My 68 Gal Tank With Juvenile New World Cichlids!

[shroob]

I will join the camp of people saying you are overcrowded, I just think you shouldn't keep that many CA fish in that small tank. If you have a look at all the people saying that you're overcrowded and headed for trouble, most have got quite a few posts and their advice is respected.

I can understand why you want plenty of fish in your tank, but it just doesnt work with new world cichlids. Soon the aggression will erupt and you will be left with injured fish, with fins, eyes or worse missing. The crayfish WILL be lunch eventually, after it moults the cichlids will take full advantage of this.

Why not start as you mean to go on?

@benni~ The look of 3 fish in 100g works for CA, if you dont like the look then choose africans or community fish, but the reason stocking levels are comparatively 'low' is due to aggression and size of these fish.

 

[chishnfips]

not sure if you have to I would maybe add some plants or definately some bog wood for the pleco. I wont divulge into the stocking lol.

Otherwise nice looking tank, hope you are proud for now lol. If you are like me you will get bored and rescape it every month lol.

 

[Unseen]

ya its ur tank dude if ur water parameters are fine and the fish seem to be fine then ur tank is fine. that whole 3 fish for a 100 gal i hate that do what u want and if they start to fight then you have a problem but other then that the fish look great the only thing that i would say is when those fish get bigger ur blue lobsters days will be numbered, i couldent keep the lobsters when i had my previous cichlid tank b.c the fish would eventually flip the lobster over on his back and then dinner was served

yeah i have read up on some of these fishes. i heard that the jd eats crustacians, but not heard of anything big as a lobster. i thought i would try it as i have a 10 gal back up tank to house anything. as of now the lobster and fishes don't interact at all. during the day they the lobsters usually hide under the sections under the rocks at the back that i have made. this is where they molt aswell. i leave their shells for them to eat which is good for them to grow new shells. also it means they don't need to go out and look for food and risk getting hurt. fingers crossed but no attacks yet

I will join the camp of people saying you are overcrowded, I just think you shouldn't keep that many CA fish in that small tank. If you have a look at all the people saying that you're overcrowded and headed for trouble, most have got quite a few posts and their advice is respected.

I can understand why you want plenty of fish in your tank, but it just doesnt work with new world cichlids. Soon the aggression will erupt and you will be left with injured fish, with fins, eyes or worse missing. The crayfish WILL be lunch eventually, after it moults the cichlids will take full advantage of this.

Why not start as you mean to go on?

@benni~ The look of 3 fish in 100g works for CA, if you dont like the look then choose africans or community fish, but the reason stocking levels are comparatively 'low' is due to aggression and size of these fish.

the crays have molted 3 times and 2 times already NOT lunch as of yet i'm not irresponsible.

i have listened to others advice. i have also spoken to people who i know have fishes too. just because it may be overstocked doesn't mean that these particular fishes will be unhappy or fight. sometimes you have to try and think or do out of the box and see how things work. if it doesnt it doesnt mean that i am stuck for life and the fishes will die straight away. maybe i should kill the all the tinfoils, 1 jd, 1 fm and 1 lobster to downsize.

everyone who speaks, speak from experience. that knowledge can be useful but i must be something special if i am defying what they are saying, and everything seems to be sucessful

many thanks, yeah i will look to rehouse the fm and jd soon. i have a friend who has a similar tank who is itnerested in a cichlid set up. he has 1 parrott fish atm.

not sure if you have to I would maybe add some plants or definately some bog wood for the pleco. I wont divulge into the stocking lol.

Otherwise nice looking tank, hope you are proud for now lol. If you are like me you will get bored and rescape it every month lol.

stocking! grrr lol.

i had 7 quids worth of plants and within 3 days all gone bloody tinfoils are greedy! i had bogwood in the middle and only took it out last week. the pleco like to stay on that left side with the gap in the middle. he never use to touch my wood and as it looked really dark and didnt match i took it out.


yeah im happy with the right side of the layout. the elft is more ugly but is where my pleco likes so i dont wanna touch it. i want to get rid of the internal filter soon but im lazy. i need a background and then i will be happy. and dont talk about rescaping... ive changed it maybe 10 times in 6 months

 

[mark7616]

The reason your tank is doing so well as you put it is because all your fish are juviniles no where near mature. All SA\CA fish will be fine when they are small its only as they start to mature that you WILL end up with problems. I am speaking from experience here so know what im talking about. 1 its not a very smart idea to keep a breeding pair of convicts in the tank as they will cause havoc when they spawn and have the ability to destroy most fish they are angry fish and whats the point of having a breeding pair you wont be keeping the fry your plec will eat them before they get to be 2 days old. You GT will, not might, or maybe, but will be 1 very angry fish as soon as it matures. As for the barbs they will get far to big for your tank now I know people say there gonna upgrade but 9 times out of 10 they dont and you are gonna need at least a 150g to house all these fish you have and getting that sooner rather than later is best as in such a small tank once those fish mature you WILL have WW3. The reason you have lost some oscars and bits is because your tank is so small the fish have no where to make there own territory so just fight for space.

