Stocking From Scratch

[Jonny_russell]

nearly

i have a 50g tank that was virtually idle for a year - apart from a lone sucking loach.

i'm in the process of getting cycled up and will be adding a new fluval 305 in addition to the current fluval 4 internal.

the trouble is i have been going round and round trying to decide which way to go, i dont want to go down the usual route of guppies etc.

i am looking for something a little bit different.......i would of loved an oscar but i dont have the room so i might plump for cichlids but there is a massive amount to choose from and to be honest the range has my head in a spin.

i will be adding a plec but after that

some ideas or direction would be great

 

[Wills]

Cichlid wise you have quite a lot of options, whats your substrate like? Is it sand or gravel? Do you want a wet pet or a group of a few mediums or do you want to go down the dwarf route?

Wills

 

[Jonny_russell]

Cichlid wise you have quite a lot of options, whats your substrate like? Is it sand or gravel? Do you want a wet pet or a group of a few mediums or do you want to go down the dwarf route?

Wills

its gravel.....although i am seriously considering changing to sand while i have the chance

i dont fancy the dwarf route, but i'm really stuck between a wet a pet and some mediums...

 

[Wills]

I would probably go for a few mediums. Could probably go for 3 medium sized ones I reckon, things like firemouths, ellioti, HRP, sajica, blue acara, festivums, laetacara thayeri, a few pike cichlids that would work quite well in that size tank. Or you could consider one medium with a few larger dwarfs like cupid cichlids, keyholes, guinacara, all the apistos and bolivian rams, krobias, smaller laetacaras.

I think a nice mix would be a pair of Festivums with a trio or quad of Cupid Cichlids, nice group of tetras like flame or black widow along with some cories or maybe even a trio of hoplos. And you would still be able to have a few nice small plecs in there as well.

Wills

 

[Jonny_russell]

I would probably go for a few mediums. Could probably go for 3 medium sized ones I reckon, things like firemouths, ellioti, HRP, sajica, blue acara, festivums, laetacara thayeri, a few pike cichlids that would work quite well in that size tank. Or you could consider one medium with a few larger dwarfs like cupid cichlids, keyholes, guinacara, all the apistos and bolivian rams, krobias, smaller laetacaras.

I think a nice mix would be a pair of Festivums with a trio or quad of Cupid Cichlids, nice group of tetras like flame or black widow along with some cories or maybe even a trio of hoplos. And you would still be able to have a few nice small plecs in there as well.

Wills

cheers mate - i really liked the sajica and hoplos and black widow tetras..........i did like the look of the pike cichlids but are they not a danger to other fish?

 

[Wills]

Some are but there are tons and tons and tons of pike species. The family is called Crenicichla and they range in size greatly, the most common smaller ones are the dwarfs but these still make 3 - 4 inches and get a decent girth to them as well. Crenicichla regani, Crenicichla compressiceps and Crenicichla notophthalmus are the most common dwarf ones but it might be worth while finding out which ones your LFS can get and research them as to their max size as some get huge.

I would only get single specimens of the cichlids to avoid breeding as in a comm tank they can lead to disaster for the other fish.

I reckon the fish you picked would look good and work really well together. If you went for a Sajica and a Pike of some kind with a big school of black widows and about 4 hoplos that would be pretty awesome! An other catfish you could consider are pim pictus.

 

[Jonny_russell]

Some are but there are tons and tons and tons of pike species. The family is called Crenicichla and they range in size greatly, the most common smaller ones are the dwarfs but these still make 3 - 4 inches and get a decent girth to them as well. Crenicichla regani, Crenicichla compressiceps and Crenicichla notophthalmus are the most common dwarf ones but it might be worth while finding out which ones your LFS can get and research them as to their max size as some get huge.

I would only get single specimens of the cichlids to avoid breeding as in a comm tank they can lead to disaster for the other fish.

I reckon the fish you picked would look good and work really well together. If you went for a Sajica and a Pike of some kind with a big school of black widows and about 4 hoplos that would be pretty awesome! An other catfish you could consider are pim pictus.

it certainly sounds like a plan

but you had to confuse me with another catfish they have always been a favorite of mine

 

[Jonny_russell]

ok

i think i am going to plump for a firemouth as the the 'Main' cichlid and 3 hoplo's ........mainly due to the restricted stock in the north east and the more i read about about firemouths the more they appeal to me!!!


the question is ........ would the black widow/black phantom tetras be ok with a firemouth?

and what would be recommended as a large shoal?

