Mostly Bare 125 Gallon Tank

[Darkskies]

Hi,
This is one of my first posts on these forums but I am not a newbie and am rather knowledgeable about fish care. I currently have a bare 125 gallon tank sitting in my living room and was very interested in devoting it to breeding some type of cichlid species. Due to expenses I am planning on keeping it mostly bare(it does contain a 1" layer of gravel) and was wondering if there are any cichlid species that would thrive in such an austere setting(I may have a couple of decorations and of course flowerpots for the spawning surface/niche). Alternatively, I am open to any other species of fish not from the Cichlidae family that would breed and live well in this setting. Thanks for your advice in advance!

 

[Wills]

If you want to keep it bare with just flower pots for example, you could get Convict cichlids or a similar speicies like Cutteri, Sajica or Nanoletus? I would get one of the rarer ones as it will make rehoming the fry easier

If you are willing to decorate the tank with plants and hiding spots you will have even more options, cichlids are pretty varied have you seen any specific ones you like? Or colours, shapes or markings etc you like?

Wills

 

[synodontismultipunctatus]

Kribensis

 

[Wills]

oh just realized it says 125 gallons not liters.... how big is it in dimensions? All sorts of options with that, pair of jaguars, pair of oscars, pair of severums, pair of texas tons of options.

Wills

 

[Always Learning]

Just a trio of Scarlet Badis. Sorted





Seriously though, as Will said, your options are quite varied. Have a look around for something you like and go from there.

 

[Darkskies]

Thanks for the replies, guys! If I do decide to go with a pair of one of the larger central/south american cichlids, how easy is it to sell/rehome the fry? Is it easy to sex Jaguars/Oscars/Texas Cichlids? How do I go about finding a pair other than by online means? Would I have to go through the standard route of buying 6 fish and waiting for them to eventually pair off? Also, my water has a p.H. of 7.6 and is fairly hard so I'm not sure if Severums would breed within those water conditions. Do Oscars and Texas Cichlids hold a preference for specific water conditions in order to breed?

EDIT: Alternatively, I wouldn't mind having several breeding pairs of some smaller cichlid species in this aquarium, since the tank size is quite large. Can anyone of you direct me to certain species that maintain smaller breeding territories so that I could have a number of breeding pairs in the aquarium? Also, I hadn't realized that these forums are mainly visited by UK aquarists so to clarify I am in the US and my tank size is in US gallons. Thanks a ton!

 

[Wills]

Yeah you could easily have a fantastic new world cichlid community in there. But if you want breeding your numbers will be much less and you would need to be careful with which you chose.

Like I say which cichlids do you like and we will be able to work out a list for you? If you go with the comm of cichlids you would need dithers so which kind of schooling fish do you like, for this size tank your looking at stuff like Rainbow fish, Headstanders, Larger Barbs or Giant Danios.

Wills

 

[Darkskies]

Yeah you could easily have a fantastic new world cichlid community in there. But if you want breeding your numbers will be much less and you would need to be careful with which you chose.

Like I say which cichlids do you like and we will be able to work out a list for you? If you go with the comm of cichlids you would need dithers so which kind of schooling fish do you like, for this size tank your looking at stuff like Rainbow fish, Headstanders, Larger Barbs or Giant Danios.

Wills

Sorry for not being more explicit about my choices before. I suppose it's because there are so many possible setups that I didn't really know what would be best/what to choose. I like the idea of having a breeding pair of oscars in there but is that size tank too small for an eventual full grown pair of oscars? Also for all of you who have bred cichlids, what did you recourse to in order to rehome all of the fry? If they continue breeding nonstop do you just let the subsequent broods die off/get eaten? Is continual breeding unhealthy for the fish?

Like I mentioned before, I am also interested in maybe instead having 2-4 breeding pairs of smaller cichlid species(either single or multiple species) that are relatively docile enough to not claim large territories and kill off the other pairs. Considering this is a large tank this plan should be workable,correct? In terms of the fish I would desire for this setup, I'm not too sure because I don't know which species have the correct temperament/territory size requirements to be suited for this environment. Perhaps some of you avid cichlid enthusiasts could suggest some? Now going off of what I might like(without any knowledge of aggression/compatibility/territory size requirements) I was wondering if I could have a combination of different breeding pairs of Jewel, Firemouth, Kribensis, Rainbow cichlids, and/or Red amazons(Geophagus jurupari sp.). Could I do 3 of these species in several breeding pairs? I know that the Jewel Cichlid is rather aggressive but since the tank is quite large would I be able to get away with it?