 

[kribensis12]

The reason your tank is doing so well as you put it is because all your fish are juviniles no where near mature. All SA\CA fish will be fine when they are small its only as they start to mature that you WILL end up with problems. I am speaking from experience here so know what im talking about. 1 its not a very smart idea to keep a breeding pair of convicts in the tank as they will cause havoc when they spawn and have the ability to destroy most fish they are angry fish and whats the point of having a breeding pair you wont be keeping the fry your plec will eat them before they get to be 2 days old. You GT will, not might, or maybe, but will be 1 very angry fish as soon as it matures. As for the barbs they will get far to big for your tank now I know people say there gonna upgrade but 9 times out of 10 they dont and you are gonna need at least a 150g to house all these fish you have and getting that sooner rather than later is best as in such a small tank once those fish mature you WILL have WW3. The reason you have lost some oscars and bits is because your tank is so small the fish have no where to make there own territory so just fight for space.

Funny thing is, i was jsut about to post that! I took some time to reallly read the post, and since they are so tiny, nothing bad has happend YET..... I personally would get a bigger tnak now, so they would grow to be a good size, instead of wating till one gets killed as they mature. That's just me .....

 

[cheesy feet]

I would say something about overstocked and fish being hurt by the lobsters and your breeding cons causing trouble, but I have just given up trying to say anything. I say, if you wanna do somethings that others advise against, go for it. It's your tank... If something happens, then you know who you have to blame

The reason your tank is doing so well as you put it is because all your fish are juviniles no where near mature. All SA\CA fish will be fine when they are small its only as they start to mature that you WILL end up with problems. I am speaking from experience here so know what im talking about. 1 its not a very smart idea to keep a breeding pair of convicts in the tank as they will cause havoc when they spawn and have the ability to destroy most fish they are angry fish and whats the point of having a breeding pair you wont be keeping the fry your plec will eat them before they get to be 2 days old. You GT will, not might, or maybe, but will be 1 very angry fish as soon as it matures. As for the barbs they will get far to big for your tank now I know people say there gonna upgrade but 9 times out of 10 they dont and you are gonna need at least a 150g to house all these fish you have and getting that sooner rather than later is best as in such a small tank once those fish mature you WILL have WW3. The reason you have lost some oscars and bits is because your tank is so small the fish have no where to make there own territory so just fight for space.

The reason your tank is doing so well as you put it is because all your fish are juviniles no where near mature. All SA\CA fish will be fine when they are small its only as they start to mature that you WILL end up with problems. I am speaking from experience here so know what im talking about. 1 its not a very smart idea to keep a breeding pair of convicts in the tank as they will cause havoc when they spawn and have the ability to destroy most fish they are angry fish and whats the point of having a breeding pair you wont be keeping the fry your plec will eat them before they get to be 2 days old. You GT will, not might, or maybe, but will be 1 very angry fish as soon as it matures. As for the barbs they will get far to big for your tank now I know people say there gonna upgrade but 9 times out of 10 they dont and you are gonna need at least a 150g to house all these fish you have and getting that sooner rather than later is best as in such a small tank once those fish mature you WILL have WW3. The reason you have lost some oscars and bits is because your tank is so small the fish have no where to make there own territory so just fight for space.

Funny thing is, i was jsut about to post that! I took some time to reallly read the post, and since they are so tiny, nothing bad has happend YET..... I personally would get a bigger tnak now, so they would grow to be a good size, instead of wating till one gets killed as they mature. That's just me .....

Agreed in 2-3 months the havoc may begin lol.

As for the blue lobster mine usto take out massive fancy goldfish It's going to be a cichlid vs lobster fight first I thinks.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Wow, looking great. Love the rocky setup.

TBH I really hate the look of tanks that have only 1/2 fishes in 100/1000galons.

As you meantioned, nothing is permanent. So ignore the comments about being overcrowed.
IF you keep on track of your NO2/NO3 and know when to make waterchanges, things will be fine.
+ as the fishes grow, I'm sure you will do as any loving keeper would and grow to a larger setup aswell.

Live for today and worry later about tomorrow. Afterall you wouldnt buy an adult size pair of shoes for a baby (just because one day (after many years) he/she will need something of that size).

So you are saying that overstocking is good? That stunting fish is fine?

