike in that time and then they will be able to go in the 10g when they get here and then move over when the A.Diadema is gone to star.
 
They are coming from Coxwell aquatics but will take a few weeks to get here :)
 
Really your over it? Don't like haveing fish that tell you what their tank mates are going to be. That sounds like it should be a peacful tank. A school would look good with those fish for sure. It's great that you have good people to take your fish. That would make it easy to switch things around.
 
Its not really easy and Im not really over it but its starting to get to the point where if the tank looks dull my gf will loose interest and with the tank taking up so much space in the front room I dont want that too happen. I know its a harsh decision but its like anything if its not working its not working. :(
 
Why not get her a tank that's all hers. If she likes the idea a a tank why not get a 20 gal or 30 gal for your bedroom or something. Let her pick the cute little fish she wants . Then maybe she will understand how you can grow to love your fishy friends.

Panda corys are cute and fun to watch. Some tetras emperor tetras are so funny with lots of personality. Rams too. You know just a cute comunity tank to keep her happy.

Your tank can't be that boring. Has she said anything about it?
 
Ive tried lol, but our flat is too small to fit any more tanks in before they take over we really want to move to a bigger place this year. But thats dependent on what job I get when I graduate in June.
 
Well I say if you want to keep the fish as is. Tell her these are your pets and you love them and then if you don't have names makes some up and tell her all of them. Or ask her name one or 2 then she might feel connected to that one. Girls are funny like that.

I try and get my husband into fish. He said if I did SW he would help me and get in to it. Well we don't have the money for SW. The only fish he likes is my EBJD because it's pretty and bright and the Cory cats because they are crazy and so active. I have caught him watching them and likeing it. He is such a dork.

Maybe let her pick out the next fish. I know I tried that too it did not work. I even got him his own betta fish. He liked that he would feed it and named it. It was next to the bed on his side. He liked wakeing up to it. Aww I should get him another one.
 
Its not all her decision, the tanks just isnt working for me either now. There are quite a lot of reasons for me doing this revolving around the tank but my girlfriends enjoyment of it is one of them. Originally the tank was planned around my HRP pair, mainly having a medium sized comm around them but since the female died the tank lost of dynamic. The fish I chose dont have any activity at the moment.

Also the main spur of the fish going was the A.Diadema 2 reasons number 1 I found wayy to many reports of them getting to 8 inches despite all profiles I read stating 4-5 6 max and IMO an 8 inch fish needs a bigger tank than my 240 and shes quite large now. But two shes just killed too many fish, a school of blue tetras, a school of red rainbows and a G.Suri, every fish I wanted to add to the tank is just too much of a risk and also with Star offering her a home in her 400liter tank its just too good for all of us to pass up. Ive had the annostomus for trade/sale for a while and someones come along that wants them so Im happy, also the pictus were bought in the stage where I wanted larger fish that cant be eaten by the A.Diadema but were not really what I really wanted for the tank.

And all my fish have names :)

Nic - Elsie, from a reference from the mighty boosh because shes from London
First L135 - Nessy, long story
L124 - Loch - to go with nessy :lol:
Second L135 - Plumb, because he kept poping bags on the way home so we decided he was a plumber
one of the pims - Dimwit, because he had a fight with the filter intake.
A.Diadema - Bailey, because she had a problem with her scales when we got her and shes a bit of a coffee cream colour :)
HRPs were Netengo + Deniro - its something spannish that my GF suggested but cant remember lol something to do with no money.
 
Of I see. You had a plan and it fell apart. If I had a fish that was a killer I would have to do the same thing. Good luck with whatever way you go. You know your fish and I'm sure you will pick out some good ones.
 

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