tank mate ideas?!

[kooter]

Hello everyone........I recently moved, {*shudder*}, bad word to the aquarist, soooooo I lost a couple fish.
As stated below in my signature is what I have left in the tank.
Does anyone have any ideas on what to put in with them?
I used to have a jewel and a female convict in with these guys. The male convict seems "lonely" without his female buddy. :sad
Thanks in advance.

PS - I saw a dinosaur eel the other day.....any thoughts on this guy? They were in with some jack dempseys.

[kevinfishboy]

well first off sorry bout the loss of ur two fish well i have my convict with a dempsy and it worked great but if u wanna get a JD u will have to get bout a 55g or bigger but u can try another groumie and get another jewel

[kooter]

thanks. I think I will get another jewel, I really liked the one I had.
The dinosaur eel looked really cool, but I think my tank maybe too small for it?

[littlemac633]

technically, the dinosaur eel nees a 50 gallon tank or so ive heard, but i think your should be fine as long as you only get one and you have plenty of hiding places. These things are really cool, they can live outside of water for some time (one website has said 8-10 hours, another 1-2 days). Either way, its pretty cool, but you have to keep your eye on it because they can escape.
PS legos go great in the fish tank, you just have to be able to keep them down (i used grave, works great)

[redparrotbubble]

yea you could get either another jewel or another convict for the tank. the eel is iffy as they tend to slip out of the tank which if not found in time will kill them
-Mike

[PumaWard]

IMO, your 33g tank is at it's max stocking. You have all territorial fish that are yong. When they become adults you will have problems between them and they will bicker which will most likely result in loss of fish.

They shouldn't be kept with aggressive fish... as they won't defend themselves. Convicts AND jewels are aggressive.

[Convict_85]

Hey. i have two convicts male an female i think. there about 1.5" i also have a small bristle nosed catfish. The tanks a 2 footer. Any recomendations on what other cichlids i can put in with them?

[PumaWard]

No more.

[Convict_85]

So nothing else can go in with them? so should i move one of them to another tank? and then would i be able to get some more cichlids?

[PumaWard]

No, probably not. Convicts are territorial and tanks with a 2ft footprint are the minimum requirements for them, you are also not listing the volume of the tank which makes it difficult to say much of anything. If you want more fish you need a bigger tank.

[somefinnfishy]

She is kinda right at adult in a year or so down the road they will fight and die.
for now you could add a school of tetras like black skirts or benous aries may be serpa tetras (tough tetras only)
A red tailed black shark might work just make sure its bigger than the jewels.

BTW what it a 33g tank never seen one before.
tanks with a 24"X12" foot print are one of these sizes 15g,20g,25g,30G
IMHO the Xtra tall 25 and 30g will not hold more fish than the shorter tanks.
So basicaly you need to stock for a 20 gallon tank.

You might want to think about switching to a african tank there are a lot more size appropriate fish to chose from.
Other wise start a SA dwarf tank.

To your defence buying a 55g tank to house your current stock is stupid they will be fine in your tank for a long time just dont add any more SA cichlids.

[PumaWard]

Convicts reach adult size in a 6 months, maybe less, from the size they are bought at a pet shop.

I definately wouldn't put tetras in with cons or jewels...

Killing each other down the road and not worry about it isn't really responsible. It's up to the aquarist to provide a healthy enviroment for fish. Not put some in there and hope they live for a few months.

[NatakuTseng]

33gals are generally short (height wise) 55gals, the dimensions are the same other than the height. Fairly common tanks. Buying a larger tank for current stock is never stupid. The larger the tank for most CA, SA and west african cichlids is always better. Advocating not to do this is the stupid part.

[FishFreak101]

you cood try some angels?

[PumaWard]

Not with jewels and convicts.

[somefinnfishy]

I guess I'm sorry I choose to post here again.
I never said they should just let them fight it out and let one die.
I was agreeing with you and stateing the obvious end result.
Just its ok to keep some of the smaller SA in a 2' tank for a while.
And some of the tougher tetras could work well with young cons (ever tried it ?) keep them a lot more mellow than teaching them to fight with other cichlids now.
This is a hobby not a science. These fish we keep have varying personalitys even within in the species.
And I doubt all the cichlid guys we all look up to ( jeff rapps ,mojo and others)
Would go out ASAP and set up a new 40g or larger to house a few young cichlids.

[fish_breeder_05]

AS far as internet research goes, you wont find much under ther name dinosour eel. a more common name is bicher. Even then you won,t find much. the best site is at http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Polypterids.htm .