Stocking Help Please

[wrightt3]

In the hopefully not so distant future, I hope to upgrade to a 4ft tank for my Senegal bichir and firemouth so I was just wondering if I could get a big (ish) cichlid in there.
Perhaps a Jack Dempsey or a Texas cichlid... I don't know, what do you guys think?
 

 

[Wills]

JD could work - Texas would depend on the dimensions of the four footer. If you go for a 4x2x2 it will open up a lot of options
 
What other fish do you have in there?
 
Wills

 

[wrightt3]

It will be at least a 4x2x2 but it will probably be a bit wider and higher. As said my only plans so far are the bichir and firemouth because they are getting a bit too big/aggressive for my 35 gallon.
Are there any other interesting cichlids I could keep?

 

[Wills]

Ah right sounds good I will work on the basis of it being a 4x2x2 for now I dont think it will really impact on the choice of cichlids as you have such a broad choice on this now
 
What cichlids do you like? Give me a clue for where to look
 
My first choices would be to go for a Central American tank. Following on from the Firemouth. So things like Jack Dempseys and the Texas would work but go for the Carpintis Texas rather than the Cyanaguttas
 
Im wondering if one of the tamer Veijas would work like Veija Regani - a female Salvini might work as might a Nicaraguan.
 
If you can find them Geophagus Iporagenesis would be nice
 
Then pad out the rest of the room with things like Swordtails, Hoplos and large tetras like Bueonos Aires Tetras or Blind Cave Tetras.
 
Though to be fair you could take it a more mixed american route as Firemouths are not that fussy on water and are not overly aggressive for a central - depends what you like
 
Wills

 

[wrightt3]

In my opinion, nothing really competes to a central American cichlid. They just seem to have a presence about them that other cichlids don't have. Plus, as you said, it makes sense to stick to a CA theme seen as I have the firemouth.
Really, I'm looking for something that's bold and interactive but not overly aggressive.
My firemouth is great but he is scared to death of me unless I'm holding blood worms. I want something that isn't going to dart across the tank and hide for 5 minutes because I looked at it for longer than 10 seconds

 
The veijas looks cool but I prefer the JD and texas so anything similar to those sorts of fish would be great.

 

[wrightt3]

Okay, so I have been looking around and there are so many choices that I can't make up my mind so my question now is how many CAs could I have with the firemouth and bichir?
Would this be okay?
-1 firemouth
-1 Nicaraguan cichlid
-1 big cichlid (JD/Texas etc)
-1 Bichir
-Some dithers

 

[Wills]

You could probably do all 4 to be fair in a 4x2x2 I would say 5 maybe 6 would be a good number - get all males if you can and it will spread out the aggression issues among the group. The JD and the Tex are not really comparable the Tex is a much much bigger fish
Wills

 

[wrightt3]

I'll probably stick to just one bad ass cichlid and keep mid sized ones to fill out the rest of the tank just to be safe.
5 or 6 sounds great to me, I wasn't expecting to have such a broad choice with this sized tank

Now all that's left is to do is convince my parents to let me get it lol. Would you recommend used tanks off Ebay? I can't afford a brand new one.

 

[wrightt3]

oops, bad news

I got the measurements a bit wrong. The tank will actually only be 120x40x55cm. I feel like a bit of an idiot now.
Would I still be able to have something similar to what we discussed.
By the way the post above isn't meant to say bad jerk but you can probably work out what its meant to say for your self lol.

 

[Wills]

Ah ok - where did you get those measurements from? Is it a specific place for it to go - that works out at 263 liters or 70 gallons so it does change things pretty drastically. Second hand tanks are a great thing just make sure you get a good condition one and a good deal as well with extra equipment etc. The tanks your looking for would be the Fluval Roma 240 or the Juwel Rio 240 which are the smallest in this size range or I think there is a Juwel Viencia 260 which is bow fronted and then the next option would be the Juwel Rio 300 which if it fits would be great in inches I think the 300 is 48x20x20 and is about 75 gallons so a good tank. Is a corner tank an option? The Juwel Trigon 350 is a good tank.
 
If your going second hand though I would get the tank with the best equipment - if you see a 4 footer with an FX5 get that irrespective of size and then upgrade the tank when you can if you end up with a smaller one. I have seen a few 4 foot tanks with an FX5 and full equipment for about £150 before (I bought a set up like this for one) and really your buying the equipment and you can sell the tank and stand on for the same as buying it usually in that situation.
 
Depending on how close to 300 liters you can get I would stick to 3 of them now - I would go for a female Nic, Firemouth and a Carpintis Texas. If you end up with a 240 litre to get the most out of the tank its going to be worth talking about other companions for the Firemouth, things like a Sajica and maybe some kind of Acara like a Port Acara.
 
Then its finding the other fish to fit around them. You have loads of options just depends what you like really. Spotted Silver Dollars would be great in the bigger tanks but any disk tetra will work in the smaller tanks Columbian Tetras and  Bleeding Heart Tetras could be a good option.
 
Wills

 

[wrightt3]

Yeah 120x40x55 is the biggest I can go due to space and cost. I don't really know why I said it was 4x2x2?. Must be due to tiredness 

What I plan on doing is a big switch around with my 35 and this
In my 35 ATM I have
-1 angel
-1 firemouth
-1 bichir
-2 Bristlenoses
-4 Colombian Tetras
What I will probably do is move the firemouth, bichir and tetras to the bigger tank and then get a female nic and then either a texas or JD like you suggested (really like that idea)
I can then get another angel for the 35 along with some smaller tetras seen as the bichir is gone.
That way I will have a SA tank AND a CA tank

Thanks for the advise Wills!

 

[lloyd]

personally if it was me I would go for a group of firemouths. a lot of the fish you have mentioned shouldn't live as a single. thorickthys can be surprisingly social, I would aim for one male for three females. you should youtube firemouths in social groups orthorickthys in groups or something like, some of the videos are great.

 

[wrightt3]

personally if it was me I would go for a group of firemouths. a lot of the fish you have mentioned shouldn't live as a single.

Really? I have never heard that before. I'll certainly consider that then. You say a lot of the ones I mentioned like groups. Which ones would those be?
Also do you have any advise on sexing firemouths because I find it rather difficult

 

[lloyd]

Angels like groups, firemouths and bristlenoses like groups, columbian tetras certainly need bigger groups than four (at least twice that much I would say). I have a pair of thorickthys elliotis and a lot of people on more specific cichlid forums advise me to keep them in a larger group to keep aggression down. iv found lot of youtube vids that back this up..................in my experience a big four footer is the absolute minimum for a texas, and in my opinion you should never keep a fish in absolute min conditions.

 

[wrightt3]

When I do the switch around I will certainly up the size of the tetra shoal, I was planning to do this before you mentioned it. I also stated that I was going to get another angelfish. In my opinion anything larger than a pair is going to cause aggression problems in all but the largest of tanks. I was also leaning more towards the Jack Dempsey and I agree with you about minimum sizes being inadequate sizes. 
 
Perhaps I'm imagining this but I sense some sort of bitterness towards me in your posts?