Ideas For A 300 Litre

[synodontismultipunctatus]

Okay so i have a 300 litre tank, currently stocked with mbuna, its been like that for a few years but ive just not been able to add any decent fish to it as the my only source of wild fish has gone.
Besides that im getting a tad bored of it, i have a few friends already keen on most of my fish so rehoming them wont be an issue.
What i really want to know is what to try next. Im a fairly experienced keeper, looked after fish for 5 years so i'm looking for something a bit more interesting.
Thats not to say mbuna aren't, theyre just not doing it for me.
Id like something with a bit of size to it. A lot of mbuna start pff small from my lfs and they stay that way for a long time.
Something i was curious about was the frontosa.
Similar water parameters, i wouldnt need too rehome my group of synos and theyre a stunning fish.
But is 300 big enough? (4x2x2)
Any other suggestions?

 

[Zikofski]

il be honest i have no clue to the fish you have listed but i do have a 330L tank with red line torpedo barbs and loaches, angels, corys and plecs, take a look at my journal in my signature may give you an inside into that side of fish keeping?

 

[synodontismultipunctatus]

Thanks but ive kept all of those kinda of fish before. Lovely looking tank though. On the right lines with the size of the fish with angels but i'd have to find some pretty special looking angel fish to make it worth it for me.
Not a massive fan of community, the fish are pretty but im really looking for something a bit more oddball.
Maybe something from central america.

 

[njstockley]

A bit bigger than angel fish, and not everyone's cup of tea - but I can't get enough of my Piranha:

 

[Fish Guy]

A small colony of frontoasa would be nice in there, probably 3-4. They do get pretty big and you need to leave room for the synos. Nimbochromis venustus might be a option if you are looking for a large african such as frontosas.

 

[dbanner]

4x2x2 is over 400 litres not 300 iv kept loads of fish from everyday community, SA/CA cichlids to oddballs like bichirs, piranhas, Lima shovelnose catfish and so on.

After keeping so many different types of fish I'd have to say that without a doubt cichlids are my favourite. Most of the bigger cichlids like jaguars, flowerhorns, dovii's, and red terrors have so much much personality. A lot like oscars where they recognise their owner and interact with you. Never a dull moment with cichlids. You couldn't have a community of bigger cichlids as your tanks not big enough but you could get away with 2 or 3 that get to a max size of say 8 inches. Iv got a flowerhorn in my 5ft 450 litre by himself, he is just too aggressive for any other fish.

Some people don't like the idea of 1 fish in a big tank but the thing with cichlids is their personalities make up for it and most are very fast growers so that 1 small fish in a big tank will soon make the tank look small lol mine has grown from 1 inch to over 5 inches in 4 months.

 

[synodontismultipunctatus]

Ahh sorry its more like 4x2x1 juwel rio 300
Mmm oscars might be a bit big and not keen on flowerhorns. But i have no problem with only a few fish in the tank. Tbh its easier in terms of cleaning. Plus you'll almost always get the best colours out of the fish.
I really like cichlids, id never keep fish in a tank thats too small for them either. It doesnt feel right.


Also piranhas are too messy and evil haha

 

[dbanner]

Is it an old or new type rio 300? Older ones are 300 litres whilst the newer types (with curved braces) are 350 litres.

Anyway, yes piranhas are messy and need a lot of filtration bu then so do cichlids like oscars and such. 8-10x your tanks water volume is good. For an example I have 2600LPH real turnover on my 450 litre and I find that plenty. I was doing 2 weekly 40-50% water changes but I now only do 1 weekly 40% WC and sand vac and my tank is always clean as well as water perimeters being where they should be.

An Oscar needs 55 gal minimum according to a lot of Internet sites but IMO 75gal is much better for a single Oscar. There are lots of options for jewel 300. You could also look into things like green terrors, jack dempsey, salvini, Texas, severum and Firemouths. Iv owned JD's, Texas, sevs, oscars and firemouths amongst others. All have been very rewarding fish to own. Your right in saying you will see better colours in fish kept in tanks on their own rather than overstocked communities... Well that's in my experience of keeping cichlids.

There are a lot of other options for you too... What id do is just do some research online and/or go to a few local fish stores and look at the type of fish you like the look of and then you can let us know what you find and we can advise you further

And piranhas are nowhere near evil lol many people just have the wrong idea about them. They are actually very shy and skittish. I would much rather put my hand in my tank of piranhas (when I had them) than putting my hand in with some of the cichlids iv kept including my flowerhorn, dovii and red terror