T Bar Cichild

[bikerfish]

Hi All
Once  I get the problem sorted out with my tank I am going to have just a south American cichlid tank as I think these are amazing fish

My tank is 4ft and 240lt with external fluval 306 with substrate , plenty of live plants and bogwood and a couple of caves .
MY  fish I have at the present are
        1 Festivium cichlid  ( 2inches)
        2 Keyhole cichlid    (1 and half inches )
        2 small angels
also 4 glass fish
Question is would  1 T Bar cichlid  be ok with the others if bought small ?
 
I have kept the glass fish as they are different , they are not glass cats
 
I did have 2 blue german rams but recently lost them so would like something a bit different this is why I thought of the t bar plus they look amazing
cheers for reading this
cathy
 
 

 

[star4]

Personally I would re-home the festivum and have the t-bar, I tried festivums with angels, it might just have been mine but the festivum killed 3 angels, they do get pretty big and need a good size tank as they are very active, but a t-bar would be fine.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi cheers for answering , I have only had bandit for a couple of weeks but quite attached to him now , they seem to get on ok at the mo but say it has only been a couple of weeks .
Would still like to get a tbar as well.
I know my tank would be maxed out with all these fish.
cathy

 

[star4]

Bandit, is that your festivum, cool name mine is called nipper among other names lol, t bars are awesome as adults. 

 

[bikerfish]

Hi All
I had a spotted headstander called nipper , my festivium is called bandit as thought it was a good name for him
I think the T bar look fantastic when full grown , would like to get 1 while young so they grow up together so all will get on ? tank looks pretty empty at mo but would be worth the wait
cathy

 

[wrightt3]

The reason your tank looks empty is that all your fish are juveniles. When they are all fully grown they will fill out the tank a lot more.
1 T bar could possibly work because they are small but aggression is likely when all those fish mature. Try it and see how it goes but be prepared to rehome fish if the need arises.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi I know this is why my tank looks empty at mo, I was not sure of the aggression side on the tbar , why I asked the question? I know keyholes are great as gentle mid size , I have read up and also advice on here about the festivium with angels but I understand you can always get the odd one which is a tad more aggressive than normal .
cathy

 

[star4]

Like all cichlids you get ones that are placid and ones that are meanies. The t-bar's I had here for a while were a pair, the female was very sweet, but the male could be nasty when he wanted, I had them in with Elliotti & severums, their other home was with severums they were never a problem. I have a rainbow cichlid (noted as peaceful) that is more aggressive than my oscars!

 

[bikerfish]

Hi
Cheers for answering ,I have bgr in my quarantine tank while decide what to do as he is a real meany . It is looking like I will get a t bar once tank has sorted problem out so wont be for at least a couple of weeks . Only getting 1 so will hopefully not to bad with the aggression 
cathy

 

[wrightt3]

Its not the fact that t bars in particular are aggressive, its that all cichlids are aggressive (especially towards other cichlids).
Having another mid sized cichlid in there will increase competition for territories resulting in aggression.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi cheers for answering , I  have a blue german ram which is really mean and picks on every thing , he is in quarantine tank while I decided what to do with him , I was thinking a mate for him to see if this will calm him down but he could go worse ? he even goes up top and chases my angels about and ripped 1 of the dorsal fin , so went straight in to boot camp ,
It wont be for a while as prob with tank at mo so time to think on this
cathy

 

[bricko]

I have a Festivum for the last 4 years housed in 400l tank with denison barbs and various cichlids, originally had keyholes but as Colin (Festivum) grew the keyholes hid more probably due to his boisterous nature.  I also added a bolivian ram in once but Colin attacked this fish, only caught it out the corner of my eye. The ram later had a fit in my quarantine tank and died, not sure if it may have been unwell hence why he attacked it but rest assured Festivums can be quite a handful for a relatively peaceful cichlid.  I now have a Blue acara in with him which I added quite small as to not to appear to be a threat which is growing out quite nicely and they appear to get (tolerate each other) on pretty well.  I have never owned a TBar so cant comment on them specifically but as Star4 has stated they all have their own personalities which is part of the desire to own these wonderful fish.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi this is why I love the cichilds so much as they are all just so different

I think it will be a suck it and see , other ones would you suggest for my keyholes and angels ? I like kribs but not with angels , convicts and firemouth but ok think with each other but not with what I have already. I love the acaras but not suitable .

cheers for answering , I am grateful for all advice , normally would rush out and impulse buy but taking time to make sure I can get it as right as I can but still allowing that each fish is different
cathy