Thinking Of A Change

[rixy]

hi,i have a jewel rio 240 tank with the original internal filter plus an eheim pro 11 2028 external.i keep community fish at the moment and fancy a change.ive kept various fish in the past including malawis,shovel nose,etc etc.i am interested in keeping some ciclids but not sure what.i dont want something that is too messy ie an oscar.what would you guys suggest.what about green terror,jack dempsey etc etc.

please give me all the pros and cons of keeping your suggested fish along with how many i should keep.thanks in advance,mark.ps i'm quite happy with 1 or 2 fish so all suggestions welcome.

 

[DarkEntity]

240 litre, id probably say that Convicts/Firemouths/Kribs/Rams/Apistos etc would be the ones to look at. I dont think id put anything bigger in there.

Pros if the tank is layed out well enough you could have a pair of Kribs, pair of Rams, Pair of Firemouths etc the tank would need caves, hiding areas and breeding spots etc. Cons i suppose its like all Cichlids, they can be a fairly shy fish in some cases. Id love to do a tank with Just Apistos and Rams as they stay nice and small

 

[Mbuna Dave]

I agree,although 240ltrs is quite a biggish tank Cichlids grow large and soon outgrow the tank.I used to keep Blue Acara`s but you could only keep a couple because of their size.Last thing you want is to overcrowd.

 

[rixy]

what about 2 x jack dempseys?

 

[Ferris]

Hey Rixy - How about African cichlids?

Seriously - A mated pair of JD's might work in your 240 but you would be pushing it, these guys can reach 10". A randomly picked pair (male and female) - almost certainly not and too risky IMHO.

Firemouths, Convicts and Blue Acara's are all a better size for your tank, i would pass on the big boys like Oscars, JD's, Texas etc.

A pair of Green Terror's might work - smaller than JD's but can be very mean. An element of risk involved but certainly possible.

 

[jayjay]

JD's I'd say if you bought 6 young fish, then waited for them to pair up and then removed 4 and kept a pair, I'd say it would work.

GT's as Ferris said though I'd doubt, are you talking about 'True Green terrors' or Gold Saum versions? GT IMO shouldn't be in less than a 48x18x18, some of them have reachede large sizes of 12"+ and IMO in would be cruel in less.

 

[Ferris]

GT's as Ferris said though I'd doubt, are you talking about 'True Green terrors' or Gold Saum versions

No such thing as the true GT in the hobby anymore (at the very least, extremely rare), all you can get is the false GT aka Gold Saum. I don't even bother explaining that one anymore as everyone who refer's to them has the false GT.

 

[rixy]

id like a pair of something really.something like jack dempseys or green terrors.something of this size.any more ideas ferrisps are they messy beggars like oscarsor even 1 on there own with something else.all ideas welcome but would prefer something bigger than rams,keyholes etc etc.

 

[Ferris]

Pretty much all large cichlids are Not as bad as Oscar's though.

I love GT's and JD's but there is baggage that comes with them - it does depend on the individual fish though.

What about a pair of Sev's?

Or you could get an RO setup and do a discus tank - now there's a challenge.

 

[rixy]

dabbled with the discus before mate,not my cup of tea.id really like something a bit different.im quite happy to keep 1 of whatever you suggest.ive kept malawis,shovelnose,lots of different community etc and would like to keep a larger cichlid.not too large like a jag etc etc as i know my tank is way too small.please list all suggestions for me ferris so i can have a think.what if i kept 1 x jd or 1 x green terror.what else could i add ie 1 x jd,1 x con,1 x bristlenose etc etc

 

[Ferris]

If you're just going to keep 1, that makes it much simpler. You can almost take your pick except for the really big fella's like Oscar's.

Green Terror
Jack Dempsey
Severum
Firemouth
Blue Acara
Texas - lovely fish and something a bit different

I could go on and on but you get the idea.

 

[rixy]

if i had,say 1 x green terror and my bristle nose,what else could i add???green terrors are readily available from trimar which is close to me.thanks for all your help ferris.i see in your sig you keep a green terror with tiger barbs.how does it work

ps anywhere online i could order a jack dempsey etc etc

 

[Ferris]

My GT completely ignores the Tigers, 1 of them even follows him around while the others schoal - so funny

He can be a vicious little bugger to me if i put my hand in the tank to re-arrange etc but is fine with current tankmates - in fact i often think he's protecting the other fish when he goes for me.

It's pot luck with them though, they are not named Green Terror for nothing and temperament really does vary fish to fish with these guys. Anything large could and probably will be perceived as a threat and is likely to not last very long.

Mine grew up with the catfish, Plec and T Barbs and i think thats the only reason it works. I would stay away from other cichlids or large free swimming fish, maybe a couple of bottom feeders and a small group of robust schooling fish like Tigers and add your GT as small as possible.

Best advice i can give though is to have a divider handy just in case and be prepared to return fish if neccessary.

 

[rixy]

thanks for all your help ferris.i think ill get a green terror at the weekend.

 

[rixy]

do you think this would work ferris

1 x bristlenose(already have him)
1 x green terror
1 x severum
some tiger barbs

if this sounds ok,how many tiger barbs do you think?

if the severum is no good,what else could i add