Another option I might like is just dedicating it as an angelfish tank. Do angels breed in unadorned/unplanted tanks(I would have flowerpots/some rocks like mentioned before)? Would they be able to protect their young from the other angelfish? How many breeding pairs of angelfish would I be able to maintain in this tank?

As you can see, I'm quite open to a lot of different ideas. Maybe having/breeding something even a little bit more unusual(in terms of fish species) would be entertaining.

Thanks for reading and I apologize for the plethora of questions but if you could answer them all(anyone) it would be MUCH appreciated!
Best,
Darkskies

EDIT: I forgot to address the dither fish question. I hadn't planned on using any dither/schooling fish because I was afraid they might eat the eggs/young from a potential spawn. Are they necessary?

 

[Wills]

Ah right I understand now!!

Right first the dithers, they might eat the young but if the cichlids do their parenting jobs your fry will survive but then also its how many of your fry do you want to survive? Many cichlids are quite prolific and will breed often once a month at least and the more broods the pair care for the more fry are in the tank and then you get over run.

Do you have any second tanks you could put fry in? If breeding is one of your aims have you considered getting a rack of 3 tanks with a sump like you see in a shop to keep in a garage or shed to grow fry on? That way when a fish breeds you could raise the fry properly and if you stock your tank with less common fish the fish you raise could be worth a few quid where as if you left the eggs and fry in the tank you might only get a few fish that make it to over an inch. I had my HRP pair in a community tank when they bred and their brood was about 50 and I have 3 left in my tank survival of the fittest and all that. So I guess its down to those kind of questions, do you want to have the tank as a focus of breeding two fish and if you do it properly will that push the direction of the tank or will you have a few cichlids that breed in the same tank and then help them raise the fry? I mean its all down to you really.

Whats the foot print of this tank? Like length and width?

Interesting that you mentioned the eartheaters actually as it could be a good tank for a few groups of earth eaters and some festivums.

Depending on the footprint you could probs do

2 Festivums
4 Geophagus Tapajo sp Red Head
3 Satanoperca Auticeps - if you can find them or you could do one of the other medium growing species like Geophagus steindachneri but you would need to source these specific species due to them staying smaller than other species many species of geophagus and satanoperca get to 10-12 inches but there are some that stay smaller its just a case of finding them.

And then dithers in which ever form you want, disk tetras would work in this tank like the fast fast bleeding heart tetras or xray and lemon tetras work really well as well.

Or you could do a very natural biotope like

2 Threadfinned Acara (though near imposible to breed)
6 Cupid Cichlids

+ catfish and dithers

or

2 Heros sp Rotkiel
6 Guinacara species (which ever you like all quite similar)

+ catfish and dithers

Few ideas, dont get me wrong they are kind of my choices that I would go for but you can see where its going.

Wills

 

[AstonN24vantage]

welcome to the forums, darkskies. my dad breeded jack dempseys a few times. they lived for years. the eggs were eaten though.

Oh, and you may want a couple rocks and stuff. i actually have a few rocks from outside in my tank. just make sure you clean them really well. you can do really creative things with them (caves ect.)

 

[england]

If you fancy something a little different, have a look at a madagascan cichlid which pop up from time to time,two types,both being quite rare in the trade,Paratilapia polleni and Paratilapia bleekeri,the latter fetching some good money,if you can source them, they are stunning....

 

[karin]

My understanding is that angels prefer to deposit eggs on large leafed plants like Amazon Swords. The fry would need somewhere to hide from other angels and this is usually dense plantings or top floating plants.

 

[BethK]

Speak to your LFS, tell them your plans to breed and would they be willing to take the offspring. Some will pay cash, others in store credit.

It's all about research and will widen your options. You could possibly open your own private breeders website too.