The tank is over stocked now, and those fish will only grow. Those Tinfoils get quite big! We aren't flamming you here, only telling you that you will need a bigger tank in a while. The Convicts may end up reeking havoc when they start breeding, that lobster will get bigger and may end up eating the fish. Listen to what people are telling you, we have all been around on this forum, and know what we are talking about. Take in what everyone is telling you and try not to listen to bad information like the above. Yes, you could measure N02/N03 and make sure you are doing enough water changes, but aggression and stunting fish should be listen also...

 

[zeo]

Wow, looking great. Love the rocky setup.

TBH I really hate the look of tanks that have only 1/2 fishes in 100/1000galons.

As you meantioned, nothing is permanent. So ignore the comments about being overcrowed.
IF you keep on track of your NO2/NO3 and know when to make waterchanges, things will be fine.
+ as the fishes grow, I'm sure you will do as any loving keeper would and grow to a larger setup aswell.

Live for today and worry later about tomorrow. Afterall you wouldnt buy an adult size pair of shoes for a baby (just because one day (after many years) he/she will need something of that size).

So you are saying that overstocking is good? That stunting fish is fine?

The tank is over stocked now, and those fish will only grow. Those Tinfoils get quite big! We aren't flamming you here, only telling you that you will need a bigger tank in a while. The Convicts may end up reeking havoc when they start breeding, that lobster will get bigger and may end up eating the fish. Listen to what people are telling you, we have all been around on this forum, and know what we are talking about. Take in what everyone is telling you and try not to listen to bad information like the above. Yes, you could measure N02/N03 and make sure you are doing enough water changes, but aggression and stunting fish should be listen also...

And whats wrong with that? Never been on tube have you?

I think the chlorine in your tank is getting to you. Where in my post did u actually read that statement?
TBH go read my post again. Then read it a 2nd time.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Wow, looking great. Love the rocky setup.

TBH I really hate the look of tanks that have only 1/2 fishes in 100/1000galons.

As you meantioned, nothing is permanent. So ignore the comments about being overcrowed.
IF you keep on track of your NO2/NO3 and know when to make waterchanges, things will be fine.
+ as the fishes grow, I'm sure you will do as any loving keeper would and grow to a larger setup aswell.

Live for today and worry later about tomorrow. Afterall you wouldnt buy an adult size pair of shoes for a baby (just because one day (after many years) he/she will need something of that size).

So you are saying that overstocking is good? That stunting fish is fine?

The tank is over stocked now, and those fish will only grow. Those Tinfoils get quite big! We aren't flamming you here, only telling you that you will need a bigger tank in a while. The Convicts may end up reeking havoc when they start breeding, that lobster will get bigger and may end up eating the fish. Listen to what people are telling you, we have all been around on this forum, and know what we are talking about. Take in what everyone is telling you and try not to listen to bad information like the above. Yes, you could measure N02/N03 and make sure you are doing enough water changes, but aggression and stunting fish should be listen also...

And whats wrong with that? Never been on tube have you?

I think the chlorine in your tank is getting to you. Where in my post did u actually read that statement?
TBH go read my post again. Then read it a 2nd time.

Well, I didn't see the statement about getting a bigger tank... Sorry!

By the way, what is "tube" ??

 

[Unseen]

okay guys after much criticism i had to cull 2 tinfoils and give away a jd and fm to my friend. this will hopefully help keep the aggression from ever coming up and the remaining ish will live in happiness. i am also planning on releasing the crayfish into my local canal as i have researched that they can survive in th cold. thanks for the advice. i hope it isnt still overcrowded. many thanks

 

[shroob]

okay guys after much criticism i had to cull 2 tinfoils and give away a jd and fm to my friend. this will hopefully help keep the aggression from ever coming up and the remaining ish will live in happiness. i am also planning on releasing the crayfish into my local canal as i have researched that they can survive in th cold. thanks for the advice. i hope it isnt still overcrowded. many thanks

I think you might have lost some respect with that post. I hope you wernt being serious.
Though I do hope you learnt something from this.

 

[cheesy feet]

okay guys after much criticism i had to cull 2 tinfoils and give away a jd and fm to my friend. this will hopefully help keep the aggression from ever coming up and the remaining ish will live in happiness. i am also planning on releasing the crayfish into my local canal as i have researched that they can survive in th cold. thanks for the advice. i hope it isnt still overcrowded. many thanks

Hmm I think you got the wrong idea, oh well

 

[Unseen]

nah i was joking

i'm working on finding a suitable home for some of them. i've only had the tank for a few months so it's gonna be difficult for me to upgrade just yet.

i do however know of very good caring pet owners. this is where some of the fishes will go hopefully

 

[coldmachineUK]

nah i was joking

I really really hope so