 

[Wills]

Yeah I should think so but go for the Black Widows as they get bigger than the Phantoms. The way to tell the difference is that the Black Widows have 2 black stripes where as the Phantoms only have one stripe. Or you could consider Columbian Tetras which are an ideal dither fish for mid to large sized cichlids. Or if you wanted to keep the FM slightly biotope correct with the dithers you could go for a mix of central american dithers like livebearers like platties or swordtails along with blind cave tetras (these dont come from exactly the area but closer than the other tetras) But then again you could think Im slightly mad for trying to do that

A large school is as big as you want to go lol. If you went with 2 cichlids and 3 hoplos you could quite easily go for a school of 20-30 if you wanted. If you went for the 20 you could consider adding one or two small L number plecs if you wanted just for a bit more variety.

If you wanted to add more cichlids you certainly have scope to you could consider things like Honduran Red Points, female Nicuraguans (like my dp), sajica or cutteri, Rainbow cichlid and maybe a Jack Dempsey or EBJD not sure about the last one though because of space but EBJDs are meant to be calmer than the regular Jack Dempseys.

Wills

 

[Jonny_russell]

Yeah I should think so but go for the Black Widows as they get bigger than the Phantoms. The way to tell the difference is that the Black Widows have 2 black stripes where as the Phantoms only have one stripe. Or you could consider Columbian Tetras which are an ideal dither fish for mid to large sized cichlids. Or if you wanted to keep the FM slightly biotope correct with the dithers you could go for a mix of central american dithers like livebearers like platties or swordtails along with blind cave tetras (these dont come from exactly the area but closer than the other tetras) But then again you could think Im slightly mad for trying to do that

A large school is as big as you want to go lol. If you went with 2 cichlids and 3 hoplos you could quite easily go for a school of 20-30 if you wanted. If you went for the 20 you could consider adding one or two small L number plecs if you wanted just for a bit more variety.

If you wanted to add more cichlids you certainly have scope to you could consider things like Honduran Red Points, female Nicuraguans (like my dp), sajica or cutteri, Rainbow cichlid and maybe a Jack Dempsey or EBJD not sure about the last one though because of space but EBJDs are meant to be calmer than the regular Jack Dempseys.

Wills

Those female Nicaraguans look really nice....but on the species index it says they grow upto 9" and need a 50g for one specimen.....which is a shame as they would add a nice splash of colour

 

[Wills]

Males grow to 9 inches (actually 10 but thats by th by) but females stick around 5/6 inches and they are quite easy to sex as the females get much more intense blue in their heads where as males stay more grey with an orange body with grey tips to the scales.

 

[Jonny_russell]

thats good news

i will definitely look into them and their availability in the NE

 

[Jonny_russell]

do you have any aggression from them?

 

[Wills]

With any cichlid you will get some level of aggression but it will often just result in a flare off without major battles. You might get a bit or circling or even some lip locking but the FM and the nic will be comparable in a fight situation and after a week or two they will settle down pretty quickly within a week or two. However with cichlids it is often down to individual fishes personalities and sometimes they will tell you if they want to live together or not but since its a decent sized tank and at present you are only planning on 2 medum sized cichlids I imagine the worst case scenario would be that they would simply draw a line down the middle of the tank (or possibly even build a small hill from the gravel ) and one stay at one end and the other stays at the other.

When you get the fish it would be a good idea to get them small and at the same time. However if this is not possible it is sometimes a good idea to get the fish home from the store keep it in the bag, then catch your other cichlid that is already in the tank - rearange the decor to destroy any territory the existing fish will have claimed and then everything is fair game and then what is most likely happen is they will be so pre occupied with making their territory, digging, watching and looking out that they will forget about each other.....unless they both want the same territory so sometimes best to make 3 or 4 areas in a tank so they can choose what they want etc. But then again because they are both singles not pairs aggression will be much lower as their paternal instincts wont kick in.

Wills

 

[Jonny_russell]

Ok...........something ive just noticed with my stocking plan

nearly everything is black an white !!! which as toon fan isnt a bad thing but i would like a bit more colour........i liked the sound of your Nicaraguan females but my they dont appear to be common in the north east..........

any other suggestions mate?